American tickets?

I recently received my preliminary documentation for my upcoming cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2. I couldn't help but notice a few "Americanisms" in the spelling and grammar- noticably "Traveling" instead of "Travelling". I understand that Cunard are owned by an American company but surely a brand still marketed so strongly as British should be using "English" English?

I know this is really petty, but surely the running of Cunard remains in the UK, in the same way as P&O? Why else are they building Victoria to concentrate on the UK market when the QE2 gracefully retires in a few years?

Any thoughts? Can't wait to add to my ticket collection in a few weeks!!

I recently received my preliminary documentation for my upcoming cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2. I couldn't help but notice a few "Americanisms" in the spelling and grammar- noticably "Traveling" instead of "Travelling". I understand that Cunard are owned by an American company but surely a brand still marketed so strongly as British should be using "English" English?

 

I know this is really petty, but surely the running of Cunard remains in the UK, in the same way as P&O? Why else are they building Victoria to concentrate on the UK market when the QE2 gracefully retires in a few years?

 

Any thoughts? Can't wait to add to my ticket collection in a few weeks!!

You know, I am an American, but I always learned doubling the consonant went adding ING. I am constantly getting words caught in Spell Check in Microsloth Word or email clients.

So chalk it up to Spell Chequers (!) and don't give it another thought. After all, they do use the favoured British OUR instead of or on appropriate words.

Karie,

Who really doesn't mind that our Briitsh Cousins can't spell worth a darn (ducking!) <G>

Wow A triple post. I'm Good!

Who says I post too much!

Third time is a charm!

but surely the running of Cunard remains in the UK,

'Fraid not. They may be American owned, with a head office in California now, but before that the were Norwegian owned with a head office in Florida! And before that, "British" owned with their head office in New York!

Not even sure when the head office moved from UK to US.

Have a great trip when the time comes. Regards, Colin.

Thanks Colin,

I don't mind differences in spelling- I'm right with the Americans on "thru", our way is just cheating at Scrabble!

I'm just not happy with the quality of the documents so far I'm afraid. Call me picky, any many do, but I was hoping a brand that marketed itself as such as high-end "British" line (I'm aware of the mixed heritage - Samuel Cunard was after all Canadian) would do a little better.

I'm just not happy with the quality of the documents so far I'm afraid. Call me picky, any many do, but I was hoping a brand that marketed itself as such as high-end "British" line would do a little better.

The documents are also full of inaccuracies (particularly when talking about dress). You will find that the brochure says that the dress code is applied in a certain way, the documentation gives you three different options and, once you get onboard, you'll find that something different applies! The best idea is to rely on the consensus here.:)

Thanks Colin,

 

I don't mind differences in spelling- I'm right with the Americans on "thru", our way is just cheating at Scrabble!

 

I'm just not happy with the quality of the documents so far I'm afraid. Call me picky, any many do, but I was hoping a brand that marketed itself as such as high-end "British" line (I'm aware of the mixed heritage - Samuel Cunard was after all Canadian) would do a little better.

I don't mind the Americanisms, but it's also riddled with grammatical errors.

Colwill (a self-confessed pedant)

I recently received my preliminary documentation for my upcoming cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2. I couldn't help but notice a few "Americanisms" in the spelling and grammar- noticably

Is 'upcoming' an American term?

Colwill

Is 'upcoming' an American term?

Chiefly N. Amer according to the OED.......

Peter

Chiefly N. Amer according to the OED.......

 

Peter

LOL Fair enough! I'll stop worrying about the spellings and concentrate on getting some form of ticket, sorry, "travel summary". ;)

I see what you mean about the information inaccuracies though, nightmare!

Samuel Cunard was after all Canadian

Not if you'd asked him - he would have called himself 'British' - he died, before there was a 'Canada' - he lived, and died in 'British North America'.

Peter

My God, at least you have a pleather ticket pack. Some of us have manifest at the dock without luggage tags. If we do the roundtrip the tickets for the Westbound will arrive when we have left the country.

As far as Americanisms.....we love our cousins.

Being an Ameican I could apologize for the improper grammer, spelling and such but I won't as I blame it on our terrible education system. it has been in free fall for close to 50 years now.

Considering the documents come from the office in California be happy they are not in Spanish.

