Re: British or American spelling in IETF docs

> Il 10/08/2026 05:47 CEST Narelle Clark <[email protected]> ha scritto:
> 
> 'Tabling a proposal' to an Australian, and I believe to an English
> person, means to put it on the table, or agenda, for discussion. To an
> American, it means deferring the discussion.
> 
> So I expect you to talk about it, and talk about it now, but the
> Americans expect you won't.
> 
> This difference in idiom is more the issue than largely trivial
> differences in spelling. People should write with enough clarity that
> these differences in communication are able to either be clarified in
> the text, or understood when relevant to IETF technical specification.

In most cases, the solution to this problem is to avoid using idiomatic sentences when writing formal documents, which is a good writing principle anyway. Metaphors bear the same risk, as different cultures may have different attitudes towards pieces of paper on a table; same for euphemisms, sarcasm and rhetoric in general. Being objective, descriptive and boringly dull should be enough.

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