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What is the point of this? I have been corrected before here that the word feces, if even used at all, is spelled faeces. Another case is the spelling of fetus as the 'correct' foetus. What is the point if the *commonly* used spelling is right too?
| It's the scientific way to spell it and I worship science like God | 10 | |
| I'm a proud grammar Nazi, hee hee! | 22 | |
| It looks funny and makes it more potent | 9 | |
| I spell the common way | 48 |
"Feces" and "Fetus" = American English.
"Faeces" and "Foetus" = British English.
Neither spelling is more "right". They're either ignorant themselves that both spellings are acceptable, or they want to look clever by using a non-conventional spelling.
Surely the English spelling is correct seeing as it is our language. Yes I realise the Latin and French influences before you bring that up.
Well, they're both English spellings really, aren't they? :P Just that one is "British" and one is "American". We, the British, gave half the rest of the world our language when we colonised them. They've a right to take it in any direction they want once we give it to them, and what they do is no more or less correct.
What I'm trying to say is, just because the language is called "English" doesn't mean the rules of language are decided by what happens in "England". The language has gone global now - it's ours in name only.
Yup.
There are quite a few differences. I've been incorrectly 'corrected' on this site a couple of times by Americans for spelling a word the British way (eg. spelt instead of spelled).
Interestingly this is a case where 'foetus' makes less sense based on the etymology. Fetus comes from the Latin 'fe' which is 'to bear'. The 'oe' spelling is a hypercorrection - that is the misapplication of a rule in spelling. Fetus is more 'right' than foetus, but in British English foetus has been adopted (awwww).
It is not commonly used. It is use in UK and Australia vs the use in the US.
Its not that huge. However Brits and Yankees like to fight over this nonsense. Even though they are both correct.
Tbh it's any excuse to have a go at a yank, it's a fun British past time to wind up an American, lol. I think it actually might be a commonwealth sport.
Well any British person who does it is really immature. It is not very civilized to bully people. It just is making their own country look bad. Being intelligent is not the same as being a snob. Pretending you are better does not make it so. Some people might act as though anyone from the US is stupid but people from US are often not the ones complaining over tiny differences. It is not like they can help the fact they are born in the US anymore to the fact another is born in UK or some other place in the world. So if it really is that means they must have the maturity of 9 year olds.
Yeah I know people can't help being born disabled. Over here being American is a recognised disability, you should think yourself lucky you'll get free parking.
Free parking? That is kind of like saying being white makes you rich or a Nazi, black means you like chicken, Mexican means you jumped the border, Columbia means you are on coke, India means you are hairy, Ireland means you fuck sheep and from are from Asia it means if I say Ching chong ching you are going to understand. Yeah I guess we can determine intelligence on gender, height or colour of skin. It does not make it true. Anyone who really believes this is beyond stupid. If this is truly a belief I think we can classify that person as mentally retarded.
We share the finest and most versatile language on the planet. It is our gift to the rest of the world, and our responsibility to use it correctly.
Both of the spellings you cite are acceptable alternatives.
Sorry if I sound overly pedantic, but this is something I feel strongly about.
Dear dairy,
Some silly nincompoop was having a cow all over some dumb shit. Ain't dat some shit?
There is no correct way of spellings.
As long as the other person understand what you have written then I think it's all good. People shouldn't kick up such a fuss over trivial matters.
Like how Dom demonstrated, it all depends on region.
For instance:
"Color" (American)
"Colour" (British)
"Fiber" (American Eng.)
"Fibre" (British Eng.)
arse |ärs|
British spelling of ass2.
ORIGIN Old English ærs, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch aars and German Arsch .
ass 2 |as|(Brit. arse )
noun vulgar slang
a person's buttocks or anus.
• a stupid, irritating, or contemptible person.
• women regarded as a source of sexual gratification.
• oneself (used in phrases for emphasis): get your ass in here fast | the bureaucrat who wants everything in writing so as to cover his ass.
PHRASES
bust one's ass try very hard to do something.
bust (or whip ) someone's ass beat someone in a fight or contest.
chew ( someone's ) ass reprimand severely.
get your ass in (or into ) gear [ in imperative ] hurry: if you get your ass in gear, you can make it out of here tonight.
get off one's ass stop being lazy.
haul (or drag or tear ) ass hurry or move fast: I just turn around and haul ass right out of there.
kick ( some ) ass (or kick someone's ass ) see kick1.
kiss ass see kiss.
my ass used to convey that one does not believe something that has just been said: sold out, my ass!
not give (or care ) a rat's ass not care at all about something.
not know one's ass from a hole in the ground (or from one's elbow )be totally ignorant or incompetent.
a pain in the ass see pain.
a piece of ass see piece.
put (or have ) someone's ass in a sling get someone in trouble: you managed to put his ass in a sling along with your own.
up your ass used to express contempt for someone or something.
you bet your ass you can be very sure: [ with clause ] : you can bet your ass I'll go for it every time.
DERIVATIVES
assed |ast|adjective [ in combination ] : fat-assed guys
I hate all the fuss too as I have dyslexic tendencies.
The only real point I could think of is that using a search engine would be a lot harder if we spelled/spelt all words however we wanted.
It really depends where you live. I assume you are referring to the American vs British English spelling. Such as mum/mom, jail/gaol, and favorite/favourite. They mean the same thing but within the school curriculum, it's a big no-no for proper grammar. You live in a certain country so you have to spell (however, ridiculous) like the folks as well.
It goes back to trying to keep the cultural and literary origins of one's country, therefore, including it within the school system and growing up with that in mind.
Nowadays, people think it's futile to care about the difference. Modernity, revolutionizing language; it almost makes me LOL. No.