I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
I think the issue is to distinguish between colour and color. No hidden agenda here...
You are trying to be funny but yes that probably is part of it. Also the American dictionary probably neglects idiomatic language used in British countries. Such as fag meaning a cigarette and not a homosexual man or queue up rather than line up.
Personally I don't care myself because I have gotten used to not using the dictionary app (as many other Brits likely have) but it is nice to see Apple making an even token gesture if recognization that the US isn't the sum total of the world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by allblue
The few different spellings are a minor irritant, but there is one area of potential confusion. If you see the date notated thus: 4/5/11 what is it? For most of the world it is the fourth of May, but for Americans it is the fifth of April. You'd think these things would have been sorted by now.
Thats why I write it as 4 May 2011. Don't want to confuse the dumb Americans.
"Why did they change the name to the Madness of King George?"
"Guess they were afraid that Americans would wonder what happened in parts 1 and 2"
Thats why I write it as 4 May 2011. Don't want to confuse the dumb Americans.
I hope you?re being cheeky for comedic sake, though I agree that the American way is less natural. I have been using 12-APR-2011 format for years for that reason. We?re talking day, month, year in that order.
I?ve tried to find out why the smallest of the units was placed between the others but I couldn?t find any data on it.
The International Standard Organization writes the date is YYYY-MM-DD (ISO 8601, 1988). This make a lot of sense for a digital age. We should all jump to this format and never look back.
My turn to be irreverent? The British have no room to talk about standards when they use MPH for speed while at the same time using KM for distance; weighing people in stones and ounces, and using both F° and C° temperatures depending on whatever value sounds more dramatic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by professorsteve
I hope that Lion includes a Latin dictionary.
Thre are plenty of plugins for Apple?s Dictionary app.
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
Umm you do realise that Apple never included British English dictionaries don't you? They only gave us American English and all the incorrect spellings that brings.
I for one am really looking forward to this because I hate being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.
You're right though, it is called English because it was developed in England so why America lays claim to being the correct spelling is beyond me.
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
Geez, everyone's getting their political panties in a bunch. American English, British English, who cares who has more influence or where it originated from...Apple puts titles on them to differentiate, because they are different.
Just as there is traditional Chinese vs. simplified Chinese. Doesn't make one better or worse, but it's sure important to differentiate...
Umm you do realise that Apple never included British English dictionaries don't you? They only gave us American English and all the incorrect spellings that brings.
I for one am really looking forward to this because I hate being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.
You're right though, it is called English because it was developed in England so why America lays claim to being the correct spelling is beyond me.
Stupid illiterate Puritans
Apple uses the Oxford American Dictionary, which has all the British-ish spellings. They don?t remove the British spellings. They don?t keep it form being unsearchable. There are less than would be in a British dictionary but not the data is the Oxford American Dictionary.
I don?t even know where to start with your comment about ?being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.? In what way does the dictionary prevent you from spelling words the way you choose?
Apple uses the Oxford American Dictionary, which has all the British-ish spellings. They don?t remove the British spellings. They don?t keep it form being unsearchable. There are less than would be in a British dictionary but not the data is the Oxford American Dictionary.
I don?t even know where to start with your comment about ?being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.? In what way does the dictionary prevent you from spelling words the way you choose?
Really? I choose New Zealand as my region and Australian as my keyboard because there is no New Zealand for keyboard.
The DEFAULT language is English and if I use "colour" it underlines it as being wrong. Therefore I am FORCED to change it to British English which is natural for me. There is NO option to set this from the installation process. Even still, some applications do not like it if you remove "English" from the language menu and crash in the process.
"English" is NOT proper English.
Might want to do a little more research before having a go.
Really? I choose New Zealand as my region and Australian as my keyboard because there is no New Zealand for keyboard.
The DEFAULT language is English and if I use "colour" it underlines it as being wrong. Therefore I am FORCED to change it to British English which is natural for me. There is NO option to set this from the installation process. Even still, some applications do not like it if you remove "English" from the language menu and crash in the process.
"English" is NOT proper English.
Might want to do a little more research before having a go.
1) You wrote "Umm you do realise that Apple never included British English dictionaries don't you? They only gave us American English and all the incorrect spellings that brings.” but are now talking about the system’s Spellcheck.
