American vs British spellings in DELTARUNE

Deltarune Discussion
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1

Some time ago I've seen someone online use this Chapter 1 dialogue to justify Ralsei being British:

Alright, this lift should take us out of here.
Now, it might take a while, so...
Get comfy, everyone!

So I decided to look closer into it. Long story short, he probably isn't British, and it's just a quirk of Toby's writing.

The game consistently uses "grey" over "gray":

Sorry, the "grey" spring is blocked up.
— Tenna if you photograph the green spring, Chapter 3, Board 2

SHUTTAH - When its eyes snap shut, memories are made in grey.

Normally, my photos are all grey...
— Shuttah after being spared, Chapter 3, Board 2

This is a Kingdom without King or Prince.
Flaky disciples, lost in meaningless worship.
Old scholars, greyed by research forgotten.
— Cuptain, Chapter 4

On the other hand, the game consistently uses "favor" over "favour":

Ho ho ho... if it isn't my two favorite people.
— Lancer, Chapter 1

Well, if you are a fan. Haha. Could I bother you for a favor?
— Mettaton, Chapter 2

The secret lawnmower game! Everybody's favorite!
— Tenna, Chapter 3, Board 2

She said I should call you, um... a "noob."
Apparently, it means... your favorite person!
— Ralsei, Chapter 4, Library room with an octave-shifting piano

And "center" over "centre":

Today, the FOUNTAIN OF DARKNESS-
The geyser that gives this land form-
Stands tall at the center of the kingdom.
— Ralsei, Chapter 1, The Legend

Rule of thirds? No! Try to center your target, folks!
— Shuttah, Chapter 3

(... huh!? The center of gravity has shifted...!)
— Bowl of candy if you try to take 2, Chapter 4, before Gerson's Study

It also almost always uses "defense" over "defence":

That ribbon is ARMOR, Kris!
It increases defense.
— Ralsei reacting to the White Ribbon, Chapter 1

DIDN'T YOU KNOW [Neo] IS FAMOUS FOR ITS HIGH DEFENSE!?
— Spamton NEO, Chapter 2, Weird Route

Yeah, that's good enough. He can make a pillow fort.
That's better than a bed anyway. More defense.
— Susie after stealing a pillow from the couch, Chapter 4, Library room with an octave-shifting piano

Except for the description of the Bounce Blade, for some reason:

A pink saber with a rubber blade. Weak, but increases defence.

2

Toby's American, but can't decide between spelling like one and spelling like a British person.

Sounds like Toby alright.

2 Likes
3

He also lives (lived?) in Boston, so it could be that.

4

How do you know that?

5

His page says "Location: Massachusetts" + I vaguely remember hearing about it online.

6

Oh.

7

Yeah the spellings are not really consistent at all. The game does actually use both spellings of “grey/gray”, though “grey” is more common. I think more of what the “british english” section was talking about is terms common in england but not in america, like “lift” instead of “elevator”. Though even that is just something he does like, two or three times. It doesn’t really seem like a consistent enough pattern to call a character trait.

8

Ngl, I only spell gray like that because I live in America. "grey" seems like the more natural spelling to me.

1 Like
9

Oh, you're actually right. The Organikk in the hidden room in the Third Sanctuary uses "gray" instead of "grey":

Tickets and cards, drawn in gray, a trace - repeated, repeated! - it's all so clear!

10

bo'o'o'wa'a

1 Like
11

chu'ips

12

Hmmm, this reminds me. It's "chisps" in UNDERTALE, right? I should check the spellings there as well.

13

popato chisps

14

Okay, so from a quick look at the text dump:

  • 18 usages of "elevator", 0 usages of "lift" as a noun with the same meaning
  • 1 usage of "grey" + 1 usage of gray, but it's just the surname of some guy from the credits:

Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them.

Brian Gray

  • 9 usages of "center", 0 usages of "centre"
  • 17 usages of "favor(ite)", 0 usages of "favour(ite)"
  • 4 usages of "defense", 0 usages of "defence".

I guess "defence" being used for the Bounce Blade and "gray" being used by that Organikk were genuine mistakes.

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15

set up defence

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images
images678×362 75 KB

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17

bi'ish

18

brightish

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19

YOUR TOO BRIGHTISH!!!

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YOUR TOO BRIGHT
YOUR TOO BRIGHT132×120 10.1 KB

MAMA MIA MAMAMAMIA

1 Like