why is this not one way or the other?
addendum: wow, thanks everyone. I truly never knew it was a British vs. American spelling thing.
Yes
Gray is a color, while grey is a colour.
I like mixing American and British spells to piss assholes off who have nothing better to do then attack people for their spelling choices.
Its very fun.
*essholas
Than*
It’s not British or American to just use the wildly-wrong word… That’s just misusing words.
Maybe they actually means “then.” As in after they mix American and British spellings to piss people off with nothing better to do, they attack people for their spelling choice.
We all need hobbies.
Does your comment even make sense to you…?
It’s pretty clear. Not sure how you could have issues with it.
piss assholes off
piss off assholes
;-)
Split infinitive? To boldly go or to go boldly? If it’s intelligible I’d let it slide - second languages and all that.
It is spelled grey in correct English. In the USA, they like spelling it gray.
All language is made up. There is no ‘correct’.
Standardisation of language is not pointless. Shared standards serve concrete functions:
- When 8 billion people write “colour” the same way, you don’t pause to decode variants
- Technical manuals, legal documents, medical instructions need precision: ambiguity costs lives
- Cross-generational understanding: Shakespeare’s English is already hard without adding modern variation to the mix
- Standardized spelling keeps homophones distinct (their/there/they’re)
Standardisation of language isn’t about one version being inherently right. It’s about shared agreement that enables function at scale.
No we don’t. Grey is the only way.
grey - 🇬🇧 english (traditional)
gray - 🇺🇸 english (simplified)
gray - 🇺🇸 english (simplified)
grey - 🇬🇧 english (traditional)
gr*y - 🇦🇺 english (explicit)
This is correct, but for some reason in my head I think of gray as warm toned (like with yellow or brown undertones) and grey as cool toned (like with blue or purple undertones).
I have no idea why my brain has decided this is the way.
What?! It’s exactly the opposite, obviously!
I’m splitting hairs but I always read
grey - 🇨🇦 english (eh)
E is the European version, A is the American version. This sounds trite, but is true, and makes it simple to know which one to use
E is English. A is American.
Are you being like pedantic or just trying to make it more simple?
(Otherwise North America and specially the United States has the majority of English speakers in the world, so there is a realistic distinction between U.K. / European English and American English and both are equally correct evolutions of their English roots )
Edit: downvote all you want, but I was just asking for clarity
English as in England, the country
it’s a mnemonic to help people remember, not pedantry
. . . Unless you’re in the majority of the English speaking world, which includes India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Of course, grey is the appropriate spelling for all of those but Canada, which uses both.
Canada, which uses both
græy /s
That looks awesome though
“Both” in Canada is Gray and Gris
That’s what Seal’s rose was on.
Canadas english is weird
Especially when it comes to measurements (weight, volume, mass, temperature)
Hey at least you’re not still measuring weight in stone. Nothing makes me roll my eyes quicker. Oh you’re ten stone? How neat im 2 boulder and 3 pebble.
What’s wrong with Canada’s weights and measures?
Everything is in SI units.
Unless you’re cooking, where heat is in Fahrenheit, solid measures are in cups teaspoons and tablespoons (but liquids are in litres and weights are in grams).
Or in construction, where you work in feet and yards. Or measuring a person’s height.
But while someone might be 6’ tall, their stride length will be in metres, as will their arm span.
So yeah; simple. It’s not like Canada has tons of people weighing in tonnes.
A “Pint” of beer served commercially in Canada must be 20 imperial (UK) ounces (aka ~568 mL), with a 2.5% margin of error permitted within the law, unlike a US pint (16 US fl oz ~473mL).
Just for fun, “Une pinte” of alcohol in French served commercially is “a quart” of alcohol in English which is double that value.
Canada said fuck it we use what makes the most sense for the scope and scale at hand. And then cherry picked everything.
Unironically if you get your head out of your fucking ass for two seconds and stop being a fan boy for measurement systems.
Canada has arguably the best worst solution! Its fantastic! And awful! I love it.
Whats the temp outside? -20C eh? Good thing its a nice comfy 80 F in here eh
My in-laws in Quebec get weighed in pounds
No need to downvote this comment
Even canadians agree that we have a weird mix of different systems in play
Also depends if it’s someone’s last name… 😅
henry gray, the author of the iconic medical text.
albert grey, former governor general (ca). the grey cup (cfl championship game and trophy) takes its name from him.
Australia uses both, but grey is “correct”.
Canada, which uses both.
Is it Caneda then, or Cenada?
;-)
Americans spell it whatever way they want.
But in certain circumstances, the Europeans will still use it with an a. Specifically, when referring to the color of a horse.
Wasn’t aware of that
Gray in the US. Grey elsewhere.
I think it’s a USA vs European English thing.
I prefer the ‘grey’ spelling though, even though ‘gray’ is most common in the states.
European English
Is this a thing? Isn’t it just “British English”?
Nah, I think that was part of the terms of Brexit, given more people in the EU speak it than in Briton they get to claim the weird spellings… At least they let the Brits keep there combined use of metric and imperial.
/s if it wasn’t obvious
It’s græy
In all the languages that have the letter æ , exactly none of them use it for that colour.
I know it’s an American vs other English speaking countries thing, but as an American I can honestly never remember which one we are. I always used to look it up, but now I just shoot from the hip and assume I’m right, which feels the most American way to approach it.
When I was in high school, a girl passed me a note:
Are you g
ray?Never forgot the spelling ;)
I think that’s what most Americans do. I don’t think I’ve thought about how to spell it in decades. I just spell it both ways depending on the day.
Either way is correct.
Gray in the U.S. presumably because a was cheaper than e for typesetting
Why would a be cheaper than e
They’re both vowels lol
Source: I made it up.
Depends who you ask.
We know someone named Gray and a different person named Grey!
Yes
Grea
for the color i use “a” always… but was taught either one was acceptable, unless it’s a name (proper noun).