2) I have no idea about your keyboard and language setups, but it’s irrelevant to a a discussion about the dictionary app.
3) I have no idea what you could mean by '"English" is NOT proper English.’ but it sounds elitist. Language is always changing and what is proper for one field can be inappropriate for another even within the exact same locale. Compare it with communicating with your parents to your children to your significant other to coworkers to close friends to acquaintances to strangers, etc. I certainly don’t use the same language for everyone I encounter.
4) I did do research. Even posted a screenshot of Dictionary showing British variants of spellings.
The main place in UK that still uses imperial measurements for speed is on the roads. All distances on British road signs are in miles and yards.
I haven't seen F° in years. Absolutely no mention of it on BBC weather reports by default.
But, yes, I agree with your general point. As someone from a scientific background, I wish that the UK would use SI units exclusively.
Officially I’m sure it’s Celsius, but there seemed to be a large number of people that use Fahrenheit, especially in the hotter months where the numeric value would sound more dramatic. Perhaps it’s a regional thing.
It’s not confusing as you know when it’s warm out so if you hear 30°*or 85° in regards to the temp you’ll which scale is being used. Some of the others are closer in scale and have a less obvious reference point that I’d like more universal standards, but I want that for the world at large.
I’d also like to see SI’s 10^x powers of kilo, mega, giga, …, and IEC’s 2^x*10 powers of kibi, mebi, gibi, … be utilized but I don’t see that happening in my lifetime.
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
Oh, come on, English is spoken around the world, and there are plenty of variations, as if you needed to be told. Color Vs coulor, gray Vs grey, etc, etc.
If you're wanting to say these variations should not exist, fine just say it and be done with it, but don't act ignorant.
Apple is an American company. How many US customers do you think there are Vs UK? So which dictionary should they use?
The obvious answer, though, is that they should use both. It's not like they can't afford it.
Officially I?m sure it?s Celsius, but there seemed to be a large number of people that use Fahrenheit, especially in the hotter months where the numeric value would sound more dramatic. Perhaps it?s a regional thing.
It?s not confusing as you know when it?s warm out so if you hear 30°*or 85° in regards to the temp you?ll which scale is being used. Some of the others are closer in scale and have a less obvious reference point that I?d like more universal standards, but I want that for the world at large.
I?d also like to see SI?s 10^x powers of kilo, mega, giga, ?, and IEC?s 2^x*10 powers of kibi, mebi, gibi, ? be utilized but I don?t see that happening in my lifetime.
Sometimes they quote Celsius/Fahrenheit on on local radio stations.
I grew up with a mixture of metric / imperial and I'd hate to lose MPH. I once had an Italian motorbike and its speedometer was metric so I used a imperial overlay!
It's not just useful, as I need to write good American when working in the US and good English when working in the UK, but it also shows a little maturity from Apple.
Issues such as internationalisation ( I'm in the UK this week ) are important if Apple wants to be taken seriously. The latter means business, academia or any other group of people that want to do something important to a high quality.
With regards to the nationalistic bits above, it's worth keeping in mind that America is Empire 2.0. The end of WWII was the formal handing-over ceremony, with Churchill looking at the USSR and saying "it's up to you now".
The unfortunate part is that European empire ended at a time when Europe had finally learned that war is the ultimate evil, and American dominance took over when America was learning that war makes you rich and powerful. And so history repeats itself.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for all these improvements in 10.7, but they seem paltry and somewhat trivial in comparison to Snow Leopard and the strides iOS has made. Or maybe in terms of what AppleInsider has shown, which I do appreciate nonetheless, but they seem... minor.
Have you tried GarageBand for iPad? My God, it's full of stars...! Er, I mean, it's pretty damn nifty, some of that OS X talent definitely got shunted towards GarageBand for iPad.
Comments
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
For people like me this is awe to-the some.
I think the issue is to distinguish between colour and color. No hidden agenda here...
You are trying to be funny but yes that probably is part of it. Also the American dictionary probably neglects idiomatic language used in British countries. Such as fag meaning a cigarette and not a homosexual man or queue up rather than line up.
