I love MacOSX, and one of the best features is the almost ubiquitous built-in dictionary. So it is surprising that I after 3 years I have only just now discovered how to switch the dictionary from the default American English to British spellings. For some reason this is not part of the normal System Preferences pane, nor does setting your region or system language have any effect on spelling. I knew there had to be a way, but could never find the trick until today.

In case anyone else is having the same problem, here is what you have to do:

1. Open an application that supports the in-built dictionary (pretty much anything except for Firefox). If in doubt use TextEdit.
2. Right click on a text input area and select Spelling and Grammar -> Show Spelling and Grammar from the menu. Alternatively, the same menu option is available from the Edit menu.
3. Select the dictionary you want from panel that pops up. Although the panel looks like part of the application you are using changes to the settings here apply across the entire OS.
4. Enjoy the sensation of spelling words with lots of silent letters just like Queen Elizabeth II and God.

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