Interestingly, Fowler (Modern English Usage) agreed with Noah Webster in some areas. He forecast (incorrectly, unfortunately) the demise of the u in "colour." He himself didn't like it. The British still use it and the Canadians reverted to it around 1980 or so. (Until then, the Canadian newspapers used more progressive spellings than the American one-e.g., glamor, rather than the US and British glamour). Fowler also didn't like the "ise" suffix. I believe he criticized the British for copying the French style, rather than actually learning how to spell. Bill _____
Bill Potts W <http://wfpconsulting.com/> FP Consulting Roseville, CA <http://metric1.org/> http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 11:42 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:45420] Re: Spelling metre or meter Hi Pat, We will probably remain on opposite sides of this issue, but a few thoughts: On page 3, you assert Congress has never spoken on the spelling issues. On other pages you recognize they did in the Metric Act of 1866. That was obviously a long time ago. However, I would assert they have spoken by their silence only a couple of years ago. In 2007, they amended the Act to withdraw obsolete tables of conversion and again designate the Secretary of Commerce as empowered to interpret the SI for the United States. Had they disagreed on spelling, this would have been the place to address it; they must therefore be satisfied with the current interpretation. On page 14, you give an example of 123,456 metres of something (wire?). In any case, if we assume it is "proper SI" there is no confusion. Both the SI Brochure and NIST SP330 allow both the comma and point as a decimal separator, and both forbid either as a thousands separator (space or thin space is required). It is clear that a little over 123 m is desired (the other possibility is that they don't understand the SI at all, but then, why assume they can count). More generally, you place blame solely on Noah Webster for simplified American spelling. He no doubt had a role in its origins, but we Americans have embraced it. We have always had a choice of buying the Webster or Oxford dictionary. Generations of American schools teaching American spelling may have more to do with it, but I doubt you could persuade Americans to return to British spelling. Perhaps like the SI symbols, the unit words need to be made International words with constant spelling and pronunciation mandated in all languages. It is hard to care about meter vs. metre when metro, metr, etc exist. I'm afraid your "Centre for the Defence of Harmonised Spelling" will have a few problems getting off the ground. (my spell checker was appalled by this phrase) --- On Thu, 7/16/09, Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> wrote: From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:45399] Spelling metre or meter To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 4:01 PM Dear All, For those of you who are interested in the spelling question, I have just finished polishing the article, Spelling metre or meter. You will find many arguments to support either of these choices at http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/Spelling_metre_or_meter.pdf including my own Australian oriented view. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the forthcoming book, Metrication Leaders Guide. 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 <http://www.metricationmatters.com/> for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected] <http://us.mc824.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pat.naugh...@metricationmatter s.com> or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe.