Personally I don't care myself because I have gotten used to not using the dictionary app (as many other Brits likely have) but it is nice to see Apple making an even token gesture if recognization that the US isn't the sum total of the world.
The few different spellings are a minor irritant, but there is one area of potential confusion. If you see the date notated thus: 4/5/11 what is it? For most of the world it is the fourth of May, but for Americans it is the fifth of April. You'd think these things would have been sorted by now.
Thats why I write it as 4 May 2011. Don't want to confuse the dumb Americans.
"Why did they change the name to the Madness of King George?"
"Guess they were afraid that Americans would wonder what happened in parts 1 and 2"
... It doesn't help that I am horrible at math, which I would like to also attribute to being born in America -- though that's a stretch.
No no - no stretch. At least not if you are British.
Thats why I write it as 4 May 2011. Don't want to confuse the dumb Americans.
I hope you?re being cheeky for comedic sake, though I agree that the American way is less natural. I have been using 12-APR-2011 format for years for that reason. We?re talking day, month, year in that order.
I?ve tried to find out why the smallest of the units was placed between the others but I couldn?t find any data on it.
The International Standard Organization writes the date is YYYY-MM-DD (ISO 8601, 1988). This make a lot of sense for a digital age. We should all jump to this format and never look back.
My turn to be irreverent? The British have no room to talk about standards when they use MPH for speed while at the same time using KM for distance; weighing people in stones and ounces, and using both F° and C° temperatures depending on whatever value sounds more dramatic.
I hope that Lion includes a Latin dictionary.
Thre are plenty of plugins for Apple?s Dictionary app.
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
Umm you do realise that Apple never included British English dictionaries don't you? They only gave us American English and all the incorrect spellings that brings.
I for one am really looking forward to this because I hate being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.
You're right though, it is called English because it was developed in England so why America lays claim to being the correct spelling is beyond me.
Stupid illiterate Puritans
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
Geez, everyone's getting their political panties in a bunch. American English, British English, who cares who has more influence or where it originated from...Apple puts titles on them to differentiate, because they are different.
Just as there is traditional Chinese vs. simplified Chinese. Doesn't make one better or worse, but it's sure important to differentiate...
Umm you do realise that Apple never included British English dictionaries don't you? They only gave us American English and all the incorrect spellings that brings.
I for one am really looking forward to this because I hate being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.
You're right though, it is called English because it was developed in England so why America lays claim to being the correct spelling is beyond me.
Stupid illiterate Puritans
Apple uses the Oxford American Dictionary, which has all the British-ish spellings. They don?t remove the British spellings. They don?t keep it form being unsearchable. There are less than would be in a British dictionary but not the data is the Oxford American Dictionary.I don?t even know where to start with your comment about ?being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.? In what way does the dictionary prevent you from spelling words the way you choose?
Apple uses the Oxford American Dictionary, which has all the British-ish spellings. They don?t remove the British spellings. They don?t keep it form being unsearchable. There are less than would be in a British dictionary but not the data is the Oxford American Dictionary.I don?t even know where to start with your comment about ?being forced to spell words the American way when I always use the British way.? In what way does the dictionary prevent you from spelling words the way you choose?
Really? I choose New Zealand as my region and Australian as my keyboard because there is no New Zealand for keyboard.
The DEFAULT language is English and if I use "colour" it underlines it as being wrong. Therefore I am FORCED to change it to British English which is natural for me. There is NO option to set this from the installation process. Even still, some applications do not like it if you remove "English" from the language menu and crash in the process.
"English" is NOT proper English.
Might want to do a little more research before having a go.
Really? I choose New Zealand as my region and Australian as my keyboard because there is no New Zealand for keyboard.
The DEFAULT language is English and if I use "colour" it underlines it as being wrong. Therefore I am FORCED to change it to British English which is natural for me. There is NO option to set this from the installation process. Even still, some applications do not like it if you remove "English" from the language menu and crash in the process.
"English" is NOT proper English.
Might want to do a little more research before having a go.
1) You wrote "Umm you do realise that Apple never included British English dictionaries don't you? They only gave us American English and all the incorrect spellings that brings.” but are now talking about the system’s Spellcheck.
2) I have no idea about your keyboard and language setups, but it’s irrelevant to a a discussion about the dictionary app.
