h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I must thank B'Elena for getting me back into hootoo. I locked myself out by trying to update my registration and ended up within an endless cirle of having to confirm my new email address ad infinitum. I shall never touch it again even though it is still convinced that I was born in November 1985 and NOTHING I tried to do will convince them otherwise!


But, in the correspondence with auntie, I noticed that hootoo's spell-checker is 'American'. Why?

Listening to the BBC news is bad enough, what with, 'upcoming events on the weekend', but (maybe I am just being pedantic), I find it a bit much when auntie bossily underlines words like 'favourite' and 'criticise'. Even Mr Gates allows me to choose whether I spell in English, American, French or whatever.

Whilst I have no wish to 'preserve' English (as the French try to protect their language), I do think that the BBC (of all institutions)should try and maintain the standards of 'English' English. Anyone who plays scrabble will have noticed that there are far fewer words in the American version of English and if we are forced to accept American English as being the ONLY English, I think that it is rather a shame.

Agreed! Have you emailed them?

I'm sorry to say, but hootoo does not have a spell checker (nor has the BBC for all I know). Check the settings of your browser (I guess you were at the PC when it happened)? It's not easy to find the British English spell checker, for some (unsurprising, because Word for example is a Microsoft product) the default spell checker is usually set to American English. You'll have to change it manually.

When you post anything - like this - it gives a squiggly line under anything it thinks is wrong (UK English) and, right click (pc type mouse) it gives you the 'American' options. That's the nearest I ever get to a spell checker.

MSWord - you can change the default settings to UK English, but it will try and sneak back to US if you don't watch out.

As for the thing that tries and tells you never to use the passive voice etc - that is turned right OFF.

Which browser do you use? hootoo definitely does *not* have a spell checker, so it must be your browser. Check your settings.

"Check my settings"? You've GOT to be joking, that's what I did to get locked out for two days - I leave it well alone and bask in the thought that (according to it) I am only 25 years old.

I use Firefox as a browser (both the Mac and PC) but I get the same spellchecker with Safari.

I didn't mean your h2g2 settings, because it's definitely not an inbuilt tool in h2g2 or the Beeb. I meant your browser settings. Or maybe it's a tool for Macs? I don't know anything about Macs, but I'm sure you do.