Despite being a very important part of proofreading, spelling is an area of work which many businesses tend to overlook. Some do not know much about the differences between British and American spellings, and thus the mistake of presenting both types of spelling in the same document/book.

The differences are aplenty: digitalisation/digitalization; digitise/digitize; colour/color; licence/license; defence/defense; football/soccer; minimisation/minimization; minimise/minimize; minimising/minimizing; criticise/criticize; metre/meter; centimetre/centimeter; millimetre/millimeter; favour/favor; favourite/favorite; judgement/judgment; counsellor/counselor; aesthetics/esthetics; victimise/victimize; victimisation/victimization; victimising/victimizing; emphasise/emphasize; emphasisng/emphasizing; paediatrics/pediatrics; gynaecology/gynecology.

And many more. I find some books to be mixing both types of spelling. This is apparently a lack of one last step from the editor to proofread the spellings to make sure the wording is strictly following either British or American spelling.

Write to me if you need my proofreading input: keith@keithyeow.com

校對其中一個重要環節就是檢查拼字,但是多數公司都會忽略了這一點。有些人不知道英式與美式拼法之間的差別,因此在同一文件或書本中呈現兩個不同寫法。

英美拼法差異多不勝數,我想了一想,信手拈來就有這些:
digitalisation與digitalization;digitise與digitize;colour與color;licence與license;defence與defense;football與soccer;minimisation與minimization;minimise與minimize;minimising與minimizing;criticise與criticize;metre與meter;centimetre與centimeter;millimetre與millimeter;favour與favor;favourite與favorite;judgement與judgment;counsellor與counselor;aesthetics與esthetics;victimise與victimize;victimisation與victimization;victimising與victimizing;emphasise與emphasize;emphasisng與emphasizing;paediatrics與pediatrics;gynaecology與gynecology。

這些詞彙祇是冰山一角。有些書混合了兩種拼法,這顯然是因為編輯省略了最後一個最重要的校對工作以確保整本書或整份文件都是緊跟英式或美式英文的拼字。

這一校對工作其實我幫得上忙,歡迎來信詢問:keith@keithyeow.com