American spelling unsafe at any speed

[cyclingthelakes]

Speaking of France, I can not address the situation with much authority but I have read that there were many many languages spoken there in past centuries in the land like Breton and Basque and many many separate dialects, perhaps going by names like Normand, Orleanais and others. In fact, it sounds like French or Francais itself originated around Paris but there were many others, some similar but apparently, some not. I'm sure some here could address that better.

This book talks about it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Discovery-Franc ... 0330427601 but I've heard this in other places too.

[gaz]

I think that formal rules for punctuation and spelling only arrived with the introduction of printing so that the craftsmen who did it would have some clear working guidelines.

The printed word does require certain conventions to be followed that are not required when speaking, or the underlying message can easily be lost.

[thirdcrank]

... The printed word does require certain conventions to be followed that are not required when speaking, or the underlying message can easily be lost. ...

Yes - but only because we have become used to following the conventions when writing and expecting them when reading. A lot of that sort of ambiguity consists of contrived examples to illustrate the point. (I don't think that anybody seeing Clementine's really thinks the greengrocer is selling something belonging to a miner's daughter.)

[AndyB]

Apparently grammar was more important in Roman times.

[[XAP]Bob]

My issue isn't normally with casual communications (i.e. here) unless the clarity or meaning of the text is compromised.
I also appreciate that typos will occur, particularly in a rapid fire conversation.

However, there are a number of cases where the US insistence on breaking the English language (see Webster's statement) for commercial reasons should be resisted for linguistic reasons...

- LAZER.
What is ztimulation? When a word is generated as an acronym it is not helpful, or clever, to change a random letter. Maybe we should call them the UZA?

- Meter / metre.
There are two words with distinct meanings, which can both be used in similar situations. It is therefore pretty important that they remain distinguishable.

There are others which don't merit the same defence, but
- Theater / theatre; gray / grey etc. are pointless.
- ise -> ize; color /colour etc. are just lazy.

These have caused the above mentioned linguistic nightmares, and should therefore be resisted.

----
Typographical errors and poor grammar (particularly the misuse of similar sounding words (their, there, they're; your, you're; it's, its; etc.)) generally conveys the care and attention, or lack thereof, which has been given to a piece of text.
- On the forums colloquial grammar is fine
- In academic work and business transactions then formal grammar should be used.

If needed in these cases then experts (technical authors etc.) should be used. I have no problem with people deciding that it is not worth their time communicating accurately, on the condition that they do think it's worth employing someone else to do their communications (most authors have copy editors and proof readers).

Not doing so (or making such efforts yourself, even in casual communications) is to declare that you do not value the time of the person/people with whom you are communicating.

Most browsers now include an automated spell check, which will help (somewhat)

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

[fixer]

As suggested by anothereye...

Is it so terrible to spell meter, center and theater they way they sound? Is it a crime to drop those irrelevant letters to create labor, color, analog, catalog, traveled and unraveling?

And how much worse are the past tenses: spelled versus spelt, spoiled versus spoilt, burned versus burnt?

Shall we harmonize? Or analyse and criticise? Eat donuts and cookies? Or denounce such offences for having brought wrack and ruin to the language?

Humor not allowed.

But "spelt" is witten the way it is said, ie it has a "t" sound at the end. The reason behind "spelled" is having a regular written "ed" for past tense, eg "braked" althought it is pronounced "brakt".

If English is written the way it sounds, it would be almost unrecogisable. It's simply that there are many more vowel sounds than there are letters in the alphabet.

Take the word "centre" :

First, it should be sentre,

final "e" should dropped as it doesn't that sound: sentr,

But now there's the problem of the "r", speakers who don't rolled their r's say it as a "a"...


Another example: labour,
but the first syllable is written the same as words like laboratory but has a different sound, so it should be "leibour", etc.


Despite what a lot of people assume, American English is no more spelt the way it is said than British English is spelt the way it is said.

English spelling works almost as "sight" spelling as much it does using sound.

[cyclingthelakes]

- LAZER.
What is ztimulation? When a word is generated as an acronym it is not helpful, or clever, to change a random letter. Maybe we should call them the UZA?

Correct me if I am wrong, I brought up Lazer Helmets, that is a brand name: http://www.lazerhelmets.com/ That is the only place where I see 'laZer' being used. Now it is getting confused but from what I can tell 'laser' is still used in the USA.

The Lazer Helmets website reads:

Established in 1919, Lazer, with headquarter in Belgium, designs, manufactures and markets its bicycle, motorcycle and leisure helmets in more than 40 countries, over 5 continents.

Per googling, "Remove Tattoos with LaSer surgery", Washington DC. http://www.lasersurgery.com/

In this forum, "laser" used:

It also doesnt tell you how much area it is covering, so a laser would have a fantastic Lux rating but be useless as a light.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43559&p=351990&hilit=laser#p351990

[PW]

It's all down to The Great Vowel Shift
Wonder who'll figure that one out first?

[[XAP]Bob]

Now it is getting confused but from what I can tell 'laser' is still used in the USA.

Not universally (despite google) - I've seen it before and it was a direct response to:

All my textbooks would have words like 'maximize' in them, and it looks like it sounds, so thats my choice of spelling.

I remember a yank handing me a design document with the word 'lazer' written in it. He tried to insist that was how they spelt it over there. Every time I see him I ask if he's feeling 'zimulated', he looks at me oddly - still don't think he's got it.

[kwackers]

I should point out the guy was wrong. I have seen it spelt 'lazer' but usually where someone was trying to be trendy.

I think he thought it looked better spelt that way, didn't realise it was an acronym and wouldn't back down...
I on the other hand thought it best to nip the rot in the bud

[Vorpal]

Laser is still spelled correctly in the USA. Lazer is an American brand name of laser tag equipment (owned by Hasbro, or Mattel, or somebody), hence the 'cool' association and increased likelihood that people will misuse it.

[[XAP]Bob]

Laser is still spelled correctly in the USA. Lazer is an American brand name of laser tag equipment (owned by Hasbro, or Mattel, or somebody), hence the 'cool' association and increased likelihood that people will misuse it.

Interesting, it's misuse is fairly common though - even if it is misuse on both sides of the pond

Still think that ise->ize deserves a UZA moniker.

[thirdcrank]

Wonder why we never adopted 'merde' -...?

Perhaps nobody has ever worked out what it means . Yesterday's Daily Telegraph (27 October) had a piece about a rather racy Canadian ballet which is going to be performed in the UK for the first time. According to the print version, the French title is Un Peu de Tendresse Bordel de Merde! rather loosely translated as "A little bit of tenderness, for crying out loud!" Laughing out loud, more like.

Both versions of the title disappeared completely in the online version of the DT:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/thea ... rises.html

[cyclingthelakes]

Perhaps a word that should not be fooled with is Aluminium vs. Aluminum in the States.

Major English speaking countries are South Africa, India I guess, I know they have their own languages too and then that one part speaks Portuguese, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, surely a # of other islands around the world. Oh and Hong Kong.

Not sure if South Africa follows traditional English but from what I know the other countries probably do usually.

I'm a bit confused as to the usage of the word Premiere which sounds a bit French again but the football league is the Premier League.

[thirdcrank]

I'm a bit confused as to the usage of the word Premiere which sounds a bit French again but the football league is the Premier League.

premier / première is a French adjective meaning 'first'. As well as the adjective, we've also adopted usages which treat the adjective as a noun: Premier = prime minister from premier ministre and première (with or without the accent) = first performance or showing from première exécution of a play or première séance of a film.

I suppose a sprinkling of foreign words gives a certain je ne sais quoi.