Earned or earnt?

PollyDolly

On a similar vein.......why is the plural of ROOF, ROOFS but the plural of HOOF is HOOVES? Just asking......please don't shoot me.

I have been asking that question for years! ?

I saw the plural of Roof spelt Roof's yesterday.

Not how I would have spelt/spelled it

Callistemon

I saw the plural of Roof spelt Roof's yesterday.

Not how I would have spelt/spelled it

Sometime ago on a similar thread, I said that I still use rooves as a plural of roof. I was sternly corrected, not that it bothered me, I would never describe someone as a roofing contractor. Roofing, it just grates on my ears. And for what it's worth I refuse to give up the double 'I' as in terminus/terminii even if Gransnet spell checker underlines it in red. I can almost sense the spell checker writing SEE ME in red.

eazybee

*You don't have to be a good speller to study English literature to postgraduate level*.
Literature and the appreciation/analysis thereof isn't all about spelling.

It is pretty poor if you can't (be bothered to) spell correctly at post-graduate level after studying English for all those years.

The 'blurb' will have been written by someone in the Marketing department, though - not necessarily an English Literature graduate.

For me my hackles rise when I read the word ‘dove’ instead of ‘dived’. As in ‘He dove into the water ‘ Grrr

LucyLocket55

For me my hackles rise when I read the word ‘dove’ instead of ‘dived’. As in ‘He dove into the water ‘ Grrr

You and me both. The whole subject of written English and what is correct and what isn't stems from America's Simplified Spelling Board.

In 1906, Andrew Carnegie was convinced that English could be a universal language used around the world if only English was easier to read and to write. In an attempt to tackle this problem, Carnegie decided to fund a group of intellectuals to discuss this issue. The result was the Simplified Spelling Board.

In the same year, President Theodore Roosevelt tried to get the government to simplify the spelling of 300 common English words. However, this didn't go over well with Congress or the public. With public sentiment against him, Roosevelt decided to rescind his order to the Government Printing Office.

The efforts of the Simplified Spelling Board continued for several more years, but the popularity of the idea had waned after Roosevelt's failed attempt at government support. However, when browsing the list of 300 words, one cannot help but notice how many of the "new" spellings are in current use today. With public sentiment against him, Roosevelt decided to rescind his order to the Government Printing Office.

If you search: Simplified Spelling Board, you will see how America came to alter the spelling of English and as 1906 was just about the cusp of the movie industry, and the films made by that industry, acted as a conduit, for what we know today as American English.

Regarding "roofs" (even writing it makes me shudder!): I was taught that all words which end in f (roof, dwarf - except as a verb - hoof, calf, half) are pluralised with "ves".

Not true JackyB !

MawBe

Not true JackyB !

MawBe, it's unfair to say not true, unless you back it up with your reason for saying so.