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Subject: Re: [boost] [Boost.Local] Review
From: Paul A. Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-11-23 05:50:03


> -----Original Message-----
> From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden] [mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Lorenzo
> Caminiti
> Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 10:43 AM
> To: boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: Re: [boost] [Boost.Local] Review
>
> On Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 5:24 AM, Leo Goodstadt <bunbun68_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> >> John Bytheway <jbytheway+boost <at> gmail.com> writes:
> >> >
> >> > On 19/11/11 20:39, Brent Spillner wrote:
> >> > > On Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:59:26 lorcaminiti wrote:
> >> > >>> The title is spelt wrong (should be Acknowledgements)
> >> > > Actually, "Acknowledgments" is the traditionally correct spelling.
> >> > > There are some dictionaries that accept "Acknowledgement," but
> >> > > this reads as faddish and less literate.  A similar word is
> >> > > "judgment"--- both are frequently misspelled even by native speakers.
> >>
> >> BTW, I grew up spelling both as "acknowledgement" and "judgement".
> >> Online sources seem to indicate that in Britain those spellings are
> >> the norm while in the US the 'e' after 'g' is usually dropped. But I
> >> was born and raised here in the US so what gives? Given that my first
> >> name is "Geoff" (English spelling) and not "Jeff" (American spelling) the confusion is readily
apparent?
> >
> > This is where the Oxford English Dictionary with all its historical
> > citations comes in handy.
> >
> > For "acknowledgment" / "acknowledgement": both spellings started out
> > in the 16th c. but the first form historically was found more in the
> > US. Citations from the 19th and 20th c show that both variants are
> > found on both sides of the Atlantic (e.g. the short form in the UK in
> > Dickens, Bronte, Macaulay) though the long form seems to predominate in the 20c only in U.K.
> > newspapers.
> >
> > For "judgement" / "judgment": judgement seems slightly more consistent
> > etymologically (with the Old French/Norman "iugement"?). This may be
> > why it seems to be preferred by the OED. However, both forms are
> > equally old, and >80% of the modern citations have the *short* form
> > not the long form, on both sides of the Atlantic.
> >
> > Conclusion: Spell these words however you want!
>
> OK, thanks a lot :)

I think we can all blame King George III for that. If he hadn’t been mad, we might all spell the
same - and not have The Tea Party either!

Paul

---
Paul A. Bristow,
Prizet Farmhouse, Kendal LA8 8AB  UK
+44 1539 561830  07714330204
pbristow_at_[hidden]

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