Being a fan of American spelling (though less a fan of other American things, like our silly units) I find myself occasionally having to defend our spelling of meter. This is a nice essay to be able to refer to.
In the rare case in which disambiguation between the two meanings of the word is necessary, I suggest that Americans just resort to the use of a more explicit synonym such as "measuring tool" or "SI meter". This has the advantage of allowing disambiguation in spoken language too, and for written documents it avoids the possibility that someone will just misinterpret the different spelling as a typo and not recognize that a distinction in meaning was intended. I've nothing against the international spelling in an international context, of course. Just my two cents regarding US domestic usage. --- Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear All, > > There is an interesting historical glimpse of the debate over the > spelling of metre or meter at: > > http://books.google.com/books?id=N6vfLU-RfmYC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=gram+gramme+meter+metre+agreement&source=web&ots=6l4DHvuPUH&sig=1m_frOYXwtUe07JnEfHfbo-j_ZQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA65,M1 > > Cheers, > > Pat Naughtin > > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has > helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the > modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they > now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for > their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many > different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial > and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. > Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, > and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See > http://www.metricationmatters.com/ > for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: > http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ > to subscribe. > >
