"Morse once solved on a murder on the basis that the killer had left a message using 'ise' instead of 'ize', concluding that he was dealing with someone badly educated"
Yes, it was viewed by the pedantic Dexter/Morse as a barbaric Americanism which would not be used by an English academic. Ironically, the reverse of the current assumption by many would-be English pedants that ize is the barbaric Americanism.
― ArfArf, Friday, 16 January 2004 15:23 (twenty years ago) link