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Mike Stone asks about the difference between practice and practise, defence and defense.
Are they UK/US differences or is it something to with their use as nouns/verbs. I’ve never been able to find a good simple explanation.
Differences between some -ce, -se words do reflect a difference between British and American spelling.
British: defence, offence, pretence,
American: defense, offense, pretense
As for practice, practise, making a distinction in spelling between the noun and the verb is British usage:
practise [prăk'tĭs] (verb) – The doctor plans to practise medicine in Yorkshire.
practice [prăk'tĭs] (noun) – He hopes to build up quite a good practice.
In American usage, both the noun and verb forms are spelled the same:
The doctor practiced medicine in his home town.
In the case of advise and advice, however, both British and American usage agree:
advise [ ăd-vīz' ] verb – He advised the students to take typing.
advice [ ăd-vīs' ] noun She was glad that she followed his advice.
NOTE: I must have lived in the UK too long: pretence looks better to me than pretense!
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Pray, what’s the deal with license/licence?
I prefer British English to America English when it comes to the written form; I always have. However, when it comes to the spoken versions, I have mixed feelings. There are certain American words and pronounciations that I feel are superior to their British counterparts. Although, when it comes to slang, Brits have Americans beat hands down. I write and speak both; having developed a dialect that consists of an eclectic mix of American & British English with a sprinkling of of small-town Texan and NE England mackem.
Dan – as far as I am aware, licence is BrE and license is AmE.
I think in BrE, license is the verb and licence is the noun. Not sure of the AmE equivalent.
Licence/license warrants a post of its own. Stay tuned.
I can confirm that in British English licence is the verb and license is the noun.
Dan is correct, Gary is wrong
Everyone is wrong. Indian accent is a lot better than any of those Br and Am accents. LOL