centre vs center

Originally posted by eatmybishop
i appreciate comments made on here, i think it's a shame a few people just become abusive with their comments when my initial point was trying to stress the point British English is dated with its spelling; it is in some need of freshness; the main reason for this would be for educational needs, i'm not in anyway trying to simplfy matters, but explaining of a word does not try to match its pronounciation then the art of spelling has no logic

So we dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator?
Simplify so that the poor teachers don't have to do their jobs (teach) and the poor stupid children don't have to learn anything.

English is no harder today than it was 50 years ago, yet people like you are moaning about it being to difficult for children. Awwwwww :'( The same goes for maths by the way. It makes me mad.

I'll tell you one thing, the English I hear spoken by many many people here in London makes me wish the language was much much harder. Proper pronunciation and grammar seem to have been forgotten about (or in all likelyhood never grasped).

Originally posted by eatmybishop
i appreciate comments made on here, i think it's a shame a few people just become abusive with their comments when my initial point was trying to stress the point British English is dated with its spelling; it is in some need of freshness; the main reason for this would be for educational needs, i'm not in anyway trying to simplfy matters, but explaining ...[text shortened]... of a word does not try to match its pronounciation then the art of spelling has no logic

i agree with knightwest's comment, there is no need to simplify everything out of existence, philestine (or should i say filistein?).
you'd end up with a strange new speak language like:
(to be pronounced in a gernman accent please)
f u n e x?
s v f x
f u n e m?
m n x 4 2 pls
anyone rember newspeak in orwell's 1984?



🙂

Originally posted by knightwest
So we dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator?
Simplify so that the poor teachers don't have to do their jobs (teach) and the poor stupid children don't have to learn anything.

English is no harder today than it was 50 years ago, yet people like you are moaning about it being to difficult for children. Awwwwww :'( The same goes for math ...[text shortened]... nciation and grammar seem to have been forgotten about (or in all likelyhood never grasped).

If one wants to hear the Enlish language spoken properly, one almost has to travel to the Midwestern United States. Or at least, watch some of our news people. 😉

Originally posted by knightwest
So we dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator?
Simplify so that the poor teachers don't have to do their jobs (teach) and the poor stupid children don't have to learn anything.

English is no harder today than it was 50 years ago, yet people like you are moaning about it being to difficult for children. Awwwwww :'( The same goes for math ...[text shortened]... nciation and grammar seem to have been forgotten about (or in all likelyhood never grasped).

well maybe we should simplify it for your sake knightwest, you can't even get your to and too used in the right context...

"being to difficult for children"

Originally posted by Diapason
What happens if you type 'colour' - will it accept that?
I suspect you have ended up with the US spelling enabled by default. This can be changed after installation, so it is possible you did tick the box marked 'UK English', but that it got changed at a later date.
I would change it back! [In Word go to Tools > Set Language ...]

and there was me thinking it was Microsoft's attempt to conquer
the worlds scrabble score by introducing more Z's to
the English language.
The truth is Z isn't used much in the English language because it's
a daft looking letter. We use it to describe daft things like
Zebras, Zoro and Zest.

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
and there was me thinking it was Microsoft's attempt to conquer
the worlds scrabble score by introducing more Z's to
the English language.
The truth is Z isn't used much in the English language because it's
a daft looking letter. We use it to describe daft things like
Zebras, Zoro and Zest.

Yet there's no Z in daft.

Originally posted by eatmybishop
just for the record: the americans have the spelling right,

the tre in centre actually originates from the Latin centrum, (from Greek kentron meaning ‘stanionary point' i think), when it was adopted into english use centrum was pronounced center, but because of the spelling of the original word, the r and the e were never turned round

Funny thing about that, I live north of Philly about 120 kliks and on Centre street. Except in their infinite wisdom, last year the city fathers yanked all the Centre street signs and put up, you guessed it, Center Street. Go figure. Signs of the times, eh.

Originally posted by eatmybishop
i appreciate comments made on here, i think it's a shame a few people just become abusive with their comments when my initial point was trying to stress the point British English is dated with its spelling; it is in some need of freshness; the main reason for this would be for educational needs, i'm not in anyway trying to simplfy matters, but explaining ...[text shortened]... of a word does not try to match its pronounciation then the art of spelling has no logic

My point (made badly in an earlier post) is that while US English may have fewer inconsistencies in spelling than British English, it is really only a matter of degree.
Let's take a favourite example where some people from the US claim their spelling is logical: 'color'. Do you really say it how it is spelled? I pronounce it "culluh".
I hadn't thought about the pronunciation of the word 'bishop' before now. When I say 'bishop' the final 4 letters sound different from the way they do when I say the word 'shop'. [Presumably you would say 'store' instead of 'shop', but the different words we use on both sides of the atlantic are a whole different argument!] I pronounce 'bishop' as 'bishup'. So does Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens'.

You appear to be advocating phonetic spelling in your final sentence. This would make things _more_ complicated, not less. Again, let's take an example: 'grass'. I come from the southern half of England, so I say it "grarse". People from up-north say "gr-ass". That's just within England. If you started respelling words the way they are pronounced then you would get different spellings all over the world.

I am happy to accept that English spelling is rather ridiculous. I am also happy to accept that there is no sensible way to reform it. I am further convinced that there is no real point in just tinkering with the spelling; my big objection to Noah Webster's work is that he merely tinkered. Either leave it alone or sort it out properly! I love it that he removed the redundant letter 'u' from the word 'honour' ... but left the 'h' at the beginning!

Originally posted by Diapason
You appear to be advocating phonetic spelling in your final sentence. This would make things _more_ complicated, not less. Again, let's take an example: 'grass'. I come from the southern half of England, so I say it "grarse". People from up-north say "gr-ass". That's just within England. If you started respelling words the way they are pronounced then you would get different spellings all over the world.

You posh git. 😛

I bet you say bar-f, for bath as well.

Originally posted by Bad wolf
You posh git. 😛

I bet you say bar-f, for bath as well.

Oh no, my dear fellow. It's pronounced "barth".

Originally posted by Diapason
Oh no, my dear fellow. It's pronounced "barth".

Bath! There is no r!

Originally posted by Bad wolf
Bath! There is no r!

Sorry - that's the way I was brung up to say it!

You are flipping the argument round. Eatmybishop wants to spell English the way you pronounce it, whereas you want to pronounce it the way it's spelled!
So do you say your name "bad wOlf", or do you pronounce it "bad wulf" ?

Originally posted by Diapason
Sorry - that's the way I was brung up to say it!

You are flipping the argument round. Eatmybishop wants to spell English the way you pronounce it, whereas you want to pronounce it the way it's spelled!
So do you say your name "bad wOlf", or do you pronounce it "bad wulf" ?

You pronounce bath without the 'r' sound!
Nothing to do with spelling, you posh git!
That's just the way it should be.


And garage is pronounced as ga-ridge, not ga-raj!

Originally posted by Bad wolf
You pronounce bath without the 'r' sound!
Nothing to do with spelling, you posh git!
That's just the way it should be.


And garage is pronounced as ga-ridge, not ga-raj!

Nothing posh about it! It's just a regional variation. Up-north it's "bath", down south it's "barth".
I concur with "garidge".

Originally posted by Diapason
Nothing posh about it! It's just a regional variation. Up-north it's "bath", down south it's "barth".
I concur with "garidge".

It just goes to show how spelling everything phonetically is such a stupid idea.