US English Spell Checking Dictionary

×

Warning message

This extension was not updated recently. It might not work with latest versions of OpenOffice.

Primary tabs

Maintainer:
TSorbera
Rating:
4.17647

Average: 4.2 (17 votes)

Application:
OpenOffice.org
Tags:
dictionary, extension, english, extension, spellchecker, extension, spell check, extension, dictionaries, extension, spell checker, extension, american, extension, american english, extension, en_US, extension, US english, extension, US, extension, USA, extension, USA english, extension
Post date:
Wednesday, 29 October, 2008 - 18:01
Statistics
Week: Not tracked - Month: Not tracked - Year: Not tracked - Timeline
Download extension
System Independent version - All releases
Compatible with OpenOffice 4: Unknown
User feedback:
Compatible with OpenOffice 4.x?

An English US (en_US, US English) dictionary for OOo 3.

US English Spell Checking Dictionary

Version Operating system Compatibility Release date
1.0 System Independent 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 29/10/2008 - 18:03 More information Download

Comments

hey English guy, for your information, the Bri'ish island is more than just England. You do have those other places outside your boarders or didn't you know.

Don't you realize that comments like this are exactly why people don't like you guys with your "English Only" stuff that makes you come off as Racist. But, yah you can have English if you want it. I don't speak English, though that is what others want to call it. I speak a much better Language, a decent language. I also happen to speak a second language that kinda sounds like the language on you little island there but you don't own it, you don't control it and for that matter why would you even come here to the US-EN spell checker page to flame! Obviously it is not your language so just stay away and do your own thing.

I will say this though, it will be funny when most a the US speaks Spanish and support for English services and the prominence of English goes down in the world. These things are only propped up by the US economy and if that Economy abandons "English" then your little island will no longer benefit from all the work done in the New World for free. You all will have to start to pay your own way to develop your own language tools and no one will want to learn your language anymore, which will have an effect on your economy. But that is ok, it is fair and it is what you appear to want. Personally, I can't wait for Spanish to take over, then people will go to live in Spain of their "learning abroad" trips. That suites me fine.

Clearly, "Englishman" has no idea what he is talking about.
I'm a linguist, and for more than 50 years now, American English has been considered one of the official standard varieties of the English language - among British English, Australian English, South African English, etc.
American English is not just a "slang" version of the English language, but it is a separate and official dialect of English! Language shift is the keyword here. British English has changed a lot as well since 1776! However, I don't wanna bore you with linguistic details here, as you seem to have a fixed (though not informed) "opinion" about this matter.

Oh, and don't even start! I'm neither American, nor English, so I'm not subjective here. Just seeing this from a scientist's point of view.

In reply to:"English is the language of England, the country of my birth and heritage.
Leaving aside the growing dominance of Spanish, 'American English' is that which can it be argued hardly exists as 'America' is a continent, not a country. Perhaps calling your bastardisation of my language 'USA English' might help, leaving plain 'English' to refer to my language?"

Reply: I am an American, Born on the "North American" Continent, and in the Country of "The United States of America" also known around the world as "America." The proper name for our language is "American English" and here in the U.S.A (America), we refer to your language as "British English," when being polite. The only "Bastardization " is your incorrect twist referencing our country and the continent. The Continent America is actually the "America's" which are North and South America. And when people speak of going to "America" it is "The United States of America." Mini_Geek is correct before changing the name, although en_US is okay too. If it titled "English" only, then American's and Britain's would mistaken it for their own language. I gather some British are still upset since 1776.
Doc_America

I felt it better to reply within my own post to others' comments mainly because it makes it easier to follow.
America, America's, USA
Haddock States:
“Well, I don't know about the dictionary, but the geography of Doc_America is quite incorrect.”
Doc's Reply:
Oh really! But I will agree with Haddock's affirmation that he “don't know about the dictionary.” He reaffirms this later by saying, “As far as I know...” He is going on his own limited knowledge here now, and I will explain later, but let's continue.

