GRAY OR GREY?
G'day folks,
Google and
Vocativ recently paired up to investigate which words people have trouble
spelling. They released a list of the most problematic terms
by state based on search data,
and the word grey appeared a staggering twelve times. So is grey
incorrect?
Grey and gray are
both accepted in the English language. They refer to a color of a neutral tone
between black and white, and can also be used metaphorically to convey gloom
and dullness. However, gray is the more popular spelling in the US,
while grey reigns supreme in the UK. For centuries, the one letter
difference between gray and grey has left people wondering if the
two have different meanings.
Both spellings
evolved from the Old English term grǣg and have retained their primary
definition as a color, but many people have sought to assign gray and grey
to slightly different shades. For instance, in his work Chromatography; or,
a Treatise on Colours and Pigments, and of their Powers in Painting
published in 1835, the chemist George Field wrote that gray “denotes a
class of cool cinereous colours in which blue predominates,” while Field
reserves grey to describe a more neutral shade. However, such nuanced
distinctions are not observed in popular usage today.
EL James’s
best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey, along with the blockbuster film
of the same name released earlier this year, may have contributed to increased
uncertainty about how to spell the term in recent years.
Rest assured
that when it comes to the tones between black and white, both grey and gray
are acceptable spellings in the English language. If you do find yourself
trying to remember which side of the pond uses which spelling more often, keep
in mind this mnemonic trick: England begins with an e, while America
begins with an a.
Clancy's comment: Mm ... Some of these tricky words can make your hair turn gray, grey ... Or even silver. All jokes aside, I will stick to real English, not what I call Bill Gates English.
I'm ...
No comments:
Post a Comment