[mea] Re: "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
- From: Byron Rempel-Burkholder <brempelburkholder@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 19:51:59 -0500
My point is that we've not been consistent in applying or dropping the u.
On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 4:17 PM, Barb <bjbecker@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> My OED spells it with a u. It's a bit old but ....
> Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
> ------------------------------
> *From: * Karen McElrea <karenmcelrea@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> *Sender: * mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Date: *Thu, 15 Aug 2013 16:13:09 -0500
> *To: *mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> *ReplyTo: * mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject: *[mea] Re: "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
>
> I fight for them, too. I just don't think that in one case we should
> revert to a nineteenth-century spelling because a few people got it wrong
> on a poll.
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Subject: [mea] Re: "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
> To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: bjbecker@xxxxxxx
> Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 21:01:55 +0000
>
> I am not an American. I'll keep my 'u's ....:-)
>
> Barb
> Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
> ------------------------------
> *From: * Karen McElrea <karenmcelrea@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> *Sender: * mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Date: *Thu, 15 Aug 2013 15:33:20 -0500
> *To: *mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> *ReplyTo: * mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject: *[mea] Re: "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
>
> Mmmmm... yellow jam... And what do they call gophers in those places?
>
> I wish I'd seen Katherine's presentation - I'd like to rescind a little of
> my vitriol, then, knowing she was just outvoted on that one. But geez.
>
> And thanks for the vote on the sign, Cheri; I'm hounoured!
>
>
> ------------------------------
> To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [mea] Re: "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
> From: cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 15:08:52 -0500
>
> I wish we could bring Katherine back for another speech. She was
> fascinating. She talked about how dictionaries used to be prescriptive but
> then made the move to purely descriptive, capturing what's happening with
> language as it evolves rather than trying to pin it down. If I remember
> correctly she didn't like honourary either but was out-voted. One of the
> funnier parts of her speech had to do with slang for doughnuts! She said
> there are huge regional variations for the meanings of jam buster, Boston
> creme, Bismark, jelly doughnut, and others I can't think of. A city
> somewhere in Ontario refers to a Boston creme as a "yellow jam buster." Oh,
> the horror. But it's not as bad as some regions of the US that call a
> turtle a gopher and an elastic band a "gum band". People are goofy.
>
> I vote for Ye Olde Honourary Mahatma Gandhi Way!
>
>
>
>
> From: Karen McElrea <karenmcelrea@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: "mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <
> mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: 2013-08-15 02:50 PM Subject: [mea] Re:
> "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks Sent by:
> mea-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
> They should have spelled it "honorary," though, I agree - it looks odd!
>
> Someone from Belfast writing on a forum on this question says that "the *
> OED* mentions that 'honourary' was an alternative spelling in the
> 18th/19th centuries." So maybe the sign should read "Ye Olde Honourary
> Mahatma Gandhi Way."
>
> Public Works and Government Services Canada's Translation Bureau site
> states that "In Canada, *honour* not *honor* is the preferred spelling
> for the noun and the verb. Both *honorary* and *honourary* are widespread
> in Canada [really?], although *honourary* is rarely used in the rest of
> the world."
>
> But the real Canadian authority, Katherine Barber, says on her
> *Wordlady*site, "A recent Facebook poll I conducted about the spelling of
> this word
> had 39 well-educated Canadians opting for "honourary" versus 22 for
> 'honorary,' similar to the results we found when we conducted a survey for
> the *Canadian Oxford Dictionary*, as a result of which it is possibly the
> only dictionary of current English to include "honourary" as a spelling
> variant."
>
> So popular vote rules our dictionary. In what field were these people
> well-educated, exactly? Were the 22 also well-educated? Was such a small
> sample also the basis for its inclusion in the dictionary? How would this
> same group of people have answered the same question for "humourously"?
>
> ------------------------------
> To: mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [mea] "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
> From: cheri.frazer@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 13:14:13 -0500
>
> An Alert Reader (stole that term from Dave Barry!) has pointed out that
> the new signs at The Forks spell honorary incorrectly.
>
> You can register your concern at 311@xxxxxxxxxxx and/or contact CTV News;
> their crews were filming the signs today. Where are the Raging Grammarians
> when you need them?!
>
> -C.
>
>
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>
--
Byron Rempel-Burkholder
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