Correct US English spelling for gauge

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Hugo Kornelis

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Jul 14, 2019, 6:41:20 PM7/14/19
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Hi all!

Just ran into something that confuses me.

I ran a text through a spell checker that was set to US English. It
marked "gauge" (used as a verb) as incorrect spelling, and offered
"gage" as replacement. I had already noticed that this spellchecker has
a rather incomplete dictionary so I wanted to double check. And that's
where it gets confusing.

Some sites I found insist that "gauge" is correct spelling, in both
British and American, for to measure or estimate the size of something.
And that "gage", again in both British and American, means something
completely different: a valuable deposited as guarantee.
But other sites do agree with the interpretation that "gage" is the
Ammerican spelling of "gauge" in the measurement / estimation meaning.

I final test, with another spellchecker (the one in MS Word), does
accept gauge as correct spelling in US English.

As always when I run into a question on correctness in English
vocabulary, grammar, and spelling, I turn to this small group of
language addicts. Can anyone here shed some light on this?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Hugo

Efrem G Mallach

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Jul 14, 2019, 6:48:44 PM7/14/19
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Hugo,

I use "gauge" in U.S. English all the time. If you go to any railroading site (including model railroading), you will find only that spelling used to mean the distance between the two rails. Granted, that's a noun and not a verb, but it's the same general sense of the word.

I've never seen any form of this word used to mean a valuable deposited as a guarantee, but that may be because depositing valuables as guarantees isn't a big part of my world. The only place I recall encountering the spelling "gage" is in the name of a fruit, the gage (or greengage) plum. Google tells me it was named for Sir William Gage, who first brought them to England in the 18th century.

In return for this valuable information, please dust off your Dixonary hat and send me a fake definition of "kilderkin" in the next two hours! :)

Efrem
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Daniel Widdis

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Jul 14, 2019, 9:25:17 PM7/14/19
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I have only ever used "gauge" as the verb when estimating something in my head. I also use this as the noun in the physical measurement sense, e.g., a pressure gauge which tells me how many PSI are in my tires (tyres for brits.)

I have used "gage" in a statistical sense, specifically the "Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility Test" which is part of quality control methods, regarding the accuracy of measurements, as that seems to be the standard; however, sometimes it is referred to as "gauge R&R".

MW defines it as "gauge" (less commonly gage) which seems to match up with my experience.

Tim Lodge

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Jul 15, 2019, 5:42:31 AM7/15/19
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In British English 'gage' sounds like something you'd find in the writings of Sir Walter Scott (not that I've read him for years) meaning a pledge or challenge.  Sure enough the OED has this:

1828   Scott Fair Maid of Perth vi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 147   A gauntlet flung down is a gage of knightly battle.

Certainly if it meant anything to do with measuremeasurement, I'd spell it 'gauge'.

--  Tim L

Ryan McGill

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Jul 19, 2019, 8:52:43 PM7/19/19
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Hey Hugo,

I'm throwing my bits in with everyone else backing "gauge". I have never seen "gage" in print outside of people who were learning to spell or verified typos. I've only seen it used as a reference to a measurement of size, typically of metals, cylinders, or wires, or as a verb meaning to "size up". Granted, I'm more of a working-class dilettante than a scholar or expert, but still . . .

Rx.
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