A question to the Americans

[PeterG]

Thank you for asking this question, it's one I have wondered about and now I will know that I will be spelling good in the future.

[orientalplane]

[Skittl1321]

I always think of grey as having yellowish undertones and gray as having bluish undertones.

Do you have synesthesia?

[aliceanne]

The bigger question is why are there separate spellings for British and American English? I get that "color" is shorter than "colour", but why "realize" and "realise"? Is it a reminder for Americans to hit those consonants harder?

[Skittl1321]

I have no idea how it began, but I've often read that American spellings are more phonetic. Theatre/Theater is a good example, and realize/realise is too (though not quite as much).

Maybe a long time ago we had a tough time learning how to read, so they made it easier?

[nubka]

Grey looks much nicer.

I agree!

[Aceon6]

I have no idea how it began, but I've often read that American spellings are more phonetic.

It may be urban myth, but I was told that the NY Times and other newspapers were quick to adopt a change if it meant they could set fewer letters and use less ink.

[Ziggy]

Thank you for asking this question, it's one I have wondered about and now I will know that I will be spelling good in the future.

YOU BETTER WATCH IT.

[Prancer]

I have no idea how it began, but I've often read that American spellings are more phonetic. Theatre/Theater is a good example, and realize/realise is too (though not quite as much).

Maybe a long time ago we had a tough time learning how to read, so they made it easier?

Um, no. After the Revolutionary War, Noah Webster changed a lot of American spellings, partly because he was an advocate of spelling reform and partly because he wanted American English to be different from British English because we weren't British any more.

Of course, that's overly simplistic; many of the spelling changes were actually well underway in the colonies while they still were colonies and some of the spelling changes were holdovers from British spellings of earlier periods, as well as variants brought by immigrants from other countries, but Webster's original dictionary is what made them standard American spellings.

[snoopysnake]

The bigger question is why are there separate spellings for British and American English? I get that "color" is shorter than "colour", but why "realize" and "realise"? Is it a reminder for Americans to hit those consonants harder?

When I read the word "color," the voice in my head always pronounces it "cul-oor," i.e rhymes with "poor."

[Aussie Willy]

I prefer Charcoal.

[PeterG]

YOU BETTER WATCH IT.

oh...i'm watching it...

The bigger question is why are there separate spellings for British and American English? I get that "color" is shorter than "colour", but why "realize" and "realise"? Is it a reminder for Americans to hit those consonants harder?

bcuz mericans r 2 lzy 2 do the