Spell Checking in OS X - British English?

[miniConvert]

Hey folks!

My Mac mini is set to English, United Kingdom with British checked in Intenational's Input Menu. However, it still tries to correct my spellings (in iChat and such) to American ones!

Any ideas? It's driving me loopy

 

[Applespider]

Click in a text box where you are typing - and use Command : (or go to Edit>Spelling) to bring up a Spelling dialogue box where you can change the dictionary to British English.

 

[miniConvert]

Thanks! And so quick!

Now why the hell didn't OS X figure that out by itself *shakes head*. Still, my Windows machine randomly switches back to American English and sometimes even to an American keyboard layout when it gets really bored, so I'll not moan

Thanks again! Easter Chocolate++!

 

[nfcatt]

What about in Pages?

Hi,

Tried the above in Pages but I can't seem to find an option to change dictionaries... any ideas?

Thanks..

 

[skubish]

Hi,

Tried the above in Pages but I can't seem to find an option to change dictionaries... any ideas?

Thanks..

When you click EDIT-->SPELLING the popup menu has a box in it to change the language.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

For Pages, look in the Inspector palette under Text/More. There's a Language option there.

 

[nfcatt]

Hi,

Thanks Jaffa Cake!

Don't suppose you know a way of making it default to the language I choose when I open a new document? I'm guessing that I need to save it as the default template - but what is the default templates name / where is it located etc...????

Thanks for all the help!!!

 

[bousozoku]

I'm surprised that there isn't a spelling default since there is a system-wide spell checker. I wasn't surprised at the (almost arrogant) wording in the list. Odd that it doesn't say American English--only English.

 

[Ish]

Don't suppose you know a way of making it default to the language I choose when I open a new document? I'm guessing that I need to save it as the default template - but what is the default templates name / where is it located etc...????

What I did was to create my own blank template. Open a blank template, change the language as described by Jaffa Cake and any other changes that you want (in my case I turned off hyphenation as it doesn't know the rules). Go to File > Save as template. You can then call it what you want - maybe something like "REAL English template" *ducks*! If you save it in the default "My Templates", when you open a new document you can either scroll down the templates and find it at the bottom or click on My templates and then on that. It's one or two more steps than opening the default template, which is a bit annoying. Haven't found a way to designate another as a default. Has anyone else?

Having said all that, a friend of mine changed Apple's blank template so it has British English [HA!] by default but I don't know how it was done. I'll ask.

I use Pages a lot and I do like it, but when it changes so that we have full control over every choice, I'll like it a lot better. Yes, and a system-wide language default would be even better. I've already made these suggestions to Apple but nothing has happened so far. (Sorry Apple; thanks a lot for autocorrect!) Some more voices added would make more noise!

 

[Nermal]

Any ideas? It's driving me loopy

Sys Prefs > International > Edit List > British English

 

[Chundles]

Well, that's been bugging me for ages and now it's fixed. I wonder what the difference between Australian and British English is?

Let me see.

Straya - nope, that's been underlined.
Flamin Galah - nope, underlined
Boonie - nope, underlined
Bogan - nope, underlined

Ah well, at least there's no nasty red line under the following:
Colour
Harbour
Humour
Fervour
Neighbour
Aluminium!!!

Much better.

 

[Ish]

Wonder why the dictionary doesn't come in automatically when selecting under Input in system preferences?

 

[nfcatt]

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[neocell]

..snip
Ah well, at least there's no nasty red line under the following:
~snip~
Aluminium!!!

Much better.

I though everyone spelt it that way (ie the correct way), it's just us idiots on this continent don't pronounce it properly?

By the way, what's the difference between Canadian, British and Ausie English? Spelling wise, not accents or colloquialisms

 

[yellow]

I though everyone spelt it that way (ie the correct way), it's just us idiots on this continent don't pronounce it properly?

No, Americans spell it "aluminum". Sans 2nd i.

By the way, what's the difference between Canadian, British and Ausie English?

Do Canadians say "lorry" and "lift"?

 

[neocell]

No, Americans spell it "aluminum". Sans 2nd i.

I know that the way it's pronounced but are you sure that's the way it's spelt. If it is they're just bastardising the language completely.

Do Canadians say "lorry" and "lift"?

