How to spell double letters in American and British English.

[tulipflower]

How double letters are spelled in American and British English?

Apple is spelled A-double P-l-E in British English. Do Americans 'spell 'apple the same way? I mean do they say 'double' P?

 

[PeterCW]

In BrE it will depend on the context and how slowly the other person needs you to speak.

If somebody wants me to confirm a spelling for something that they are writing I would say "double P" but if I was dictating the spelling I would spell the letters out individually. When spelling words in a telephone conversation many people in the UK will now use the NATO phonetic alphabet.

 

[Skrej]

As a speaker of AmE, I would never use 'double P' or similar for spelling something out.

It does make me think of the old mnemonic chant to remember the spelling the word 'Mississippi', which of course has multiple double letters.

It goes (*ahem) : "M-I-crooked letter - crooked letter - I, crooked letter - crooked letter - I -, humpback- humpback - I." :lol:

Of course, no one would ever really use that to spell any other word. It's just a little song some of us were taught as kids when learning to spell out states. When you were just learning to spell, 'Mississippi' was a really tough word!

Today though, I would just say read each of the letters individually.

 

[emsr2d2]

How is the spelling of double letters [STRIKE]are spelled[/STRIKE] pronounced in American and British English?

Apple is spelled "A no dash here double-P no dash here l no dash here E" in British English. Do Americans [STRIKE]'spell[/STRIKE] say/describe the spelling of 'apple' aloud the same way? I mean do they say 'double' P?

Note my corrections above. The way you wrote it originally didn't make it entirely clear that you were talking about how we spell things aloud.