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NielsBohron@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

yet another instance where American English decided to be different for the sake of it, without any rhyme or reason.

I actually read somewhere that lots of those instances were actually England deciding to be different so they could look down on “the colonies.” The extra u in color and favorite, all those random e’s, etc. were actually added later to look “old-timey.”

Now, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I can’t be bothered to actually find a source, but I remember the source being trustworthy, so take that however you like.

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rainynight65@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
First source I could find:

drawingsof.com/color-or-colour/

In the early 1800s, a U.S. lexicographer and dictionary creator named Noah Webster decided that the United States of America should use different spellings than British English — ideally to make words shorter, simpler, and more logical.

In the 1806 and 1828 U.S. dictionaries that he published, Webster changed most of the “ou” British spellings of words to “o” — including turning “color” into “colour.” He also changed “flavour” to “flavor,” “rumour” to “rumor,” “honour” to “honor,” and many more. He argued that eliminating unnecessary letters (like that silent “u”) could save money on printing

The claim on England looking down on the colonies wouldn’t check out of you consider that -or in favour of -our is only used in the US, none of the other former colonies (not even Canada).

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- NielsBohron@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You know, while sitting around avoiding work on a Monday, I remembered my source: some British dude living in the American Midwest talking about random words on YouTube (I think his channel is “Lost in the Pond” or something like that). The specifics he referenced were “axe/ax,” “kerb/curb,” and “tyre/tire.” In each case, there was a settled spelling shared Great Britain and North American English (the latter of each pair), and for some reason England made up a new spelling or reverted to an even older spelling in the late 19th century (Wikipedia source)
  
  So I wasn’t completely fabricating things, but it was much more specific than I remembered.
  
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- NielsBohron@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  There you go. That’s what I get for trusting random bits of unsourced memory.
  
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