3) I have no idea what you could mean by '"English" is NOT proper English.’ but it sounds elitist. Language is always changing and what is proper for one field can be inappropriate for another even within the exact same locale. Compare it with communicating with your parents to your children to your significant other to coworkers to close friends to acquaintances to strangers, etc. I certainly don’t use the same language for everyone I encounter.
4) I did do research. Even posted a screenshot of Dictionary showing British variants of spellings.
My turn to be irreverent? The British have no room to talk about standards when they use MPH for speed while at the same time using KM for distance;
The main place in UK that still uses imperial measurements for speed is on the roads. All distances on British road signs are in miles and yards.
and using both F° and C° temperatures depending on whatever value sounds more dramatic.
I haven't seen F° in years. Absolutely no mention of it on BBC weather reports by default.
But, yes, I agree with your general point. As someone from a scientific background, I wish that the UK would use SI units exclusively.
The main place in UK that still uses imperial measurements for speed is on the roads. All distances on British road signs are in miles and yards.
I haven't seen F° in years. Absolutely no mention of it on BBC weather reports by default.
But, yes, I agree with your general point. As someone from a scientific background, I wish that the UK would use SI units exclusively.
Officially I’m sure it’s Celsius, but there seemed to be a large number of people that use Fahrenheit, especially in the hotter months where the numeric value would sound more dramatic. Perhaps it’s a regional thing.
It’s not confusing as you know when it’s warm out so if you hear 30°*or 85° in regards to the temp you’ll which scale is being used. Some of the others are closer in scale and have a less obvious reference point that I’d like more universal standards, but I want that for the world at large.
I’d also like to see SI’s 10^x powers of kilo, mega, giga, …, and IEC’s 2^x*10 powers of kibi, mebi, gibi, … be utilized but I don’t see that happening in my lifetime.
I'm not really sure the "[British]" addition was really necessary for the English dictionary. After all, there's a reason the language is called English.
Oh, come on, English is spoken around the world, and there are plenty of variations, as if you needed to be told. Color Vs coulor, gray Vs grey, etc, etc.
If you're wanting to say these variations should not exist, fine just say it and be done with it, but don't act ignorant.
Apple is an American company. How many US customers do you think there are Vs UK? So which dictionary should they use?
The obvious answer, though, is that they should use both. It's not like they can't afford it.
The obvious answer, though, is that they should use both. It's not like they can't afford it.
In that case I request they include the full version of the Oxford English Dictionary so I can save $295 a year.
Officially I?m sure it?s Celsius, but there seemed to be a large number of people that use Fahrenheit, especially in the hotter months where the numeric value would sound more dramatic. Perhaps it?s a regional thing.
It?s not confusing as you know when it?s warm out so if you hear 30°*or 85° in regards to the temp you?ll which scale is being used. Some of the others are closer in scale and have a less obvious reference point that I?d like more universal standards, but I want that for the world at large.
I?d also like to see SI?s 10^x powers of kilo, mega, giga, ?, and IEC?s 2^x*10 powers of kibi, mebi, gibi, ? be utilized but I don?t see that happening in my lifetime.
Sometimes they quote Celsius/Fahrenheit on on local radio stations.
I grew up with a mixture of metric / imperial and I'd hate to lose MPH. I once had an Italian motorbike and its speedometer was metric so I used a imperial overlay!
Lastly, double clicking with three fingers on a selected word in any standard app now brings up the inline dictionary...
I'm still trying to work that one out, let's start with the word "fie" shall we
I'm sure it's right, but ...
It's not just useful, as I need to write good American when working in the US and good English when working in the UK, but it also shows a little maturity from Apple.
Issues such as internationalisation ( I'm in the UK this week ) are important if Apple wants to be taken seriously. The latter means business, academia or any other group of people that want to do something important to a high quality.
The unfortunate part is that European empire ended at a time when Europe had finally learned that war is the ultimate evil, and American dominance took over when America was learning that war makes you rich and powerful. And so history repeats itself.
Have you tried GarageBand for iPad? My God, it's full of stars...! Er, I mean, it's pretty damn nifty, some of that OS X talent definitely got shunted towards GarageBand for iPad.