gages
Joel Meadows
I'm not trying to correct anyone or anything, but most people don't know
that the correct spelling of gage for water levels is g-a-g-e without
the "u". Again, just a bit of fun trivia....
-Joel D.
Paul Skoczylas
OED says that "gage" is an obsolete spelling, although it does say that
"The more
normal gage has been adopted in recent American Dicts." (I suppose that
in the tradition of Noah Webster, you Americans want to drop unnecessary
letters, like the u in words like colour. Did you know that a lot of
the changes Noah wanted to make didn't catch on? --If they did, you guys
in the States would spell "head" like "hed", for example.)
BTW, the exception that OED lists for gage being the normal spelling, is
in a nautical sense: " The position of one vessel with reference to
another and the wind. In phrase to have or keep the weather gage of: to
be to windward of; also fig. to get the better of. Subsequently also in
lee gage." I don't think that usage applies to river gauges, which is
gauge in the sense of a measurement device.
Gauge is the correct British/Canadian spelling, and it certainly seems
like a great number of Americans use it too (unlike colour).
"Guage" is, as OED puts it, "a mere blunder", and is quite incorrect in
any flavour of English.
No, I'm not pedantic. :-)
-Paul
Abdul Raoul
Joel Meadows <mea...@tetratech-ffx.com> wrote
>I'm not trying to correct anyone or anything, but most people don't know
>that the correct spelling of gage for water levels is g-a-g-e without
>the "u". Again, just a bit of fun trivia....
>-Joel D.
According to my Webster's dictionary it is also spelled gauge.
Abdul.
Joel Meadows
I learned this when I wrote my senior thesis on increased flooding along
the Watauga River....when I turned in my rough draft, my professor (also
one of my boating buddies!) marked all instances where I had it spelled
g-a-u-g-e...he said that the academic/scientific spelling of the word in
terms of river levels, etc., is g-a-g-e, not gauge, and that most any
professor/hydrologist would agree. So, I don't know what the official,
official ruling is and I'm definitely not going to argue one way or the
other, but I do know that I would have received a lesser score on the
paper if I had left all those instances as g-a-u-g-e!!!
-Joel D.
Cathee Gallant
.........to paddling enjoyement! I vote for Webster.
Cathee
Wilko van den Bergh
Paul Skoczylas wrote:
>
> I don't think that usage applies to river gauges, which is
> gauge in the sense of a measurement device.
>
> Gauge is the correct British/Canadian spelling, and it certainly seems
> like a great number of Americans use it too (unlike colour).
>
> "Guage" is, as OED puts it, "a mere blunder", and is quite incorrect
> in
> any flavour of English.
Thanks Paul,
I am regularly wondering if my English vocabulary has had another
breakdown, because Britisch English & American English have these
little spelling catches in between...
Pretty annoying if you try to use the correct spelling without
knowing the language too well.
Bye,
--
Wilko van den Bergh Wi...@stack.nl
Sociology Student at the Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Whitewater Kayaker AD&D Dungeon Master
Secretary of the Eindhoven Canoe Club "De Genneper Molen"
--------------------------------------------------------------
No man is wise enough, nor good enough
to be trusted with unlimited power.
Charles Colton
--------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Skoczylas
Joel Meadows wrote:
>
> I learned this when I wrote my senior thesis on increased flooding along
> the Watauga River....when I turned in my rough draft, my professor (also
> one of my boating buddies!) marked all instances where I had it spelled
> g-a-u-g-e...he said that the academic/scientific spelling of the word in
> terms of river levels, etc., is g-a-g-e, not gauge, and that most any
> professor/hydrologist would agree.
Funny how lots of people, when they have a way of doing things, will say
that other people (particularly important people) do things the same way
and therefore it must be the correct way. I know I've done the same
thing in the past to support arguments...
I think that "most any professor/hydrologist", even if you only ask
Americans, would not necessarily agree (some would, some wouldn't). I
just had a look at the engineering textbooks on my shelf, and some say
gage and some say gauge, and most (all?) were published in the US.
-Paul
Tim Paton
Joel Meadows wrote:
>
> I learned this when I wrote my senior thesis on increased flooding
> along
> the Watauga River....when I turned in my rough draft, my professor
> (also
> one of my boating buddies!) marked all instances where I had it
> spelled
> g-a-u-g-e...he said that the academic/scientific spelling of the word
> in
> terms of river levels, etc., is g-a-g-e, not gauge, and that most any
> official,
> official ruling is and I'm definitely not going to argue one way or
> the
> other, but I do know that I would have received a lesser score on the
> paper if I had left all those instances as g-a-u-g-e!!!
>
> -Joel D.
Always best to spell the way your assesors do :-)
please be aware though that "standard" spelling of many words, such as gauge
vary throughout the world (i'm in australia, and will continue to spell it the
way my teachers and engineering lecturers taught). A blanket statement saying
that we are all wrong, and that the correct spelling is without the u, is very
US-centric and could be taken badly by people who find such a vies of the
world annoying.
spell the way you have been taught, and so will the rest of us :-)
tim
J R Sweet
In article <35169A...@cfer.ualberta.ca>,
Paul Skoczylas <pa...@cfer.ualberta.ca> wrote:
> OED says that "gage" is an obsolete spelling, although it does say that
> "The more
> normal gage has been adopted in recent American Dicts." <snip>
>
> Gauge is the correct British/Canadian spelling, and it certainly seems
> like a great number of Americans use it too (unlike colour).
