American and British English differences

Punctuation

• Full stops/Periods in abbreviations: Americans tend to write "Mr.", "Mrs.", "St.", "Dr." etc., while British will usually, but not always, write "Mr", "Mrs", "St", "Dr" (or even "D'r"), etc., following the rule that a period is used only when the last letter of the abbreviation is not the last letter of the complete word. However, many British writers would tend to write other abbreviations without a full stop, such as "Prof", "etc", "eg", and so on (so recommended by some Oxford dictionaries). The rationale behind this usage is that it is typographically more elegant, and that the omitted periods are essentially superfluous, as the reader recognizes the abbreviation without them. It also removes ambiguity by reserving the period for ending sentences. However, the "American" usage of periods after most abbreviations is also widely used in Britain. Note that in either case it is incorrect to put a period after units such as kg for kilogram or Hz for hertz, as these are considered unit symbols, not abbreviations.
• It is sometimes believed that British English does not hyphenate multiple-word adjectives, such as "a first class ticket". This usage is rare, and often considered incorrect. The most common form is as in American English, such as "a first-class ticket".
• Quoting: Americans start with double quotation marks (") and use single quotation marks (') for quotations within quotations. In general this is also true of British English but can be the opposite when used in book publishing, for example. In journals and newspapers, quotation mark double/single use depends on the individual publication's house style.
• Contents of quotations: Americans are taught to put commas and periods inside quotation marks, whereas Britons will put the punctuation inside if it belongs to the quote and outside otherwise. This means that direct speech retains punctuation inside inverted commas in British English also, with a full stop changing into a comma if followed by explanatory text.
• Carefree means "free from care or anxiety." (American style)
• Carefree means "free from care or anxiety". (British style)
• "Hello world," I said. (both styles)

: The American style was established for typographical reasons, having to do with the aesthetics of commas and quotation marks in typeset text. It also usefully eliminates the need to decide whether a period or comma belongs to the quotation. However, many people find the usage counterintuitive. Hart's Rules and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors call the British style "new" or "logical" quoting; it is similar to the use of quotation marks in many other languages (including Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, and German). This "logical" style is increasingly popular in America, although formal writing generally calls for the "American" style. In fact, the British style is often the de facto standard among Americans for whom formal or professional writing is not a part of their daily life; many are in fact unaware that the normative American usage is to place commas and periods within the quotation marks. (This rule of placing all punctuation inside quotation if and only if it belongs to the quotation is expressly prescribed by some American professional organisations such as the American Chemical Society; see ACS Style Guide.) According to the Jargon File, American hackers have switched to using "logical" British quotation system, because including extraneous punctuation in a quotation can sometimes change the fundamental meaning of the quotation. More generally, it is difficult for computer manuals, online instructions, and other textual media to accurately quote exactly what a computer user should see or type on their computer.

Related Topics:
Hart's Rules - Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors - Formal writing - Jargon File - Hackers

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• Letter-writing: American students in some areas have been taught to write a colon after the greeting in business letters ("Dear Sir:") while Britons usually write a comma ("Dear Sir,") or make use of the so-called open punctuation ("Dear Sir"). However, this practice is not consistent throughout the United States, and it would be regarded as a highly formal usage by most Americans.