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    5 days ago

    I don’t know where you read that England used the US spelling until the 1890s, your own quote states that the 1829 Wohler publication caused ‘almost wholesale’ (overwhelming) adoption of the ‘aluminium’ spelling in England and Germany.

    The Wikipedia article disagrees with itself a little on timelines to be honest. Under Origins it says ‘aluminum’ was used in Britain between the years of… 1812, when Davy published his textbook (prior to that it was ‘alumium’), and… that same year in 1812, when:

    “British scientist Thomas Young wrote an anonymous review of Davy’s book, in which he proposed the name aluminium instead of aluminum, which he thought had a “less classical sound”. This name persisted: although the -um spelling was occasionally used in Britain, the American scientific language used -ium from the start.”

    Then in Spelling section states what you’ve quoted which conflicts with the above account on timelines of adoption stretching the change to 1827.

    Regardless though, it doesnt change the story much. There was use of both for two decades (not one) in Germany and the UK before they standardized on ‘aluminium’. OK.

    Brits still haven’t used ‘aluminum’ for ~200 years, American scientists used it never, and Webster’s dictionary & American engineer Charles Martin Hall (who wanted to advertise his process with the name Aluminum as it resembled platinum and therefore sounded more valuable and prestigious) are the clearly cited cause of its widespread use in the US & Canada (wiki states both were used widely prior to Hall’s publication in the US, and ‘aluminium’ was more common), but… nah, this is the Brits fault?

    I’m not so sure I’m the one who misread.

    • tyler@programming.dev
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      4 days ago

      but… nah, this is the Brits fault?

      I’m not so sure I’m the one who misread.

      You’re literally arguing that the dude who named it that isn’t the reason it’s named that. Yes, you’re either misreading or arguing a lie on purpose. I chose to believe you were just having trouble reading rather than believe you’re lying. The dude who invented the gif named it with a soft g. We don’t go around saying that it is his fault people say it with a hard g. He clearly stated how he wanted it named. Same here. It doesn’t matter that there was a long gap in usage, they didn’t have the internet in the 1800s. It literally could take decades for information to disseminate at all. Those books that Webster used to find common terms came from somewhere. That original source had to have been the creator, who literally named it “aluminum”.

      So yes, you’re either misreading, lying, or an idiot. So I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

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        3 days ago

        You’re literally arguing that the dude who named it that isn’t the reason it’s named that.

        No, I’m not, I’m discussing the etymology of the word as Wikipedia states it.

        This is the last quote I’ll drop from the Wikipedia article I’ve linked because really, you should be able to just read this yourself.

        In 1892, Hall used the -um spelling in his advertising handbill for his new electrolytic method of producing the metal, despite his constant use of the -ium spelling in all the patents he filed between 1886 and 1903. It is unknown whether this spelling was introduced by mistake or intentionally, but Hall preferred aluminum since its introduction because it resembled platinum, the name of a prestigious metal. By 1890, both spellings had been common in the United States, the -ium spelling [aluminium] being slightly more common; by 1895, the situation had reversed; by 1900, aluminum had become twice as common as aluminium; in the next decade, the -um spelling dominated American usage.

        This quote is from tthe etymology section, explaining how the spelling rose to prominence in the US - again, Americans drove this spelling adoption - Webster then HALL. Not ‘the Brits’. 🤦‍♂️

        • tyler@programming.dev
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          3 days ago

          This quote is from tthe etymology section, explaining how the spelling rose to prominence in the US - again, Americans drove this spelling adoption - Webster then HALL. Not ‘the Brits’. 🤦‍♂️

          dude. who the fuck do you think CREATED THE FUCKING WORD.

          Holy shit, I’ve never seen someone so fucking dense.

          DAVY -> WEBSTER -> HALL

          it fucking started with Davy, like this isn’t a hard fucking concept to understand. He invented the fucking word. Webster didn’t invent it, Hall didn’t invent it. Fucking Davy invented it. It was literally a Briton that invented it. It fucking started with the Brits. The word wouldn’t exist without Davy. The word wouldn’t be in America without Davy. Do you actually think Webster just invented a different word to put in his book?

          🤦 🤦 🤦 🤦 🤦 🤦

          • pulsewidth
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            2 days ago

            Lol you really don’t understand what etymology means do you?

            The purpose of this thread is talking about why the Americans adopted a particular spelling - the evolution of the word, not who initially named it. Words change and evolve over time, as does their spelling. This is why Wikipedia dedicated an entire two page section to explaining how the word developed (etymology - remember?) and the people who popularized the spelling.

            I’m done replying to you, it’s like talking to a brick wall and now you’re just being childishly abusive.

            • tyler@programming.dev
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              2 days ago

              The purpose of this thread is talking about why the Americans adopted a particular spelling - the evolution of the word, not who initially named it.

              I’m the one that literally started the thread and no the purpose was not “talking about why the Americans adopted a particular spelling”. It was literally about who fucking named it.

              No wonder you have no clue what you are talking about, you aren’t even on the right subject.