I’m American, dammit!
I used the word ‘misdemeanor’ in a Twitter post and – as you can see – it was underlined in red as an error. So I checked the dictionary, carefully copied and past the word – still red underline. That did a number on my confidence.
So I came over here to post about it and it was underlined here.
That’s when the penny dropped – it was looking for the British spelling, misdemeanour. At some point – it hasn’t been all along – all of my apps have decided I’m British and they try to correct my American spellings.
Anyone know where that switch is?
p.s. Dead Pool tomorrow!
Posted: February 19th, 2026 under personal.
Comments: 5
Comments
Comment from aelf
Time: February 19, 2026, 10:23 pm
American but prefer British spelling so I can appreciate the annoyance.
Comment from QuasiModo
Time: February 19, 2026, 10:31 pm
Americans starting getting rid of the U in the typesetting days when you had to plug each letter into a stamp…they did it to save effort.
Comment from Uncle AL
Time: February 19, 2026, 11:28 pm
Windows:
Settings → Time & language → Language & region
There are several choices that can be made there. I suspect one of them will apply.
Or:
Settings → Time & language → Typing
Turn OFF “Highlight misspelled words” to sit on your seat belt.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: February 20, 2026, 2:54 am
We don’t worry about spelling any more.
We spell hamster with a P and we use words like skibidi.
Comment from Quetzalovercoatl
Time: February 20, 2026, 9:46 am
I’ve been living in the UK and Ireland for just over 30 years now and I have completely lost all track of the differences as I’ve flip-flopped back and forth on various devices between UK and US. I don’t spell tire with a ‘y’ but I do chuck the occasional useless ‘u’ into humour.
In the 80s a friend of mine roomed in college with an English guy, very nice, whip smart, did very well. Except he spelled all of his words with the UK spelling and always got marks taken off for it by… his English professor (the course, not the professor). His argument was that he was using the correct and original spellings and he was willing to take the hit.
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