Reply #4: Brit view

[amberdisc]

Both -ize and -ise are used in Britain and it varies with the publisher.

Some scholars prefer -ize (where appropriate) because the Greek word it comes from has a zeta, so it seems natural to use zed. -ize is less common in Britain but e.g. Oxford University Press uses it as a standard.

It doesn't surprise me that Americans find Australian and some British English difficult to distingiush. Australian is fundamentally much closer to British and especially London, although it arose from a mixing of many English dialects and came into existence in just one generation.

Note that to the British (as I am) Australian is *very* noticeably different. The problem we have is distinguishing New Zealand and Australian dialects. Ozzies and Kiwis recognize each other very easily I believe, but I can't tell the difference. So exposure and local familiarity are important.

People in Scotland easily recognize the region, even town, other Scots come from. I can only manage Glasgow/Edinburgh/Highlands (maybe).