I would categorise that as colloquialisms
And generally no. Truck and elevator, maybe lift, but pretty much never lorry.

apparently canadian english wanted bastardizing

So I guess we're somewhere halfway between the proper - British, and the improper - American

**EDIT**
I stand corrected, maybe, if you can believe Wikipedia. Apparently it wasn't illiterate americans that screwed up the spelling, but just grumpy scientists not agreeing on how to spell it (check the spelling part of the page).
Gotta keep a check on my anti-USA tendencies

 

[yellow]

I would categorise that as colloquialisms

You would? I wouldn't. There's no one in the UK that calls a truck a truck, AFAIK.

And yes, I'm quite sure that's the way aluminum is spelled.

Gotta keep a check on my anti-USA tendencies

That would be nice. You may not know this, but not all of us are idiots.

 

[neocell]

Maybe I used colloquialism too broadly, but I was trying to differentiate between the spelling of words, versus the word itself.

 

[Applespider]

You would? I wouldn't. There's no one in the UK that calls a truck a truck, AFAIK.

I've known a few lorry drivers who have called them trucks. Our logistics manager at work also calls them trucks and trailers rather than lorries.

Course... it's a lot easier to say "red truck, yellow truck" ten times fast than it it to say 'red lorry, yellow lorry'

 

[yellow]

American English will supplant all...

 

[mrichmon]

Maybe I used colloquialism too broadly, but I was trying to differentiate between the spelling of words, versus the word itself.

You seem to be talking about the commonly used words. But even with commonly used words you can run into problems.

For example, though "Lorry" is commonly used in the UK, if someone uses the word "Truck" instead they will generally be understood. The reverse of using "Lorry" in the USA rather than "Truck" in many cases there will be no understanding. (I don't want to speak about other areas of North America since I don't have that much exposure to the other bits.)

Similarly, being an Australian, it is natural for me to talk about a "trolley" to refer to a shopping cart or basically any small wheeled conveyance. I've lost count of the number of times I've used the word "trolley" as in "can you tell be where the trolleys are?" in the USA and either been given a confused look, or been directed up the road to the trolley stop. (Tram stop for the Australians and Brits reading.) The word "cart" is understood in the USA, but is not commonly used in Australia but would be generally understood.

Some other combinations don't run into this sort of problem: in Australia the phrase would be "I'm going to the shops.", in the USA it would be "I'm going to the store.". The Store/Shop pair of words will generally be understood in either the USA or Australia but there is still a preference that seppo's[1] use the word "store", and Australians use the word "shop".

[1] There is no convenient word to refer to USAians and in this kind of discussion I'd had a troll to wander in and start complaining that not all North Americans are from the USA. "Seppo" is rhyming slang for Yank.

 

[neocell]

I hear you, and I understand your point but just to reiterate I was more interested in how the word was spelled/spelt not the actual word itself

for example: lorry vs lorrie or nite vs night
NOT: lorry vs truck, or trolly vs cart

 

[Ish]

Some other combinations don't run into this sort of problem: in Australia the phrase would be "I'm going to the shops.", in the USA it would be "I'm going to the store.". The Store/Shop pair of words will generally be understood in either the USA or Australia but there is still a preference that seppo's[1] use the word "store", and Australians use the word "shop".

I'd never normally say store instead of shop with the sole exception of the Apple Store. It would sound just as odd to say I'm going to the Apple Shop! We seem to have taken the thread off on a tangent but it's an interesting conversation. Has anyone read Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson? It's very interesting and also very amusing in parts. Maybe we should have another thread?

 

[Chundles]

As far as I'm aware, there is no difference in any way between British and Strayan English, Canadian English is sort of halfway between American English and British English:

Rubber things around the wheels on your car:
British/Australian/New Zealand/etc. etc. = Tyre
US/Canada = Tire

 

[Applespider]

I'd never normally say store instead of shop with the sole exception of the Apple Store. It would sound just as odd to say I'm going to the Apple Shop! We seem to have taken the thread off on a tangent but it's an interesting conversation. Has anyone read Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson? It's very interesting and also very amusing in parts. Maybe we should have another thread?

Funnily enough our old MD used to say that we are a 'shop' not a department store.

Mother Tongue is excellent and well worth a read for anyone interested in etymology. Made in America is also a good investment since it has more discussion on why specifically the US branch of English is different and some reasons on why.