I think "gray" is the prefered American spelling. Quite appropriately, however, the spelling of the word is very much a gray area. While words like "flavour, harbour, etc" are referrenced in American-English dictionary as "British Spelling," the word "grey" is listed as "alternate spelling for 'gray.'"
Anyway, I have always used "gray" because it is the spelling used on crayola crayons and markers, which had a formative impact.
something is up with your poll becuase i could select both.
I tend to spell it grey eventhough it is not the American spelling. But, don;t get me started on color or colour and favorite or favourite and even center and centre.
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt); people have misspelled (misspelt) it for so long that the misspelling has become acceptable enough to put on a crayola. The result is confusion, panic, and a general breakdown of the social order.
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt); people have misspelled (misspelt) it for so long that the misspelling has become acceptable enough to put on a crayola. The result is confusion, panic, and a general breakdown of the social order.
What makes you assume that there ever was a social order? Also, you can't trust crayola, they don't even have a "purple" crayon
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt); people have misspelled (misspelt) it for so long that the misspelling has become acceptable enough to put on a crayola. The result is confusion, panic, and a general breakdown of the social order.
Holy Shit!
That explains why the Crayola name for beige is "Kill Whitey"!
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt). . .
Before 18th century, English spelling was not at all standardized, which perhaps led to English's completely non-uniform pronuniciation and grammar. So, in the true spirit of the overly dynamic English language, the spelling that is most frequent should be construed as the "correct" spelling. If our language were more like German, you might have a point about the pronunciation, but, alas, it is not.
Before 18th century, English spelling was not at all standardized, which perhaps led to English's completely non-uniform pronuniciation and grammar. So, in the true spirit of the overly dynamic English language, the spelling that is most frequent should be construed as the "correct" spelling. If our language were more like German, you might have a point about the pronunciation, but, alas, it is not.
Well, English spelling still isn't standardized. But what most people mean when they talk about non-standard language in the c18 and before is that the alphabet hadn't quite sorted itself out. In the c17, for instance, no one was quite sure what to do with C vs K, so you see weirdness with C and K all over the place (e.g. "publick"). You also get holdover German elements like capitalizing Nouns and other Things that are either Persons, Places, or Things.
I don't have my OED on me at the moment, but I'll check when I get home from the office (jeez...why do I not keep my OED at my office?!) about when "gray" enters the language. I said it was the "proper" spelling simply because the word derives from the ME spelling "grei." But like I said, I'll have to check on which spelling is the earliest (and therefore the most long-lived). My money's on "grey."
But you are correct. English is a language governed by the masses, not by some impossible idea of "correctness."
Each of the current spellings has some analogical support. The only mod.Eng. words repr. OE. words ending in '-aey' are key (which is irrelevant on account of its pronunciation), whey, and clay. If we further take into consideration the words repr. OE. words in '-ye', viz. blay or bley, fey, wey, we have three (or four) instances of ey and only two (or one) of ay. On the other hand, this advantage in favour of grey is counterbalanced by the facts that clay is the only word of the five which is in very general use, and that grey is phonetically ambiguous, while gray is not. With regard to the question of usage, an inquiry by Dr. Murray in Nov. 1893 elicited a large number of replies, from which it appeared that in Great Britain the form grey is the more frequent in use, notwithstanding the authority of Johnson and later Eng. lexicographers, who have all given the preference to gray. In answer to questions as to their practice, the printers of The Times stated that they always used the form gray; Messrs. Spottiswoode and Messrs. Clowes always used grey; other eminent printing firms had no fixed rule. Many correspondents said that they used the two forms with a difference of meaning or application: the distinction most generally recognized being that grey denotes a more delicate or a lighter tint than gray. Others considered the difference to be that gray is a 'warmer' colour, or that it has a mixture of red or brown. In the twentieth century, grey has become the established spelling in the U.K., whilst gray is standard in the United States. There seems to be nearly absolute unanimity as to the spelling of 'The Scots Greys', 'a pair of greys'. As the word is both etymologically and phonetically one, it is undesirable to treat its graphic forms as differing in signification.
