From owner-freebsd-current Fri Apr 10 21:31:06 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id VAA08407 for freebsd-current-outgoing; Fri, 10 Apr 1998 21:31:06 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from rf900.physics.usyd.edu.au (rf900.physics.usyd.edu.au [129.78.129.109]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id VAA08398 for ; Fri, 10 Apr 1998 21:31:02 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from dawes@rf900.physics.usyd.edu.au) Received: (from dawes@localhost) by rf900.physics.usyd.edu.au (8.8.5/8.8.2) id OAA21446; Sat, 11 Apr 1998 14:30:47 +1000 (EST) Message-ID: <19980411143046.35436@rf900.physics.usyd.edu.au> Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 14:30:46 +1000 From: David Dawes To: John Fieber Cc: current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Misspelling in lib/libutil/login_cap.3 [w/ patch] References: <199804102256.IAA07810@cimlogic.com.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.69 In-Reply-To: ; from John Fieber on Fri, Apr 10, 1998 at 11:12:23PM -0500 Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Fri, Apr 10, 1998 at 11:12:23PM -0500, John Fieber wrote: >On Sat, 11 Apr 1998, John Birrell wrote: > >> Chad M. Fraleigh wrote: >> > >> > "authorisation" should be "authorization". >> >> In my _*English*_ dictionary, either is acceptable. > >Citation please? > >Not found in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed), nor any of >the American dictionaries I have on hand (American Heritage, >Webster). I have a copy of "The Concise Oxford Dictionary", 6th ed (1976). It shows both forms, with the "z" version preferred. Also, "The Macquarie Dictionary", 1st ed, revised (1985), which is considered by many to be the reference for English as used in Australia shows both with the "s" version preferred. >It may be acceptable somewhere, but I dare say that the "z" >version is much more widely accepted. I tend to agree. I used to think that the "s" version was the real "English" form (consistent with traditional Unix 'spell -b'), but some time ago an Englishman who was somewhat pedantic about such things pointed out that this wasn't the case (referencing the Oxford English Dictionary). I've come to the conclusion that the "s" form is more common in Australian English than elsewhere, and it happens to be the form I use too. BTW, here's an excerpt from the spell(1) man page on Solaris 2.5: -b Check British spelling. Besides preferring "centre," "colour," "programme," "speciality," "travelled," and so forth, this option insists upon -ise in words like "standardise." and in the BUGS section: British spelling was done by an American. :-) David To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message