As language evolves and Kindle makes it all too easy to publish I can see a time where spelling is simplified. The long-standing “joke” of spelling changing to how it’s pronounced is now the norm in texing, but that’s because of lack of space and the tiny keyboard.
But is it time the English word is simplified like American spellings? Color for colour (why the “u”?), Yogurt for yoghurt (who pronounces the “Y”?) and grey. I mean, can you HEAR the “E”? So why not use the American spelling GRAY?
Noooooo!
The English language dates so far back there aren’t any records of the first words (ugg?), and anyway English has been so reconstructed from the UK’s neighbouring countries that our common language is a mixture of French, Latin and others. It’s beautifully old, so to hear it change and American English creep in is a shame.
American English is beautiful in its own right, but that’s where it has to stay. I don’t want to eat chocolate colored yogurt – I want to eat chocolate coloured yoghurt. I want to pull my hair out in frustration trying to figure out the differences between practise and practice, and not give in and use the one with the two curly kuz, as my little boy calls them.
Children are like sponges when it comes to knowledge and are highly influenced, and so as a parent I want to feel I am helping them learn by giving them books to read. Image my horror when my eight year old insisted that the word existence is spelt existance all because he saw it in a book!
If a traditionally published book has a typos it is classed as an editing or printing error, if Indies have one it’s ALWAYS the author’s fault. People LOOK for errors. Making our books low-priced is NO excuse for being cheap.
It’s time we got serious.
Here are some howlers:
http://www.funnytypos.com/
And websites that help:
100 Most Often Mispelled Misspelled Words in English
Commonly Misspelled English Words
*Reality TV – has its place, but for low-intelligent people who wouldn’t spot quality TV if they fell over it.
Ouch! But that’s where ebooks are heading unless WE do something about it.
