Talk:Oxford spelling

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[edit] Examples are too limited and redundant

The table in the article needs to reduce the number of -ize/-ise examples and expand to include the troublesome -ll- cases (“marvel[l]ous”). Some compounds, like fiberoptic (but not really fibreoptic), might be useful. – joeclark 22:07, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] As a standard?

IMHO, Oxford spelling would be a very adequate spelling standard for Wikipedia articles with academic topics. Nobbie 22:53, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cooperate, medieval and standard

This is a reply to

1) OED DOES hyphenate "co-operate," and is in fact well known for its use of hyphens. 2) mediEval is probably commoner than mediAEval in BrE. 3) re "standard": watch your terminology, mister!

1. It doesn't, actually. I have here in front of me the 11th edition of the COD and it spells cooperate. It gives the hyphenated form as an alternative spelling (read: non-Oxford spelling). So does the online Oxford dictionary.
2. I often read the 'mediaeval is en-GB, medieval is en-GB-oed' claim, but I'm not going to start an edit war over it. If you insist medieval is more common, let's assume you're right.
3. I don't like the term "standard British English" either, but I thought I'd use it because the article uses it too (" The use of -ize instead of -ise does not affect the spelling of words ending in -yse, which are spelt analyse, paralyse and catalyse in line with standard British usage"). MrTroy 21:38, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

"Oxford spelling" simply means "British spelling in combination with -ize instead of -ise". It is not connected to a specific dictionary. User:JackLumber was right. In the OED, the head word is spelt "co-operate". Although it should be noted that the entry for "co-operate" dates from the second revision 1989, in the next update they might switch to "cooperate", because the spelling without a hyphen has become more common.
For medieval, the OED gives "medieval". "mediaeval" is becoming increasingly rare.
What you are referring to is the "Concise Oxford English Dictionary" (COD), a dictionary that is based on the OED and designed to be used in daily life. The OED however is a scientific reference, a huge database and the entries look very different from the entries in the COD. The focus is on etymology, historical usage etc... I doubt that you have access to the OED. I can use it via a university library account. A personal subcription is very expensive... See: [1] SpNeo 17:11, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
To clarify the word "standard": there is no such thing as "Standard British English" or "Standard American English". Even a narrower discription like "Oxford spelling" leaves room for some variation. What you need is a system of spelling prescribed by a specific dictionary, every copy editor knows that. A good style guide should provide such information. For example, here I quote one of my favourite style guides (ITU) [2]:
In line with United Nations practice, the spelling given in the current edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (COD) should generally be followed. Where alternative forms are given in the COD, the preferred spelling should be used. The preferred spelling is the one which is presented first (e.g. "judgement, judgment": use "judgement". [...]
SpNeo 17:25, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Standard means substantially uniform and well established by usage in the speech and writing of the educated and widely recognized as acceptable (Merriam-Webster). For example, lay meaning "lie" and irregardless are usually regarded as "nonstandard." Truth be told, grammarians and, in some cases, lexicographers, label whatever they don't like as "nonstandard." But if Oxford is not standard then England is a republic. And anyway this article seems to be pretty useless and/or redundant—cf. American and British spelling differences, International English, and the spelling section of WP:MoS. JackLumber. 21:59, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
"Oxford spelling" simply means "British spelling in combination with -ize instead of -ise". It is not connected to a specific dictionary.
Wrong. Oxford Spelling means "spelling in accordance with the OED". The full name is Oxford English Dictionary spelling.
The OED however is a scientific reference, a huge database and the entries look very different from the entries in the COD.
The COD originally was merely a selection and reformat of entries from the OED. Of course, with the 11th edition it's substantially different from the OED. Nowadays people using "Oxford Spelling" often follow the standard you quoted from ITU - using the COD. Technically speaking, yes, the OED hyphenates co-operate. But most contemporary publications using "Oxford Spelling" spell it cooperate. But it's a debatable point. Indeed, maybe "ITU-spelling" would be a better term for what many people call "Oxford Spelling". MrTroy 09:46, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "advertise" or "advertize"?

How are words such as "advertise", "televise", etc., handled?

Words like "advertise", "improvise", "surprise"... are always spelt with "s"! "Advertize" is usually considered incorrect in both Br. and AmE. 89.56.250.164 18:56, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Use of the serial comma?

A look at the serial comma would suggest that Oxford spelling, rather that used by Oxford University Press, would prefer to use the American-style serial comma, that is in a list item:

 Item 1, Item 2, Item 3, and Item 4

Whereas the standard British English being without a comma before the last item, i.e.:

 Item 1, Item 2, Item 3 and Item 4

--J. Atkins (talk | contribs) 16:26, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Advice for users of Oxford spelling

I don't know of any software that offers an en-GB-oed spell-check dictionary, but where the choice is available, en-CA (Canadian English) is a better choice than en-US or en-GB. -- Evertype·✆ 09:08, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

There is one: http://en-gb.pyxidium.co.uk/dictionary/OOo.php SpNeo (talk) 01:11, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
Alas. If only I used OpenOffice. (I use Quark mostly.) -- Evertype·✆ 13:46, 13 March 2008 (UTC)