A continuing theme on Nature Network has been differences between the various versions of the English Language and whether forms of word use are confined to one region or another. See recent discussions on -ize/-ise for example. It has become customary to use reference sources to support claims wi the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)being a favoured choice by many.

It may come as a surprise to some that the OED regards itself as an authority on the use of English and not an authority on the allowed use of the language. To quote from the preface to the 3rd edition: “The Oxford English Dictionary has been the principal dictionary of record for the English language throughout the lifetime of all current users of the language.” So it will record variants in spelling and date their use with sources thus recording the evolution of the language.

Unlike many other languages, there is no national or supernational body to define “official English”, the language is left to evolve in a gentle way and adopt words and usage as it sees fit. Spelling variants are part of its charm (difficulty to non-native speakers). Attempts to regularize English spelling (e,g. Webster’s attempts) force a straitjacket on evolution or (worse still) attempt to regularize spelling to a single regional variant of pronunciation.

For a major international language, English seems to have the ability of being understood even when the grammar and spelling are incorrect. This is a good thing because, as the saying goes: the international language of science is bad English.