Haddock States:
“The continent of North America includes many countries. “

Doc Replies:
Well, Haddock must not have read any further then my beginning comment of “I am an American, Born on the "North American" Continent, ...” He must have stopped short of reading the complete sentence before commenting, because if he did read further, he would have read a more completed thought further in the sentence, which was “... and in the Country of "The United States of America..." So that statement clearly suggests other countries are in the North American Continent, since I specified my country and had not stopped short like he did, I was precise, and concise. Haddock would have to had agreed I was correct in my geography, but instead he stated I was “quite incorrect .” Now why would he do that? He wants to twist a correct statement of mine, and try to make it appear as incorrect, or muddied, so that his argument will seem correct. Here watch...

Haddock States:
“As far as I know very few people (outside the USA) use "America" to refer to the United States of America, as the canadian* (Canadian*) guy pointed out. And, when they do, is linguistically incorrect.”

Doc Replies:
According to Webster's Dictionary it is not “linguistically incorrect.” As a matter of fact, this is what Webster states-
Main Entry: Amer·i·ca
Pronunciation: \ə-ˈmer-ə-kə, -ˈme-rə-\
Function: geographical name
1 either continent (North America or S. America) of the western hemisphere
2or the Amer·i·cas \-kəz\ the lands of the western hemisphere including North, Central, & S. America & the West Indies
3 united states of america

The key to any argument is in being precise and concise, which Haddock is not, but I am. This is why I utilized the words Americas (although I misspelled by placing an apostrophe in it ), America, The United States of America, U.S.A., North American Continents. If one is asked or offers information on where one is going they are not going to be obscure and say America, when they are going to Mexico; However, they will say America meaning The United United States of America just because it is less of a mouthful to say, especially for those that are foreign and do not speak American English.

Haddock rambles on:
“Probably the root of the question is the English language not having a specific name for the inhabitants of the USA, as there are for most countries (France/French, Spain/Spaniard, Canada/Canadian, etc). There is no "unitedstatesan", or something like that. But there is in Spanish ("estadounidense"). “

Doc replies:
First off, Inhabitants are not necessarily citizens of that country they can be visitors from else where, so I believe Haddock meant to say "Citizens" and not "inhabitants of the U.S.A." There is, and Webster's has a word for it's citizens, the word is “Americans.” (Chuckling) That had to be the root of Haddock's question, yet it is in the dictionary, but that's right... I remember now... Haddock did say, “Well, I don't know about the dictionary.”

Again, I re-affirm that Mini-Geek was correct in using “American English” in the Global sense (because in America we refer to the American language as English rather then American English unless on a global scale) before changing it to “Us_English” to satisfy the political incorrect pressure from some. I offer facts from Webster:

Main Entry: American English
Function: noun
Date: 1805
: the English language as spoken in the United States —used especially with the implication that it is clearly distinguishable from British English yet not so divergent as to be a separate language

What does Webster have to say about US_English? No entries found. It does not exist; However, “American English exists. If it were I, I would change it back to American English just to get their goats. (slang use of goats) :-)
All these self-proclaimed linguistics should have gotten this, too. One other thought, I would not use wikipedia.org as a credible source because it is often written by those without proper knowledge, can be changed, and often is not checked for accuracy.
Some have typed about how languages change over time, and Mexican Spanish growing in the U.SA., and how American English is not proclaimed the official language of the U.S.A. Well, to keep this short
and because it has nothing to do with this debate, I'll just say say it this way...

1- languages change over time: It has nothing to do with this debate. That's dialect, but if it changes to much then it's not a language, let alone the one it supposedly derived from take Ebonics, it's not even considered American English, let alone a language.

2- Mexican Spanish growing in the U.S.A., and American English is not proclaimed the official language of the U.S.A. :
Again, nothing to do with this debate, but American English is the defacto language in government and by it's citizens. Even though it's not law, However, all legal matter is in American English, and considered the first language. Spanish in some states heavily populated by Mexicans have made Spanish a second language for legal documents. As for other languages here, that's because of all the foreigners fleeing their own countries for something better, but that's what built America, and explains why some countries hate us.

One last thought, American English is the official language used in business, around the world. The main reason is because it more concise and precise, than any other language in the world. It has more words to mean many different things, and even has words that other languages fail to have. In law and business one has to be precise and concise.

