Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 12:30:45 +0530 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> To: "Thomas M. Sommers" <tms2@mail.ptd.net> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSDCon East Message-ID: <20000412123045.A1767@theory5.physics.iisc.ernet.in> In-Reply-To: <38F411A9.A81D0563@mail.ptd.net>; from tms2@mail.ptd.net on Wed, Apr 12, 2000 at 02:03:21AM -0400 References: <38F11BBA.0137@funbox.demon.co.uk> <v04220805b5174e9bbae6@[195.238.21.91]> <20000411222112.B235@parish> <20000412112102.B1588@theory5.physics.iisc.ernet.in> <38F411A9.A81D0563@mail.ptd.net>
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> > > I would have to say that *the* canonical reference to the English > > > language is the OED and that Webster is probably the American > > > equivalent. > > > > Yes, but the OED doesn't necessarily represent existing usage > > accurately. It contains a lot of editorialising and attempts > > to shape the future of the language. > > > > My favourite example is "Shakspere" -- they admit that the > > more common spelling is "perh. Shakespeare". This is the > > first edition, I haven't checked what the newer edition says. > > Since Bill himself used several different spellings, it's hard to > justify any particular spelling as 'correct'. I wasn't talking about correctness, but about representing usage accurately. Correct usage is what the majority accept to be correct. "Show" would have been wrong at one time and "shew" correct, but today "shew" looks very odd indeed. "Hiccup" also looks preferable to "hiccough" now, and "Eskimo" to "Esquimau". So I'd say Shakespeare is preferable to other spellings, and in British usage at least, -ise is preferable to -ize, and they survive despite the OED. That suggests that a dictionary, no matter how authoritative or widely accepted, is not the final answer. Usage may change, but only by general consensus, not by fiat. The OED also says that "color" has been in use since the 15th century, does not suggest that it is wrong in the UK, and points out that it is the preferred spelling in the US; but that didn't stop Brits (and Indians and others) from continuing with "colour". To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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