Preferable vs. preferrable
AndyHancock
"preferable" is. Do a google search for:
preferrable | preferable
and almost everyone uses "preferrable". This intuitively seems better
because preferable almost seems like the 2nd syllable should have a
long "e" (don't ask me why!).
At what point do official stewards of the language give in to the
masses and allow the correct spelling to evolve?
annily
> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>
> preferrable | preferable
>
My Google search results: preferable 15,000,000; preferrable 183,000
so I think your assumption is seriously flawed.
--
Long-time resident of Adelaide, South Australia,
which may or may not influence my opinions.
annily
> AndyHancock wrote:
>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
>> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>
>> preferrable | preferable
>>
>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable".
> My Google search results: preferable 15,000,000; preferrable 183,000
>
> so I think your assumption is seriously flawed.
>
Quoting fixed.
Peter Moylan
> AndyHancock wrote:
>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
>> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>
>> preferrable | preferable
>>
>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable".o evolve?
>
> My Google search results: preferable 15,000,000; preferrable 183,000
>
> so I think your assumption is seriously flawed.
>
If you want a spelling that matches the pronunciation, that one seems to
be preferable.
And if you want a bigger Google count, try
preferrable | preferable 35,400,000
and, just for comparison,
preferable | preferrable 15,100,000
Those last two probably reveal something about how Google searches work;
or possibly how they don't work.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
annily
> annily wrote:
>> AndyHancock wrote:
>>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
>>> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>>
>>> preferrable | preferable
>>>
>>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable".o evolve?
>> My Google search results: preferable 15,000,000; preferrable 183,000
>>
>> so I think your assumption is seriously flawed.
>>
> prefferable 113,000
> If you want a spelling that matches the pronunciation, that one seems to
> be preferable.
>
> And if you want a bigger Google count, try
> preferrable | preferable 35,400,000
> and, just for comparison,
> preferable | preferrable 15,100,000
>
> Those last two probably reveal something about how Google searches work;
> or possibly how they don't work.
>
I get 15,100,000 for both of those searches, as I would expect.
the Omrud
There is no cabal. English language dictionaries report usage, they
don't steward.
--
David
Steve Hayes
wrote:
>According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
>"preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>
> preferrable | preferable
>
>and almost everyone uses "preferrable". This intuitively seems better
>because preferable almost seems like the 2nd syllable should have a
>long "e" (don't ask me why!).
This is the first time I've seen "preferrable".
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
HVS
> On Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:56:55 -0800 (PST), AndyHancock
> <andymh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word,
>> but "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>
>> preferrable | preferable
>>
>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable". This intuitively seems
>> better because preferable almost seems like the 2nd syllable
>> should have a long "e" (don't ask me why!).
>
> This is the first time I've seen "preferrable".
Completely new one to me, too.
--
Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed
James Hogg
> On 31 Jan 2010, Steve Hayes wrote
>
>> On Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:56:55 -0800 (PST), AndyHancock
>> <andymh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word,
>>> but "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>>
>>> preferrable | preferable
>>>
>>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable". This intuitively seems
>>> better because preferable almost seems like the 2nd syllable
>>> should have a long "e" (don't ask me why!).
>> This is the first time I've seen "preferrable".
>
> Completely new one to me, too.
I suspect these spellings reflect two different pronunciations, and that
many of those who say preFERrable prefer two r's.
--
James
ke...@cam.ac.uk
>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
>> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>
>> preferrable | preferable
>>
>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable". This intuitively seems better
>> because preferable almost seems like the 2nd syllable should have a
>> long "e" (don't ask me why!).
>>
>> At what point do official stewards of the language give in to the
>> masses and allow the correct spelling to evolve?
I don't think I have ever seen "preferrable", and I would certainly regard it
as a simple mistake.
Your "almost everyone" doesn't seem to include anybody I know or anybody I
read.
Katy
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
Some people spell it "prefrable" prumably to match their pronunciation.
Google finds 16,500 for that spelling.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
James Hogg
Prumably...
--
James
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
<coughs> Where did the two missing letters go? Perhaps they were taken
by the Spanish Liberation Front.
CDB
if I meant "capable or susceptible of being preferred". With a change
in pronunciation, as you say.
Robert Bannister
> annily wrote:
>> AndyHancock wrote:
>>> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
>>> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
>>>
>>> preferrable | preferable
>>>
>>> and almost everyone uses "preferrable".o evolve?
>> My Google search results: preferable 15,000,000; preferrable 183,000
>>
>> so I think your assumption is seriously flawed.
>>
> prefferable 113,000
> If you want a spelling that matches the pronunciation, that one seems to
> be preferable.
Even then, only for those who stress the second syllable. For the rest
who stress the first syllable, I suppose the spelling that matches the
pronunciation might be "prefreble".
--
Rob Bannister
Donna Richoux
> annily wrote:
> > AndyHancock wrote:
> >> According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
> >> "preferable" is. Do a google search for:
> >>
> >> preferrable | preferable
> >>
> >> and almost everyone uses "preferrable".o evolve?
> >
> > My Google search results: preferable 15,000,000; preferrable 183,000
> >
> > so I think your assumption is seriously flawed.
> >
> prefferable 113,000
> If you want a spelling that matches the pronunciation, that one seems to
> be preferable.
>
> And if you want a bigger Google count, try
> preferrable | preferable 35,400,000
> and, just for comparison,
> preferable | preferrable 15,100,000
>
> Those last two probably reveal something about how Google searches work;
> or possibly how they don't work.
Or, about how Google estimates or counts work. We know that these follow
some unfathomable and undependable formulas, more erratic worldwide than
the resulting hits it actually displays, which I tend to think as the
search itself. The estimates and the hits come from different places
somehow.
What I get for your last attempt is:
about 15,200,000 for preferrable | preferable
about 15,200,000 for preferable | preferrable
which is at least understandable in itself, if (predictably) different
than yours. As I've said many a time in the last couple of years, we
can't play the Google numbers game any more. The hits are reasonably
solid, but the estimates are wacky.
It took some hunting to figure out what the vertical bar stood for, by
the way -- not a symbol I use. It's the same as the capital-letter OR.
See "Googleguide" http://www.googleguide.com/or_operator.html
Which means that the original poster started off on a bad foot. The
estimate for
preferrable | preferable
would be for how many pages contain one *or* the other (or both), and
wouldn't tell you a thing about the relative frequency.
When I search the Web (not just English) for the words singly:
about 15,000,000 for preferable
about 181,000 for preferrable
Just for the heck of it, calculating the ratio using those figures gives
me 83. Really common spelling mistakes gave me ratios of about 7 to 20,
back in previous years when I figured these things. So this indicates it
is not a particularly common spelling mistake... Checking my old list, I
see this falls between "sentence/sentance" (Ratio 93) and "of
course/ofcourse" (Ratio 61). Then the next is the rather similar
"referred/refered", Ratio 60... The common "occurred/occured" had a very
low ratio of 5.
But the current system is undependable and I really shouldn't give in to
temptation. Garbage in, garbage out.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux