The Grammarphobia Blog  Stiff upper English  Q: I grew up in
Oklahoma and live in Connecticut, but British English often
seems more correct to me. For instance, the Times of London uses
spellings like “catalogue” and “largesse” (my preferences) while
the New York Times uses “catalog” and “largess” (ditto). The
London paper also uses “none of them is” and “any of them is”
(my choices) while the NYT uses “none of them are” and “any of
them are” (ditto).  A: The different spellings and usages you
mention aren’t necessarily characteristic of British vs.
American practices.  In fact, the divisions aren’t as black and
white as many people think. In some cases, for instance, two
spellings are used, both in the US and in the UK.  First of
all, let’s set the record straight about “none” and “any.”  It’s
not true that they are invariably singular. In both the US and
the UK, these can be either singular or plural.  When we mean
“any of it” or “none of it” (that is, any or no amount of one
thing), the accompanying verb i