Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 22:21:13 +0100 From: Mark Ovens <mark@ukug.uk.freebsd.org> To: Brad Knowles <blk@skynet.be> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: BSDCon East Message-ID: <20000411222112.B235@parish> In-Reply-To: <v04220805b5174e9bbae6@[195.238.21.91]>; from blk@skynet.be on Mon, Apr 10, 2000 at 11:29:24AM %2B0200 References: <38F11BBA.0137@funbox.demon.co.uk> <v04220805b5174e9bbae6@[195.238.21.91]>
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On Mon, Apr 10, 2000 at 11:29:24AM +0200, Brad Knowles wrote: > At 1:09 AM +0100 2000/4/10, do not reply to this address wrote: > > > I've *never* seen anaesthetic spelled anesthetic in English; in the > > U.S. of A., certainly... > > It definitely happens in the US. Fortunately the UK would appear > to be a bastion of proper usage with regards to certain pairs of > doubled vowels. > > Which one is correct presumably depends on whether you consider > the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster to be definitive. > I would have to say that *the* canonical reference to the English language is the OED and that Webster is probably the American equivalent. The differences in spelling between English and American-English derive from 2 main sources. Firstly many of the early settlers from England were poorly educated (one of the reasons for going to the New World was to improve their lot) and secondly, Noah Webster deliberately introduced spelling differences into his original dictionary to help differentiate America from England. My favourite spelling difference is where the English (for the most part) actually get it wrong. Words ending ~ize are almost always spelled ~ise here (in books, newspapers etc) yet the OED shows ~ize to be correct, and it is only in recent versions of the OED that ~ise appears as an *alternative*. I always use ~ize, and believe that the origin of the misuse stems from people thinking that because Americans use ~ize that ~ise must be *correct* . > -- > These are my opinions -- not to be taken as official Skynet policy > ====================================================================== > Brad Knowles, <blk@skynet.be> || Belgacom Skynet SA/NV > Systems Architect, Mail/News/FTP/Proxy Admin || Rue Colonel Bourg, 124 > Phone/Fax: +32-2-706.13.11/12.49 || B-1140 Brussels > http://www.skynet.be || Belgium > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message -- ...and on the eighth day God created UNIX ________________________________________________________________ FreeBSD - The Power To Serve http://www.freebsd.org My Webpage http://ukug.uk.freebsd.org/~mark/ mailto:mark@ukug.uk.freebsd.org http://www.radan.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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