Have you ever thought how colo(u)rful out English tongue is? It isn't gra/ey and dull; no one would place an ax(e) on it and claim it is so because it's boring, that's just irrationalis/zing facts. It ven has various ways of spelling!
Now, what really was the background for this? I heard that The Greatest American Philosopher Of All Times (Mark Twain) initiated it, even 'tho' 'thru' didn't make it. So what's Danny Webby (Daniel Webster) got to do with it? Did he formalis/ze the whole business?
BTW, for reference - I'll place the differences here:
Corrections, suggestions, CRITICISM, complints or any additions to propose?
[ December 14, 2004, 01:27 PM: Message edited by: Jonathan Howard ]
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
Huh. By my spelling, I'm apparently half British. No wonder I can never remember how anything's spelled. I must read books with the British spellings and then can't decide if it's realise or realize.
Thanks, Jonathan.
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
Actually, in British English you can actually spell both -ise and -ize; despite the fact that -ise is the proper form. Most people today spell organize, not organise, in British-spelling communities, as far as I've seen.
Jonny
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
You forgot the really awful pyjamas/pajamas thing.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I like to spell theatre instead of theater.
Posted by Intelligence3 (Member # 6944) on :
Daniel Webster was a 19th century American statesman from New Hampshire and, later, Massachusetts. Noah Webster was the American lexicographer from Connecticutt.
Noah Webster sought to make spelling more phonetic. He does not seem to have been consistent in his pursuit, but many differences between US and British spelling are directly traced to the influence of Webster's lexicography.
The Merriam brothers George and Charles purchased the rights to the dictionary after Noah's death. The term "Webster's" became synonymous with "American Dictionary," and repeated attempts to protect the trademark met with mixed results at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1982, the G&C Merriam company changed its name to Merriam-Webster to further strengthen its association with the trademark.
I keep intending to read a biography of the man to chase down more information on the choices he made, but I never seem to get around to it.
I can recommend The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester. The book is about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary, but it gives a good general history of lexicography as well.
[Edit: inadvertant redundancy.]
[ December 14, 2004, 03:56 PM: Message edited by: Intelligence3 ]
Posted by Intelligence3 (Member # 6944) on :
This site has a synopsis of basic differences.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
I don't know many people who spell axe without the e. Practice is spelled the same here. No one spells it practise (That I know of). Management is spelled with the e, Judgement is interchangeable (with and without the E) according to most usage and grammar books. As for additions, defense and defence is a good one. About Webster, his dictionary mainly served to standardize spelling and definitions for American English. Since the British thought we were all uncivilized dogs and that our language was dispicable, it was probably a good idea to just set up our own way of doing things. Neither way is more correct than the other, but one way is more popular (I don't know the exact numbers for it so I don't know which one actually is more commonly used)
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
quote: I like to spell theatre instead of theater.
Sorry about that, I knew there was a fourth ER-RE.
Sorry for the Webster problem, must've thought incorrctly.
I thought management CAN be spellt 'E'lessly, but I'm not sure. Ax is spellt elessly in American spelling, although things are merging now.
Jonny
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Americans have used both ax and axe for some time. Also grey and gray.
We have never spelled practice as practise; nor have we ever spelled management as managment. (urk!)
However, there is one thing that we have right, and y'all across the pond have murderized.
If I am correctly aligned in space and time, I am oriented. If not; then I am disoriented. Not, for the love of all that is good and holy, "orientated" and "disorientated."
GAHHHHH!
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
According to the Webster's, practic/se, noun and verb, can be either way for both. Ditto for licenc/se and others. In british you MUST have c for the noun and s for the verb.
I saw in a Hebrew English disctionary that "American spelling is judgment and managment". Then, again, Israli-purchased dictionary.
A teacher of mine, of american origin, said that it's technically possible, but uncommon; just like gaol and quire.
Orientate? Huh? Who says that?
Posted by Intelligence3 (Member # 6944) on :
I, too, am uneasy about "orientate," but find myself using it sometimes.
Posted by Magson (Member # 2300) on :
Dont forget the American "Aluminum" vs the British "Aluminium"
American: Al oom in um British: Al yoo min ee um
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
Is it actually spelle without an "i"? AlumiNUM?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Most definitely. We don't need no stinkin' extra syllable. Posted by jehovoid (Member # 2014) on :
"But you spell it "throo" t-h-r-u, and I'm with you on that, because we spell it "thruff," and that's just someone trying to cheat at scrabble."
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
u nou, thees 8nt izy 2 rite! inglisch'z a haad lang!
Like the fish argument: spell it "ghoti"-
gh as in laugh, o as in women, ti as in motion.
Jonny
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
I'll give you a fake dollar if you can tell me who the originator of that argument was, Jonny.
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
So that's where I got those neurosis about various words. Gray/grey, Defense/Defence, etc...
English is too complicated. I should learn Esperanto and stop using English.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
As I understand it, the verb "orient" originally meant: to face the rising sun. Hence, the east is the "orient."
I don't know how "orientated" originated, but it smacks of the same kind of thing that I was talking about in my of(t)en thread, where people choose to overpronounce something, and then act superior, as if everybody else is pronouncing it wrong.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Dudes and Dudettes,
What you're forgetting is that it isn't just American versus British spelling. There's also Canadian, Indian, Sri Lankan, etc etc etc. It's just that the Brits and the Yanks are the loudest and most obnoxious about it. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
saxy, GBS, neh?
[ December 14, 2004, 11:18 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote: American: Al oom in um British: Al yoo min ee um
I'm a hybrid: Al yoo min yum
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
quote:saxy, GBS, neh?
Yup. Don't worry about editing.
Posted by jehovoid (Member # 2014) on :
Actually, I think the oriented/orientated thing is more about a confusion over rules of word-formation than of word-pronunciation.
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