4 ms·

Maybe eventually the Britishisation will extend to returning the 'u' to colour so I make far, far fewer typos. Although it's interesting see the cross-pollenis

Maybe eventually the Britishisation will extend to returning the 'u' to colour so I make far, far fewer typos. Although it's interesting see the cross-pollenisation that seems to be happening linguistically thanks to media shifting both ways across the pond. Often used to be American imported media flowing into Britain with very few things leaving, but it seems like there's more American Doctor Who fans than British ones now.

npsimons 14y ago
I still think it's funny that for a culture that was so at odds with the French that their slang for toilet is named after a line of French kings, they still spell things like the French ("colour" being one example, "theatre" another). As to Doctor Who, well, it's more soap opera than science fiction these days (and has been for a while), so it's no surprise that it's wildly popular in the states.
- heyitsnick 14y ago
  > I still think it's funny that for a culture that was so at odds with the French ... they still spell things like the French ("colour" being one example, "theatre" another). But the word descends directly from the French language; 30% of English is from the French, it's largest influence (another 30% is from latin, 30% from Germanic, and the rest from other sources). So it's not that we are choosing to 'spell things like the French': the word IS French, as are countless other words. It's our biggest source of vocab.
  - gmac 14y ago
    Also, we don't. Colour =/= couleur.
    - melg 14y ago
      and "theatre" is not spelled like "théâtre"
- JumpCrisscross 14y ago
  The reason nearly a third of English words derive from French (the same proportion as directly from Latin, which the romantic languages, e.g. French, derive from) is because the British Isles were largely conquered by William the Conqueror (to the Brits) in the 11th century.
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TamDenholm 14y ago
"Typo" would be another one, I'd always say "Spelling mistake" instead. I had no experience of the word "typo" until i started noticing it in American TV.
- _dps 14y ago
  <pedantic clarification> For those who first encounter the word "typo" indirectly as TamDenholm did, it's worth noting that a typo is not just any spelling mistake; it is a mis-spelling rendered in a type-set text and arising not through the author's ignorance of spelling but rather through a mis-operation of the typing apparatus (often arising through hasty typing). For elaboration, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographical_error http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographical_error. If one believed (erroneously) that "spelling" were correctly rendered "speling", that would not be a typo but a spelling mistake. On the other hand, if one rendered it "speling" because of a finger slip on the second press of the "l" key then it would be a typo. </pedantic clarification>

npsimons 14y ago

I still think it's funny that for a culture that was so at odds with the French that their slang for toilet is named after a line of French kings, they still spell things like the French ("colour" being one example, "theatre" another). As to Doctor Who, well, it's more soap opera than science fiction these days (and has been for a while), so it's no surprise that it's wildly popular in the states.

heyitsnick 14y ago
> I still think it's funny that for a culture that was so at odds with the French ... they still spell things like the French ("colour" being one example, "theatre" another). But the word descends directly from the French language; 30% of English is from the French, it's largest influence (another 30% is from latin, 30% from Germanic, and the rest from other sources). So it's not that we are choosing to 'spell things like the French': the word IS French, as are countless other words. It's our biggest source of vocab.
- gmac 14y ago
  Also, we don't. Colour =/= couleur.
  - melg 14y ago
    and "theatre" is not spelled like "théâtre"
JumpCrisscross 14y ago
The reason nearly a third of English words derive from French (the same proportion as directly from Latin, which the romantic languages, e.g. French, derive from) is because the British Isles were largely conquered by William the Conqueror (to the Brits) in the 11th century.

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TamDenholm 14y ago

"Typo" would be another one, I'd always say "Spelling mistake" instead. I had no experience of the word "typo" until i started noticing it in American TV.

_dps 14y ago
<pedantic clarification> For those who first encounter the word "typo" indirectly as TamDenholm did, it's worth noting that a typo is not just any spelling mistake; it is a mis-spelling rendered in a type-set text and arising not through the author's ignorance of spelling but rather through a mis-operation of the typing apparatus (often arising through hasty typing). For elaboration, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographical_error http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographical_error. If one believed (erroneously) that "spelling" were correctly rendered "speling", that would not be a typo but a spelling mistake. On the other hand, if one rendered it "speling" because of a finger slip on the second press of the "l" key then it would be a typo. </pedantic clarification>