Noah Webster championed the change from British English -re to the customary American English -er ending.
Grey is again British English, in contrast to gray in AE.
I don’t know about raquet - perhaps it’s an AE spelling I haven’t encountered. Here in the UK, racquet or even racquette are slightly self-conscious spellings of the racket used in tennis.
[quote author=granthutchison link=board=spell;num=1041531565;start=0#2 date=01/02/03 at 14:30:00]Grey is again British English, in contrast to gray in AE.
Now there’s a word I never realized we spelled differently over here!
[quote author=granthutchison link=board=spell;num=1041531565;start=0#2 date=01/02/03 at 14:30:00]
I don’t know about raquet - perhaps it’s an AE spelling I haven’t encountered. Here in the UK, racquet or even racquette are slightly self-conscious spellings of the racket used in tennis.
Oops- I meant racquet. What about cheque? (Did I spell that right?) Do people use it?
[quote author=tamisaac link=board=spell;num=1041531565;start=0#4 date=01/02/03 at 14:41:00]What about cheque? (Did I spell that right?) Do people use it?
Yes, it’s the standard BE spelling for a written and signed order to a bank, but not for the other uses of check.
We also have chequer instead of checker, for the pattern of squares.
[quote author=granthutchison link=board=spell;num=1041531565;start=0#6 date=01/02/03 at 15:19:56]We also have chequer instead of checker, for the pattern of squares.
So, do you call the game "Checkers" or "Chequers"?
Cheques are bouncier - you can tell just by looking at it.
Check is absolutely incorrect - hat-checks, check-out chicks, checks in general have nothing to do with promissory notes. Why the Yanks have to dumb things down is beyond me. I can’t think of a single word that looks more elegant in its American spelling than it does in British.
It’s easy Doug: we live in a society where everything is reduced to the least common denominator.
-“casual” Friday.
-three day weekends
-pick and choose smorgasboard
-‘smorgasboard” religions
No Pain/No gain is so “passe”
Anything that requires a struggle or work, is considered evil: everything is made to make life “easier”, softer, more comfortable.
The spellings connexion, inflexion, deflexion, reflexion, genuflexion are now somewhat rare in everyday British usage, and are not used at all in America: the more common connection, inflection, deflection, reflection, genuflection have become the standard internationally.
