h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of my personal favourites (cheque/check).

Also, this paragraph is rather confusing and the language is a littel forced:

"In the United States, many adjectives and nouns were able to be used as verbs when adding the standard -ize ending, in British-English, to standardize a noun or adjective, you must add an -ise ending. This rule is loosely followed though, as in American-English, the term that should be 'surprize' is 'surprise', and in British dictionaries the -ize ending is shown as the ending and -ise as an alternative."

For example, I think the first sentence would be better as "In the United States, many adjectives and nouns may be used as verbs by adding the standard -ize ending." As well as the slightly forced use of "were able to be", the existing sentence is rather long and complex.

The rule expounded by Fowler, and used by a number of British dictionaries, is that words with a Greek root take the -ize suffix and those with a Latin root take -ise. This explains the large number of -izes in a British dictionary.

"littel". Oops.

And missed axe and ax (which just looks silly)

This doesn't explain why they the words were changed in the first place.. easier to spell.. but WHY change it in the first place!

I missed a lot of words. Admittedly, the original title of this entry was "A Brief Review..." so I wouldn't have to list them all. But they changed the title, and I wasn't even quite finished with it when it was recommended

Imagine, me having trouble fending scouts AWAY

Then you can be very smug!

But still don't see the point the point of changing the words in the first place, old bean...

It's my way of shielding the embarassment

Tell that to Webster. Well, you can't. 'cos he's dead.

Seems that Webster wanted it changed 'cause he couldn't spell properly!

I wish I could just do that. And invent words.

Shouldn't colding be a word?

As opposed to warming?

You can just make up words... just fit them into your sentences and when people ask you tell them what it means and they might pick it up aswell leading to a large mass of the country's people using it and therefore gets put in the dictionary...

Doesn't work for Scrabble though...

I want 'badong' as a word meaning both bad and wrong..

It worked with the Irish anyway.. when one guy made bets bet with his friends that his could make up a word.... turned out to be 'quiz'...

Shakeseare made up words. In fact, he used adjectives (such as cold) to make verbs (such as colding). I'm like shakespeare

Ah.. so about as interesting as Morris Dancing then!

Morris Dancing actually has a very interesting etymology that I won't bore anyone with.

Is it always possible or easy to note if a word has Greek or Latin roots? I don't know by now what this little piece of plastic is called that musicians use to play their (E-) guitar (or guitarre or gitar?) with. In german you may use the words Plektrum (Latin) or Plektron (Greek). So what might be the right alternative verb for picking - plektronize? plektrumise?...

Apart from cheque - there is also technique.

Nice entr, anyway!

HP
»--.

A pick? I don't know, I'm not musically inclined

Do the British and Americans spell technique differently?