[mea] Re: "Honourary" Mahatma Gandhi Walkway at The Forks
- From: Alex Merrill <alexandramerrill@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <mea@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 14:57:25 -0500
The Times of India saw fit to change the spelling:
The spelling was corrected when it into this newspaper:
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-16/india/41417347_1_human-rights-canadian-museum-new-street
On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 7:51 PM, Byron Rempel-Burkholder <
brempelburkholder@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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
>
>
--
Alex Merrill
Writer/Editor
alexandramerrill@xxxxxxxxx
(204) 774-5168
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