Worldwide? But most of the world doesn’t spell in English at all.
And to be fair, the u in honour, favour, labour etc is after all silent in British English as well as US English, so nothing much is lost by dropping it. Though it does look more elegant somehow.
Sorry, Ophelia, for not being clear. I meant worldwide as in right across the planet, not universal (although it’s unlikely that there are any countries with no English speakers at all).
Eighty-eight of the world’s one hundred and ninety-five countries have English as at least one of their official languages, either written into the constitution (as here in Ireland, alongside Irish), or by convention (as in the UK and US). I don’t think that South America or Antarctica have any places where English is a dominant language, but there are English-speaking countries on every other continent.
Why does the IOC use British spelling?
Because it’s not just British spelling – it’s the spelling used worldwide, except in the USA.
Blame Webster.
Worldwide? But most of the world doesn’t spell in English at all.
And to be fair, the u in honour, favour, labour etc is after all silent in British English as well as US English, so nothing much is lost by dropping it. Though it does look more elegant somehow.
Sorry, Ophelia, for not being clear. I meant worldwide as in right across the planet, not universal (although it’s unlikely that there are any countries with no English speakers at all).
Eighty-eight of the world’s one hundred and ninety-five countries have English as at least one of their official languages, either written into the constitution (as here in Ireland, alongside Irish), or by convention (as in the UK and US). I don’t think that South America or Antarctica have any places where English is a dominant language, but there are English-speaking countries on every other continent.
And it’s common knowledge that they all spell the word “favour” rather than “favor”?
“I don’t think that South America or Antarctica have any places where English is a dominant language”
See a certain former British colony for South America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana
Should we count the Falkland Islands as part of South America?
A few English speaking countries have scientific bases in Antarctica.