Would UK English drive away potential US English costumers?

American spelling tends to be more....incorrect

Like many of us Brits, I suspect it's the wasting of so much tea that has really upset him. It works much better for everyone with America being separate...but the tea!!!

Seriously though, I doubt it matters. I usually write in US-English because English people are better at dealing with Americanisms, in my experience anyway. You always get the odd gimp, though.

Firstly I want to point out that this is an issue in reverse. Many British people are very resistant to 'Americanisms' and get upset that things are usually priced in dollars - even when being sold by a British person, from Britain. I am used to dealing on the internet and realise this is just for convenience, but I know my father, for example, simply won't consider buying things in dollars. To him it seems dangerous and confusing.

I have no doubt at all that there are plenty of British folk who would not buy from any advert that seemed particularly American - just like I am told that French people dislike buying from very English sites (there must be loads of examples of these).

I also have to add that many Americans who are selling worldwide (ie info products) seem to forget this and slant their copy with a massive American bias, which loses them sales. If you are selling a book on getting backlinks, for example, what logic is there in saying things like 'In America today...' or 'We Americans...' This is a book that can be used by anyone, surely, not just Americans I have seen this plenty of times, and, like most British people, feel hurt that an American is assuming everyone else is too, it is unnecessary and a bit rude.

One of my best friends recently told me she had seen a site selling hair straightener for her tight afro curls. She had wanted the product, but refused to buy from the company because they kept saying 'African-American hair' in it. She HAS African ancestry, many generations back, but has never been to America, nor got anything to do with that country - she is English. She is black with afro hair. She said she won't buy from this company as they clearly 'only want to sell to Americans' which she finds hurtful - lost sales there, just because of a poorly chosen term

Of course, a British (or any other nationality) person shouldn't do the same thing either!!! I have no doubt that you guys have seen British and other sites being equally rude to their international customers.

I have been selling to a mainly American market for many years. I do make some compromises with my language, such as calling trousers 'pants' or saying 'spelled' instead of 'spelt'. British people tend to be far more aware what the American versions of words are than vice versa - this is no doubt simply because we see a LOT of US films and tv programmes.

Overall I want to be true to my own language, of course. Why shouldn't I be? We should all be proud of our heritage. I do want to sell my stuff though, and so am happy making small changes if it improves OVERALL legibility for everyone! This makes sense to me.

Oh, and I am ashamed to say that I have been paid good money to do voice overs for American radio shows and clubs because they like my somewhat upper-class English accent. I don't know what that should be, but hey, money is money - and now I sound like a total voice-whore, don't I?

I'm glad not be alone, there. The thing is: "costumer" is actually quite a common typo for "customer", and I can never think of a good one-liner in response to it. We'll really have to do a bit better, here ... :p