Re: British or American spelling in IETF docs

Perhaps we need an RFC defining the English Spelling Negotiation Protocol (ESNP).

Implementations MUST support American English, SHOULD support British English, and MAY support Oxford English. Authors using “-ize” and “-ise” in the same document MUST be prepared for interoperability failures.

In the absence of successful negotiation, the default shall be whatever the RFC Editor changes it to.

IANA considerations: please create a registry for honour/honor, colour/color, and programme/program. :-)

=====================
Thomas Howe ( http://www.lightandelectric.com )
+1 (508) 364-9972

Sent via Superhuman ( https://sprh.mn/[email protected] )

On Sat, Aug 8, 2026 at 5:51 AM, [email protected] < [email protected] > wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> May be will be better to take a decision about using British or American
> spelling to make all our documents uniform (after a decided date, if we
> reach consensus on that)?
> 
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Jordi
> 
> 
> 
> @jordipalet
> 
> 
>> 
>> 
>> El 8 ago 2026, a las 1:18, Brian E Carpenter <[email protected]>
>> escribió:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Exactly, it's the author's choice as long as it's consistent.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> BUT there is an internal war in British English, where some grammarians
>> prefer -ize or -izing but most actual writers (including me) prefer -ise
>> or -ising. However, it may surprise you that there are some words that are
>> always -ise even in the USA.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/spelling-spotlight-when-to-use-ize-and-ise/
>> may help, or may make you even more confused.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Now back to your regularly scheduled program(me).
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Brian
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 08-Aug-26 05:11, [email protected] wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I’m not sure is so clear I looked into this and all the referenced
>>> documents: https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc-style-guide/
>>> <https://www.rfc-editor.org/authors/rfc-style-guide/> And only mention is
>>> in RFC7322 which say:
>>> 3.1 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7322/#section-3.1>. Language
>>> The RFC publication language is English. Spelling may be either
>>> American or British, as long as an individual document is internally
>>> consistent. Where both American and British English spelling are
>>> used within a document or cluster of documents, the text will be
>>> modified to be consistent with American English spelling. Saludos,
>>> Jordi
>>> @jordipalet
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> El 7 ago 2026, a las 18:19, Michael Richardson <[email protected]>
>>>> escribió:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> "[email protected]" wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Actually it will be good to know if there is a preference in IETF on what
>>>>> English to use, British or American and have a explicit IESG (I guess)
>>>>> decision about that, for consistency across documents. Anyone knows if
>>>>> this has been discussed/decided at some point?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I thought it's in the RPC/RFC-editor style guide: no U in honour. American
>>>> spellings.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Michael Richardson <[email protected]> . o O ( IPv6 IøT consulting )
>>>> Sandelman Software Works Inc, Ottawa and Worldwide
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> ** My working hours and your working hours may be different. **
>>>> ** Please do not feel obligated to reply outside your normal working hours
>>>> **
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
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>>> 
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> 
> 
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> IPv4 is over
> Are you ready for the new Internet ?
> http://www.theipv6company.com
> The IPv6 Company
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> 
> This electronic message contains information which may be privileged or
> confidential. The information is intended to be for the exclusive use of
> the individual(s) named above and further non-explicilty authorized
> disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this
> information, even if partially, including attached files, is strictly
> prohibited and will be considered a criminal offense. If you are not the
> intended recipient be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or
> use of the contents of this information, even if partially, including
> attached files, is strictly prohibited, will be considered a criminal
> offense, so you must reply to the original sender to inform about this
> communication and delete it.
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