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·
      14 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·
      24 hours 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.