Re: Spell Catcher [was spelling checker]

In article <1iokj6n.u85hk7z5kzstN%real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Rowland McDonnell) wrote:

Tim Streater <timstreater@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[snip]


A big mistake by the OED, then.

Partridge's `Usage and abusage' has this to say on the subject:

"-ize and -ise, verb-endings. Fowler, in Modern English Usage, has an
admirable article on the subject. The following summary rule is based on
the O.E.D.'s article (at -ize): You will be safe if you make every verb,
every derivation noun or participial adjective, conform to the -z type,
for this suffix comes, whether direct or via Latin or French, from the
Greek -izein: to employ -ise is to flout etymology and logic. Moreover,
whether the spelling be -ise, or -ize, the pronunciation is -ize:
another reason for using it.

And 'though I', who have for years foolishly resisted this scholarly and
common-sensible rule, 'says it as shouldn't', yet the rule is single and
exceptionless:

Where there are, in dictionaries, the alternatives -ise (etc.) and -ize
(etc.), use -ize!."

Fowler's Modern English Usage tells us:

"-IZE, -lSE, IN VERBS. In the vast majority of the verbs that end in
-ize or -ise & are pronounced -iz, the ultimate source of the ending is
the Greek -izo, whether the particular verb was an actual Greek one or
was a Latin or French or English imitation, & whether such imitation was
made by adding the termination to a Greek or another stem. Most English
printers follow the French practice of changing -ize to -ise; but the
OED of the Oxford University Press, the Encyclopaedia Britannica of the
Cambridge University Press, The Times, & American usage, in all of which
-ize is the accepted form, carry authority enough to outweigh superior
numbers. The OED's judgement may be quoted :- 'In modern French the
suffix has become -iser, alike in words from Greek, as baptiser,
evangeliser, organiser, & those formed after them from Latin, as
civiliser, cicalriser, humaniser. Hence, some have used the spelling
-ise in English, as in French, for all these words, & some prefer -ise
in words formed in French or English from Latin elements, retaining -ize
for those of Greek composition. But the suffix itself, whatever the
element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek -izein, Latin
-izare ; &, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why
in English the special French spelling should be followed, in opposition
to that which is at once etymological & phonetic '.

It must be noticed, however, that a small number of verbs, some of them
in very frequent use, like advertise, devise, & surprise, do not get
their -ise even remotely from the Greek -izo, & must be spelt with -s-;
the more important of these are given in a list in the article -ISE. The
difficulty of remembering which these -ise verbs are is in fact the only
reason for making -ise universal, & the sacrifice of significance to
ease does not seem justified. "

So who is it that's made the mistake?

The etymology of these words is a matter of indifference to me. -ize
looks shitty so I don't use it, end of story.

Your personal preferences ...

<yawn>

<ZONK! as head hits table>

Oh dear, did I nod off? Y'know, you're a very effective boredom inducer.
Perhaps the Beeb should scrap book at bedtime and just have you yacking
for 15 mins instead.
.

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