I've ranted about British/American spellings before and even slashed at the non-use of the extra vowels or the use of 'ize' words instead of 'ise' when beta'ing a fic. As time goes on however, I find that those things don't annoy me so much as 'mom'. It makes my stomach clench (only in HP. In other fic it's probably appropriate though unless I am writing fic in an American fandom or using American characters, I'd never use it).

My biggest problem is my beta pointing out Australianisms in my work. D'oh. Oh, sorry that should read 'Crikey'. lol. Or to be British, 'Bollocks'. In my efforts to try and make the dialogue flow naturally, I sometimes use figures of speech that are more Australian than British. Like "Too bloody right." I think it's made me see that at times we just don't realise that some sayings are culturally specific, no matter how much we try. I grew up with British spelling, in country that has its roots in Great Britain, but I am not British and therefore will never ever sound completely British.

And then again, I had two Brits pick my work on one fic and one said a phrase I'd used was not British and the other said it's used all the time in England, so you get that infusion of words and terms that cross the ocean and become ingrained in everyday modern usage anyway.

So, I like the more mellow approach I'm learning, and reckon that bloody bonza writing beats you beaut Pommy spelling any day. *g*