why is this not one way or the other?

addendum: wow, thanks everyone. I truly never knew it was a British vs. American spelling thing.

    • jenesaisquoi@feddit.orgEnglish
      123·
      1 day ago

      Standardisation of language is not pointless. Shared standards serve concrete functions:

      • When 8 billion people write “colour” the same way, you don’t pause to decode variants
      • Technical manuals, legal documents, medical instructions need precision: ambiguity costs lives
      • Cross-generational understanding: Shakespeare’s English is already hard without adding modern variation to the mix
      • Standardized spelling keeps homophones distinct (their/there/they’re)

      Standardisation of language isn’t about one version being inherently right. It’s about shared agreement that enables function at scale.

      • kunaltyagi@programming.dev
        2·
        15 hours ago

        Here to give you a boost away from the downvotes.

        Lawsuits are won and lost over grammar and spellings. Constitutional crisis happen over the question: is the text to be understood in the time period of writing or reading (because the meaning of words shifts over time)

      • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
        3·
        1 day ago

        And it’s agreed that both Grey and Gray are acceptable variants, and they will be right up until they aren’t for one arbitrary reason or another.