Pedants' Paradise

[vinteuil]

focussed

... your preferred spelling, o Caliban?

[Nick Armstrong]

... your preferred spelling, o Caliban?

I was just editing it, I was just editing it!!!!!

[amateur51]

... your preferred spelling, o Caliban?

Eggs queues me, either a single or wubble 's' can be used. I had a physics teacher who was very particular about that

[vinteuil]

Eggs queues me, either a single or wubble 's' can be used. I had a physics teacher who was very particular about that

o mein Amateur! - I am well aware that both spellings are to be found. I noted this very morning in my idle elevenses reading that the great WS Lewis in his monumental 48 vol edition of the Correspondence of Horace Walpole uses the focussed spelling. But then he was at Yale...

I was just a leetle surprised that our Calibmensch shd have gone down that path

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Both "focused" and "focussed" look odd to me (I dare say the feeling's mutual): I usually chose the latter - but I really don't like it!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

"Focussed" is used less often than "focused", though the former fits better into the general pattern of English spelling, as opposed to the American, where double letters are avoided ("traveler", "marvelous", etc).
Either version appears to be acceptable in the OED.

[amateur51]

o mein Amateur! - I am well aware that both spellings are to be found. I noted this very morning in my idle elevenses reading that the great WS Lewis in his monumental 48 vol edition of the Correspondence of Horace Walpole uses the focussed spelling. But then he was at Yale...

I was just a leetle surprised that our Calibmensch shd have gone down that path

The grave of Elihu Yale is to be found in the parish church of my home town. Said parish church is also one of the seven wonders of Wales

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elihu_Yale

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The grave of Elihu Yale is to be found in the parish church of my home town. Said parish church is also one of the seven wonders of Wales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elihu_Yale

What would the US education system be without the Welsh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryn_Mawr_College

... and, of course, Hafod University.

[Nick Armstrong]

o mein Amateur! - I am well aware that both spellings are to be found. I noted this very morning in my idle elevenses reading that the great WS Lewis in his monumental 48 vol edition of the Correspondence of Horace Walpole uses the focussed spelling. But then he was at Yale...

I was just a leetle surprised that our Calibmensch shd have gone down that path

I incline phonetically to the double 's' (seems to me to be much more sensible) but I know the single 's' is more... British. I had noticed it and actually thought vinmousseux would spring on it...

Vinchaud, you do remind me of Mr Mousebender in the Python 'cheese shop' sketch! I know it's a different Walpole but you put me in mind of this exchange: Mr Mousebender is John Cleese, the cheese shop proprietor Mr Wensleydale is Michael Palin:

W: What can I do for you, Sir?

M: Well, I was sitting in the public library on Thurmond Street just
now, skimming through 'Rogue Herries' by Hugh Walpole, and I
suddenly came over all peckish.

W: Peckish, sir?

M: Esurient.

W: Eh?

M: 'Eeeee.... I wor 'ungry-like!

W: Ah, hungry!

M: In a nutshell. And I thought to myself, "a little fermented curd will do
the trick", so, I curtailed my Walpoling activities, sallied forth, and
infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some
cheesy comestibles!

W: Come again?

M: I want to buy some cheese.

W: Oh, I thought you were complaining about the bazouki player!

M: Oh, heaven forbid: I am one who delights in all manifestations of the
Terpsichorean muse!

W: Sorry?

M: 'Oooooo, I lahk a nice tuune, 'yer forced to!

So, vindebordeaux: Walpoling or Walpolling?

[vinteuil]

The basic rule in English is usually -

words of one syllable, ending with one consonant preceded by one vowel, double that consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

beg begged begging
clap clapped

and words of more than one syllable, ending with one consonant preceded by one vowel, and accented on the last syllable, double that consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

allot allotted allotting
commit committed committing

BUT words of this class, not accented on the last syllable, do not double the last consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

balloted bayoneted benefited blanketed bracketed budgeted buffeted carpeted combated discomfited faceted filleted focused galloped jacketed junketed lettered marketed offered paralleled picketed pivoted proffered profited riveted trousered trumpeted visited wainscoted

[ words ending in -l the final consonant is generally doubled, whether accented on the last syllable or not - appalled bevelled channelled dishevelled enrolled grovelled labelled rivalled travelled ]

[Nick Armstrong]

The basic rule in English is usually -

words of one syllable, ending with one consonant preceded by one vowel, double that consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

beg begged begging
clap clapped

and words of more than one syllable, ending with one consonant preceded by one vowel, and accented on the last syllable, double that consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

allot allotted allotting
commit committed committing

BUT words of this class, not accented on the last syllable, do not double the last consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

balloted bayoneted benefited blanketed bracketed budgeted buffeted carpeted combated discomfited faceted filleted focused galloped jacketed junketed lettered marketed offered paralleled picketed pivoted proffered profited riveted trousered trumpeted visited wainscoted

[ words ending in -l the final consonant is generally doubled, whether accented on the last syllable or not - appalled bevelled channelled dishevelled enrolled grovelled labelled rivalled travelled ]

I repeat my question in #414 above: Walpoling or Walpolling??? The latter, I take it?

[vinteuil]

I repeat my question in #414 above: Walpoling or Walpolling??? The latter, I take it?

... I wd tend to Walpoling. The -l rule has various exceptions - appealed, appealing; travailed, travailing.

So far in our litrachur I think the word "Walpoling" is hapax legomenon, no?

[Nick Armstrong]

hapax legomenon

Bless you!

(PS: I suspect so)

[vinteuil]

I repeat my question in #414 above: Walpoling or Walpolling??? The latter, I take it?

... and then again, if you wish, cf -

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=walpole&defid=1815231

[amateur51]

The basic rule in English is usually -

words of one syllable, ending with one consonant preceded by one vowel, double that consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

beg begged begging
clap clapped

and words of more than one syllable, ending with one consonant preceded by one vowel, and accented on the last syllable, double that consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

allot allotted allotting
commit committed committing

BUT words of this class, not accented on the last syllable, do not double the last consonant on adding -ed or -ing :

balloted bayoneted benefited blanketed bracketed budgeted buffeted carpeted combated discomfited faceted filleted focused galloped jacketed junketed lettered marketed offered paralleled picketed pivoted proffered profited riveted trousered trumpeted visited wainscoted

[ words ending in -l the final consonant is generally doubled, whether accented on the last syllable or not - appalled bevelled channelled dishevelled enrolled grovelled labelled rivalled travelled ]

As soon as I see an Englishman writing 'generally' I know there is no rule as such and you can make it up as you go along

Mind you, you'll pay for it later, they'll never give you a job.

But that's off-topic

It's not pedantry; it's snobbery






Or should that be 'snobery'