Comments
Anyway, I have always used "gray" because it is the spelling used on crayola crayons and markers, which had a formative impact.
I tend to spell it grey eventhough it is not the American spelling. But, don;t get me started on color or colour and favorite or favourite and even center and centre.
Originally posted by midwinter
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt); people have misspelled (misspelt) it for so long that the misspelling has become acceptable enough to put on a crayola. The result is confusion, panic, and a general breakdown of the social order.
What makes you assume that there ever was a social order? Also, you can't trust crayola, they don't even have a "purple" crayon
Originally posted by midwinter
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt); people have misspelled (misspelt) it for so long that the misspelling has become acceptable enough to put on a crayola. The result is confusion, panic, and a general breakdown of the social order.
Holy Shit!
That explains why the Crayola name for beige is "Kill Whitey"!
Originally posted by midwinter
My sense is that it's not really about American vs British spellings. "Grey" is how the word is properly spelled (spelt). . .
Before 18th century, English spelling was not at all standardized, which perhaps led to English's completely non-uniform pronuniciation and grammar. So, in the true spirit of the overly dynamic English language, the spelling that is most frequent should be construed as the "correct" spelling. If our language were more like German, you might have a point about the pronunciation, but, alas, it is not.
Originally posted by Splinemodel
Before 18th century, English spelling was not at all standardized, which perhaps led to English's completely non-uniform pronuniciation and grammar. So, in the true spirit of the overly dynamic English language, the spelling that is most frequent should be construed as the "correct" spelling. If our language were more like German, you might have a point about the pronunciation, but, alas, it is not.
Well, English spelling still isn't standardized. But what most people mean when they talk about non-standard language in the c18 and before is that the alphabet hadn't quite sorted itself out. In the c17, for instance, no one was quite sure what to do with C vs K, so you see weirdness with C and K all over the place (e.g. "publick"). You also get holdover German elements like capitalizing Nouns and other Things that are either Persons, Places, or Things.
I don't have my OED on me at the moment, but I'll check when I get home from the office (jeez...why do I not keep my OED at my office?!) about when "gray" enters the language. I said it was the "proper" spelling simply because the word derives from the ME spelling "grei." But like I said, I'll have to check on which spelling is the earliest (and therefore the most long-lived). My money's on "grey."
But you are correct. English is a language governed by the masses, not by some impossible idea of "correctness."
Each of the current spellings has some analogical support. The only mod.Eng. words repr. OE. words ending in '-aey' are key (which is irrelevant on account of its pronunciation), whey, and clay. If we further take into consideration the words repr. OE. words in '-ye', viz. blay or bley, fey, wey, we have three (or four) instances of ey and only two (or one) of ay. On the other hand, this advantage in favour of grey is counterbalanced by the facts that clay is the only word of the five which is in very general use, and that grey is phonetically ambiguous, while gray is not. With regard to the question of usage, an inquiry by Dr. Murray in Nov. 1893 elicited a large number of replies, from which it appeared that in Great Britain the form grey is the more frequent in use, notwithstanding the authority of Johnson and later Eng. lexicographers, who have all given the preference to gray. In answer to questions as to their practice, the printers of The Times stated that they always used the form gray; Messrs. Spottiswoode and Messrs. Clowes always used grey; other eminent printing firms had no fixed rule. Many correspondents said that they used the two forms with a difference of meaning or application: the distinction most generally recognized being that grey denotes a more delicate or a lighter tint than gray. Others considered the difference to be that gray is a 'warmer' colour, or that it has a mixture of red or brown. In the twentieth century, grey has become the established spelling in the U.K., whilst gray is standard in the United States. There seems to be nearly absolute unanimity as to the spelling of 'The Scots Greys', 'a pair of greys'. As the word is both etymologically and phonetically one, it is undesirable to treat its graphic forms as differing in signification.
Originally posted by addabox
I prefer "greigh".
Yeah. He's one of my favorite composers, too.