>
> "Guage" is, as OED puts it, "a mere blunder", and is quite incorrect in
> any flavour of English.
>
> No, I'm not pedantic. :-)
>
> -Paul
>
Wow, a spelling thread on RBP!! I'm a spelling fanatic, which is not to say
that I don't make the occasional "mere blunder." I have passed up the urge
to chide folks about spelling as I understand it is considered poor manners
on Usenet as a rule, but this is interesting, and misspelled words will not
be found by search engines unless the searcher makes the same error.
An older edition of Webster's Collegiate lists both "gauge" and "gage" and
indicates that the former is slightly preferred. A newer edition of Random
House says the former is preferred but that the latter is often used "esp. in
technical use." I believe gaging river levels qualifies as a technical use
and I prefer that spelling. It seems to be at least acceptable to linguists,
if not preferred, it is simpler, and it avoids the "mere blunder" of "guage,"
which I believe often results from confusing the word with "guard" which is
similarly pronounced but spelled with the vowels reversed.
Well, enough language lesson. Let's get back to the rivers!!!
J R Sweet
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Jez
Paul Skoczylas wrote:
> you Americans want to drop unnecessary
> letters, like the u in words like colour. Did you know that a lot of
> the changes Noah wanted to make didn't catch on? --If they did, you guys
> in the States would spell "head" like "hed", for example.)
Bill Bryson has written an excellent book (Made In America) about the
development of "American" English. It forced me to review my assumption
that the USA was corrupting spellings by pointing out that at the time
of colonisation spellings were very loose. In fact many "Americanisms"
are original spellings. Often it is English in the rest of the world
that has changed.
It's a very enlightening read - especially in the explanation of (for
instance) how the deep south became known as Dixie.
Loved his book about the Appalations too and I'm jealous of those who
live in the area.
Jez
--
jer...@henleymc.ac.uk
Reading, England
Paul Skoczylas
Jez wrote:
>
> Paul Skoczylas wrote:
> > you Americans want to drop unnecessary
> > letters, like the u in words like colour. Did you know that a lot of
> > the changes Noah wanted to make didn't catch on? --If they did, you guys
> > in the States would spell "head" like "hed", for example.)
>
> Bill Bryson has written an excellent book (Made In America) about the
> development of "American" English. It forced me to review my assumption
> that the USA was corrupting spellings by pointing out that at the time
> of colonisation spellings were very loose. In fact many "Americanisms"
> are original spellings. Often it is English in the rest of the world
> that has changed.
Noah Webster did have a very large influence on the spelling that is now
considered American. As you say, spelling was very loose around that
time, and it was the development of dictionaries that started
standardizing spellings. Webster really thought that unnecessary
letters should be dropped and it was he who standardized "color" (etc)
in the US, and as I said, he also tried to make other changes like "hed"
that didn't catch on. He had the support of Ben Franklin in these
changes.
Which are the "original" spellings is of course debatable. "Colour"
comes from the latin, which doesn't have a "u", but it came to English
through French, where the "u" was added. Which is the original?
Did you know that there is a real mistake in any Webster's dictionary?
If you look up Octopus, you will see that Webster's says the plural is
Octopi. This applying a Latin plural to a Greek word (or vice versa--I
can never remember which) and is blatantly wrong. (I suppose it is
actually correct in the States now, because a language is not defined by
the textbooks, but by actual usage.) The correct classical plural of
octopus is octopodes. Fowler's and the OED suggest octopuses as the
English plural, however, since octopodes is "pedantic".
It's been way too long since I've been on a river...
-Paul
RailTramp
> I believe gaging river levels qualifies as a technical use
>and I prefer that spelling.
So does the USGS
Blakely LaCroix (Rail...@aol.com)
RailTramp
In article <3517CE...@cfer.ualberta.ca>, Paul Skoczylas
<pa...@cfer.ualberta.ca> writes:
>
>Which are the "original" spellings is of course debatable. "Colour"
>comes from the latin, which doesn't have a "u", but it came to English
>through French, where the "u" was added. Which is the original?
It is good to see the focus on the issue of Original vs Correct. Language is
dynamic. It has to change with the times. I managed to get by Daughter's term
paper marked down because I insisted she use "an Hotel". Maybe once, but not
anymore.
Blakely LaCroix (Rail...@aol.com)
Phil Hindley
Actually, I think, "octopus" derives from the greek, meaning "eight legs",
so any attempt to create a plural on grammatical grounds is absurd ("eight
legses")!
I've never seen an octopus while paddling here, 100 miles from the sea.
Phil
Paul Skoczylas <pa...@cfer.ualberta.ca> wrote in article
<3517CE...@cfer.ualberta.ca>...
Joel Meadows
Paul Skoczylas wrote:
> Funny how lots of people, when they have a way of doing things, will
> say
> that other people (particularly important people) do things the same
> way
> and therefore it must be the correct way.
I'm not saying it is the correct way, but the preferred way.
-jd
Tim Paton
....in america
tim