Sources:MLA Style
"America." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 20 November 2009

MLA Style
"American English." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 20 November 2009

MLA Style
"US_English." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 20 November 2009

MLA Style
"American." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009.
Merriam-Webster Online. 20 November 2009

Well, I don't know about the dictionary, but the geography of Doc_America is quite incorrect. The continent of North America includes many countries. As far as I know very few people (outside the USA) use "America" to refer to the United States of America, as the canadian guy pointed out. And, when they do, is linguistically incorrect. I think that many people from the USA assume that most everybody else do the same they do, which is not true. Probably the root of the question is the English language not having a specific name for the inhabitants of the USA, as there are for most countries (France/French, Spain/Spaniard, Canada/Canadian, etc). There is no "unitedstatesan", or something like that. But there is in Spanish ("estadounidense").
Cheers!
Cap. Haddock

North America only contains three countries; The United States of America, Canada, and Mexico. That isn't "many" by any stretch of the imagination.

Furthermore, the United States of America is the only country that contains "America" in its name so it is quite proper to refer to the country as America. Germany is the Federal Republic of Germany but few around the world refer to Germany as "The Federal Republic."

I do find the arrogance of the rest of the world to be amusing. We are supposed to call Bombay "Mumbai" and Peiking is now supposed to be "Beijing" because that's what the people who live there call it. However, when it comes to my country, the preference of the citizenry is ignored and the rest of the world yells at us for what we call our homeland.

Cap, there is a name for people who come from the United States of America, it's American. If we followed your logic, Germans would be Federal Republicans.

I don't really think it's important what the extension is called, but since all you British people are complaining and the code for it is "en_US" anyway, I've renamed it to US English instead of American English.

Mmmm, not all us British people are complaining. I'm very much English but I quite accept that "American" is generally accepted as refering to the USA, which may or may not please our Canadian, Mexican etc. friends but there you are.

There are many dialects of English, even in the UK (not to mention the living Celtic languages, Welsh and Gaelic ). I'm from Lancashire and use words like mither and nesh which are often not understood south of Watford.

We exported our language around the world just as American English is now being exported, by commerce and conquest. It's changed in these places by the influences of the people who where there and who are there now. English English has changed since 1776 just as American English has changed. American English is not a bastardisation any more than, for example, Australian English or Jamaican English are bastardisations, they are the results of the evolution of a living language into new languages. That's the way it goes.

Whether we English like it or not, American English is now the dominant form of the English language and if we English love our particular dialect then perhaps we should do more to protect it and nurture it rather than rail against it.

I'll now put my soap box away and go back to work.

Well said, Sharpie!
Yes, we must remember that this is an international field so etiquette becomes a first consideration.

Whether Americans call the English people's language "British English" is, to use the expression, neither here nor there. Australians also refer to their language as English and so relegating others to American English/US English or what have you. Singapore calls it's language Singlish and so others become Ameriglish/Ozziglish or what have you.

These are simply conveniences and are not important on this international field. No, what is important is copyright and while the word "Madonna" has been copyrighted, the English language is too old and too widespread to be copyrightable. However, we do owe a debt of gratitude to the English for their scintillating tongue.
So casually, Englanders speak English and formally, Englanders speak Queen's English (King's English when the son is crowned).

If we remember the language's origin (please, nobody bring up Germanic!), and refer to et al with some internationally sensitive and appropriate linguistic addition, there will be no more confusion. Otherwise, what will occur is just about what is occurring today where everyone who concerns himself asserts that his language and his alone is English!
Everybody please go back to your leaders and tell them this.

Me? I think I will learn Chinese (Mandarin) so as to be ready for when China becomes the next world power and we'll still be here debating American Chinese/US Chinese/Amerinese.

Remember etiquette. Remember copyright. Remember Obama grew up in Indonesia and may well lobby for Bahasa!

First I would like to thank Mini_Geek for the dictionary.

I am Canadian. Canada is part of North America but we definitely do not refer to ourselves as American. Do the British refer to themselves as European?

There really are very few differences between Canadian, British and US English. Americans spell a few words incorrectly, we have learned to live with it. :-)
What we need is a text messaging to any form English translation dictionary.

Luna_Fantasy1982 - As a Linguist - Perhaps you could have educated these individuals concerning the "evolution" of language according to PIE. That would clearly put an abrupt end to any further concerns regarding the legitimate differences in "every" modern language. Not to mention the fact that all "modern" languages will eventually mutate from their current form.