caroling or carolling

Gus

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Dec 17, 2013, 8:39:22 AM12/17/13

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Caroling kinds looks "better" but "carolling" is more in line with the
rules when adding -ing. MW says it can be either. Is this because so
many flout (or flaunt) the rule? (note: OE spell check says it should
be "caroling".)

I always have trouble with flout/flaunt. I read somewhere years ago
people confuse the two, and after that I started confusing the two...
Should be flout. Seems obvious after looking it up.

flout Openly disregard (a rule, law or convention).
flaunt Display (something) ostentatiously, esp. in order to provoke
envy or admiration or to show defiance.

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Dec 17, 2013, 9:07:34 AM12/17/13

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On 2013-12-17 14:39:22 +0100, "Gus" <gus.o...@gmail.com> said:

> Caroling kinds looks "better" but "carolling" is more in line with the
> rules when adding -ing.

It depends on what rules you are following: British English makes
"travelling" from "travel", whereas American English makes "traveling",
sp you'd expect the same divergence for "carol(l)ing".

> MW says it can be either. Is this because so many flout (or flaunt)
> the rule? (note: OE spell check says it should be "caroling".)

What is "OE spell check"? Some rubbishy software of dubious authority?

>
> I always have trouble with flout/flaunt. I read somewhere years ago
> people confuse the two, and after that I started confusing the two...
> Should be flout. Seems obvious after looking it up.
>
>
> flout Openly disregard (a rule, law or convention).
> flaunt Display (something) ostentatiously, esp. in order to provoke
> envy or admiration or to show defiance.

--
athel

Gus

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Dec 17, 2013, 9:09:04 AM12/17/13

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"Athel Cornish-Bowden" <athe...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bhb43k...@mid.individual.net...

> What is "OE spell check"? Some rubbishy software of dubious authority?

good description! Outlook Express that came with Vista.

Stan Brown

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Dec 17, 2013, 7:19:45 PM12/17/13

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On Tue, 17 Dec 2013 08:39:22 -0500, Gus wrote:
> Caroling kinds looks "better" but "carolling" is more in line with the
> rules when adding -ing.
>

In BrE, perhaps. In AmE, "traveling" is standard.

--
"The difference between the /almost right/ word and the /right/ word
is ... the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."
--Mark Twain
Stan Brown, Tompkins County, NY, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com

Jennifer Murphy

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Dec 21, 2013, 11:13:38 AM12/21/13

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On Tue, 17 Dec 2013 19:19:45 -0500, Stan Brown
<the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:

>On Tue, 17 Dec 2013 08:39:22 -0500, Gus wrote:
>> Caroling kinds looks "better" but "carolling" is more in line with the
>> rules when adding -ing.
>>
>
>In BrE, perhaps. In AmE, "traveling" is standard.

If I recall correctly, the rule I was taught in school (in California)
was if a word ends in a single consonent (put, get, let, propel, travel,
cancel, confer, infer, etc.), double the consonant if the accent is on
the last (or only) syllable, otherwise not.

put putting
get getting
propel propelling, propelled
confer conferring, conferred
infer inferring, inferred
travel traveling, traveled
cancel canceling, canceled

The one that always messes me up is cancellation. The 2 l's there make
canceled and canceling look odd to me.

Iskandar Baharuddin

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Dec 21, 2013, 9:50:19 PM12/21/13

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The lovely thing about my adopted language is that it is seriously
non-fanatic, unlike the French, for example.

If an rule is correct >=95% of the time it is deemed to be iron clad.

The one you cite is a very robust rule, but do not expect perfection.

What makes English so marvellous (2 ls, violation!) is that it does not
really give a damn. Sort of the Rhett Butler of languages.

--
Salaam, Izzy

Ciri sa-bumi, cara sa-desa.

Stan Brown

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Dec 22, 2013, 12:07:05 AM12/22/13

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On Sat, 21 Dec 2013 08:13:38 -0800, Jennifer Murphy wrote:
> The one that always messes me up is cancellation. The 2 l's there make
> canceled and canceling look odd to me.
>

Fear not! AHD4 says "can�celed also can�celled, can�cel�ing also
can�cel�ling".

The single-l form "canceled" looks odd to me also, and I think I
write "cancelled" naturally. Yet "canceling" seems better to me than
"cancelling".

Gravity's spell checker rejects the -ll- forms for past tense and
participle.

Stan Brown

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Dec 22, 2013, 12:07:56 AM12/22/13

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On Sun, 22 Dec 2013 10:50:19 +0800, Iskandar Baharuddin wrote:
> What makes English so marvellous (2 ls, violation!)
>

Jennifer gave the rule for AmE, and "marvellous" would be quite wrong
in AmE.

R H Draney

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Dec 22, 2013, 4:02:52 AM12/22/13

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Stan Brown filted:

>
>The single-l form "canceled" looks odd to me also, and I think I
>write "cancelled" naturally. Yet "canceling" seems better to me than
>"cancelling".
>
>Gravity's spell checker rejects the -ll- forms for past tense and
>participle.

Consider yourself fortunate that your natural inclinations prevent you violating
the law of Gravity....r

--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

Jennifer Murphy

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Dec 22, 2013, 1:00:35 PM12/22/13

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On Sun, 22 Dec 2013 10:50:19 +0800, Iskandar Baharuddin

Well, "English" itself may not give a damn, but I know a lot of English
speakers who definitely do. But then those folks have other (similar)
problems, as well. ;-)

Gus

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Dec 22, 2013, 1:08:28 PM12/22/13

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"Jennifer Murphy" <JenM...@jm.invalid> wrote in message
news:s3aeb9lkgk3dvjal2...@4ax.com...

> Well, "English" itself may not give a damn, but I know a lot of
> English
> speakers who definitely do. But then those folks have other (similar)
> problems, as well. ;-)

And some things are so confused that when a critical mass starts using
something in an "nonstandard" way, people literally using it the
"standard' way are seen as using it wrong or ironically.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2392586/Oxford-English-Dictionary-admits-used-wrong-sense-word-literally.html