rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (07/28/84)
I've used British spellings on a number of words for many years. Not words that seem to be just different (e.g., pyjamas/tyres vs. pajamas/tires), but words using letter doubling where it seemed to make sense to double letters. Examples include the past tense (or present participle) form of words ending in a single consonant preceded by a short 'e'. (e.g., travel, cancel) I've always spelled these words as "cancelled" or "travelled", because "canceled" and "traveled" appeared to denote a long sound for that 'e'. I fought a teacher's marking "cancelled" incorrect on a spelling test in elementary school and won out. Is that the reason behind the British spelling? How did the American spelling come about? -- AT THE TONE PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND NET ADDRESS. THANK YOU. Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr
jhf@lanl-a.UUCP (08/02/84)
My Webster's 7th New Collegiate Dictionary lists both "canceled" and "cancelled" as correct spellings. So does the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, although it labels the latter as "chiefly British." I agree that the spelling with the double "l" is better; the other one has always looked wrong to me.