Not if you'd asked him - he would have called himself 'British' - he died, before there was a 'Canada' - he lived, and died in 'British North America'.

 

Peter

True, but he only missed the Dominion of Canada by two years. And it's still a shame that the QM2 stocks not one Canadian beer (even though I much prefer English ale, eh).

Paul

Considering the documents come from the office in California be happy they are not in Spanish.

That would have been much more likely when the offices were in Miami. :rolleyes:

But so what, after all, how many of us are Native American????

Esto fue, es, y siempre será un país de inmigrantes.

But so what, after all, how many of us are Native American????

It's not uncommon for Native American recruits to the armed forces to list "English" among their foreign language skills. And they're right. But, as you said, so what? What matters is getting accurate information from Cunard however they spell it.

Paul

I recently received my preliminary documentation for my upcoming cruise on the Queen Elizabeth 2. I couldn't help but notice a few "Americanisms" in the spelling and grammar- noticably "Traveling" instead of "Travelling". I understand that Cunard are owned by an American company but surely a brand still marketed so strongly as British should be using "English" English?

 

I know this is really petty, but surely the running of Cunard remains in the UK, in the same way as P&O? Why else are they building Victoria to concentrate on the UK market when the QE2 gracefully retires in a few years?

 

Any thoughts? Can't wait to add to my ticket collection in a few weeks!!

There is an odd mix in International English. I always thought that it was odd that American Express Traveller's Cheques in US Funds still conformed to International English.

We have the problem to umpteenth levels in Canada. Packaging needs to be bilingual in Canada (English and French) and yet despite the fact that they need to print packaging for Canada you sometimes see Americanisms on the packaging, such as color, gray and center. Sometimes you look at it and just wonder what is wrong with this.

Still, in other ways Canada follows some of the American spelling rules, like tire instead of tyre and curb instead of kerb.

Want to get things worse? Entrée is a synonym for appetizer in Canada, though we are seeing more people using the Americanism. We have lieutenant pronounced the same way as in the UK (it doesn't sound like someone who lives in a toilet... a loo tenant). But you can spell it meter or metre and they are both legal.

Being specific about it, American is a subset of English. (I'm going to get flamed for that one!)

That's on of the great things about sailing on the Queens. You get English spoken in six or seven different languages.

....I don't mind differences in spelling- I'm right with the Americans on "thru", our way is just cheating at Scrabble!...

English has two main origins, Germanic and Romantic. The Germanic has a tendency to be concise and to the point. Eat, Go, Do. The Romantic has a tendency to be longer. The main reason being that French court reporters were paid by the letter and had a tendency to pad their pay. Which might explain why there are over 20 letters that can be silent in French. Queue, Alight come to mind. (Though I have a feeling that these words might send many North Americans to a dictionary.)

...

But so what, after all, how many of us are Native American????....

If you were Native American, I would expect that you might be speaking Cree, Algonquin, Hopi or any of the related languages. English is an import.

Being specific about it, American is a subset of English. (I'm going to get flamed for that one!)

Nonsense, put your fire extinguisher away. But the word is you want is "superset", because we have all of yours plus all of ours. (My wife still hasn't forgiven me for using your "farl" to win a Scrabble game on the last turn.)

Paul

(I meant that some people will flame me. Some people get touchy.)

I'm Canadian. We have our own unique mix of both and in Montreal we have our own unique additions. For example.... I am going to the dep to use the guichet and I'll stop by the SAQ on the way back to pick up the bottles for the cinq à sept we are having on the terrasse. Or other oddities like: stage (pronounces stahj - an internship), localisation, location (rental) or subvention.

If I remember correctly, the OED is the largest dictionary on earth.

I'm American, Ephraim, my brother is Canadian. We disagree about everything except nationality and good food (for which my wife and I often drive to Montreal, where he lives). Enjoy your OED et votre Larousse aussi, eh.

Paul

That would have been much more likely when the offices were in Miami. :rolleyes:

But so what, after all, how many of us are Native American????

 

Esto fue, es, y siempre será un país de inmigrantes.

Is this why I can't watch cricket here? Particularly at this time the ongoing World Cup?

 

If you were Native American, I would expect that you might be speaking Cree, Algonquin, Hopi or any of the related languages. English is an import

That was my point. ;)

And Spanish was spoken in California and throughout the American Southwest long before the Yanquees showed up.