Re: British or American spelling in IETF docs

-ize is recommended by Fowler and Fowler who are the authority on such
matters.

How things are spelled is pretty inconsequential so long as the reader
understands which word is indicated. The only circumstance in which it
makes a difference is when the phrase 'checks and balances' is written
'cheques and balances'.

What does matter is use of the Oxford comma.


On Sun, Aug 9, 2026 at 2:12 AM Nick Hilliard <[email protected]> wrote:

> The rfc editor uses US spelling, exclusively. I’ve been hauled up in the
> past for -ise, -our, which, and other minor imperialist impositions.
>
> Nick
>
> Sent from my iWotsit.
>
> > On 8 Aug 2026, at 13:42, John C Klensin <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > Jordi,
> >
> > I don't think we benefit from more rules unless there are really good
> > reasons for them.  As we have seen over and over again, in many
> > cases, they eventually lead hair-splitting and long drawn out
> > arguments.  Brian's example of -ize and -ise is just one example of
> > the problems we can get into.  Whichever choice is made, sooner or
> > later there will be inconsistency between document text and
> > references.  Automatic translation program have been able to deal
> > with the differences for many years.  So, unless there is a much more
> > compelling reason than I've seen so far, let's just stick with this
> > being an author choice issue as long as there is  consistency within
> > a document (and even that informed by good sense).
> >
> >   john
> >
> >
> > --On Saturday, August 8, 2026 11:51 +0200
> > "[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-an
> >>> d-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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