On Thu, 7 Nov 2002, Andrew Smith wrote: > > Iain Buchanan wrote: > > > >>On Wed, 2002-11-06 at 05:47, Joe Klemmer wrote: > >> > >>>On Tue, 5 Nov 2002, jdow wrote: > >>> > >>>>Hm, I know that you Aussies and Brits spell things oddly. > >>>> > >>That depends on your perspective. I think we spell just fine ;) Its > >> > > So what's the point of the 'u' you add to color? > > Why on eath do an automobile have clothing (boot and bonnet)? > > > > Seams pretty odd to me. :) > > Yeah - but the problem is you took the 'u' out - we didn't add it. > You speak 'English' but you changed the spelling. > But how about through? Why on earth didn't you change it to throo? :-) > > Anyway - look up the history - it's history your talking about not > undocumented functionality or hard to find documentation. According to one argument that I've heard, the original language of most of the -or ending words was Latin. Color, stupor etc. The "u" was added in by the French and this was then adopted by the British. US English was established prior to this (a sort of linguistic "founder effect") and thus retained the original Latinate spellings. Also a quote from Fowler on -or,-our: "The American abolition of -our in such words as _honour_ and _favour_ has probably retarded rather than quickened English progress in the same direction. Our first notification that the book we are reading is not English but American is often, nowadays, the sight of an _-or_, `Yankee' we say, and congratulate ourselves on spelling like gentlemen; we wisely decline to regard it as a matter for argument. The English way cannot but be better than the American way; that is enough. Most of us therefore do not come to the question with an open mind. Those who are willing to put national predjudice aside and examine the facts soon realize, first, that the British _-our_ words are much fewer in proportion to the _-or_ words than they supposed, and secondly, that there seems to be no discernable line between the two sets so based on principle as to serve any useful purpose." -- Psyche-list mailing list Psyche-list@redhat.com https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/psyche-list
