To be a little huffy because ds has the word "apologize" on his spellings list?

[Mspontipine]

I am fanatical to the point of obsession appropriately passionate about the use of English and grammar.

This hurts

that sulphur thing is crazy!

why should we suddenly start spelling it it sulfur because it's international?
insane.

the americans don't use Aluminium because it's more international, and they don't use imperial measurements (they're got their own US measurements!) or even SI units!

I used -ise until I had to spend a year reading a lot of 18th century texts for my degree, at which point I "caught" -ize and have used it ever since.

Thank heavens for MN OP - imagine how silly you'd have looked / felt without us to restrain you.

I know, nickel, I am emotionally attached to' ph' in all its uses! I do love the idiosyncrasies of language.

Sitting here procrastinating marking dissertations and criticizing students for inconsistent spelling (don't care whether they use ise or ize but its got to be consistent) and then thinking way back when it was actually the norm to spell the same word several ways in a single letter/essay etc.

it's true- the inconsistencies in old texts are insane!

I remember seeing an episode of Morse where he explained to his sidekick that the use of 'ize' was indicative of someone who was well-educated. Of course, Morse was ex-Oxford....

Personally I have always used the 's' ending as it was the house style of the first newspaper I wrote for (had to use 's' in this sentence and not the whole suffix because my bloody computer keeps changing the 's' suffix to 'ize' - proof of what we have been discussing about American common usage as default) .

In the same way I have noticed the intrusive use of 'gotten' by posters who are not American - not just on this board BTW. Once again it is not American per se but old English. However, I really think that British posters who use the word gotten (or practice as a verb) for that matter are a bit, well, unpatriotic. If we are to adapt our language let it be our adaptation.

Glitter thanks for the apology. I'm well aware languages evolve and pinch things from other languages - especially if we don't have a word for something - say a word like jodphur. I didn't know the origin of off track or when it first entered the English language. It is something that is easy to understand though whereas shoe in - or shoo in - as you corrected me isn't. I still don't understand what the BBC reporter was saying by using this - that he had a good chance of getting the job, that he was guaranteed the job if he applied, that he was getting the job when he perhaps shouldn't, that they'd created a job for him - so yes I do think that's 'reductive' as you put it because it wasn't clear. We have plenty of words in the English language for the reporter to have put this more clearly for the English audience. I've only recently started to hear shoo in so can only guess it's fashionable to use right now - just as people started saying no brainer. The thing is I think people sound twats when they start saying these things. I don't want the English language taken over by Americanisms - can I get a coffee, I'm good etc but I have argued the point with colleagues in the work I do that languages evolve otherwise we'd be talking like people in Shakespeare's time. With technology though the speed of change is so fast and maybe that's what I don't like.

YABU
Apologize is right.

sulfur has been standardised as loads of names of rugs etc. have been changed so same name and spelling all round the world not different on boxes for USa UK europe etc, this has a common sense basis but I do get really annoyed about stuff

like turning nouns to verbs "to medal" which will no doubt afflict our ears many times in 2012

argyll council notices " drive safe in argyll and bute " I feel like shouting it's SAFELY every time i pass the neon sign

and things for children spelt wrong KIDZ, SPLITZ etc etc.

nouns to verbs - yes yes - hate that too!

I fully understand the explanations given for the differing spellings, but I can't help thinking apologize just looks wrong!

I'm going to go with Morse

We have three dictionaries in our house.
The oldest one from 1991 only has 'apologize'
In the two newer versions 'apologize' and 'apologise' are both listed.
If I were you OP, I wouldn't bother going into school about this.