When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney swapped some S's for Zs in a federal budget document, it wasn't the first time a politician was called out for poor spelling.
He joined the ranks of former US Vice President Dan Quayle and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in making a memorable spelling gaffe.
But instead of being roasted in late-night monologues or social media posts, Mark Carney got an open letter from language experts telling him he was undermining the Canadian identity.
Carney, who worked in the United Kingdom for many years, was using the British spelling of words like utilise and emphasise.
The letter admonished Carney and the Canadian government to return to using standard Canadian English.
But if a leader of a country doesn't set the standard for that country's language, who does make the rules?
Is there some secret society with capes and swords making official decisions about the language we all use? Well, in some cases, literally yes.
So let's talk about how they actually standardize language and why they want to regulate it at all. I'm Dr. Erica Brozovsky, and this is Otherwords.
If you're an American English speaker, the idea of an official government institution making rules and regulations around language seems a little weird.
Imagine if along with the IRS and the DMV, there was the Office of Elocution telling you not to use that new word you picked up from an internet meme.
