[Python-ideas] Canceled versus cancelled (was Re: Interrupting threads)

[Chris Jerdonek]

On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 9:28 AM, Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> wrote:
> On 1/29/2013 8:18 AM, Richard Oudkerk wrote:
>>
>> On 29/01/2013 9:54am, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
>>>
>>> Of course, I sympathize with native English speakers who are annoyed
>>> by the prevalence of Globish over real English. That said, Python
>>> already mandates American English instead of British English.
>>
>>
>> Is Future.cancelled() an acceptable American spelling?
>
>
> Slightly controversial, but 'Yes'. My 1960s Dictionary of the American
> language gives 'canceled' and 'cancelled'. Ditto for travel.  I see the same
> at modern web sites:
> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cancel
> http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cancel
>
> Both give the one el version first, and that might indicate a preference.
> But I was actually taught in school (some decades ago) to double the els of
> travel and cancel have have read the rule various places. I suspect that is
> not done now. More discussion:

FWIW, my high school grammar teacher (who himself wrote a grammar
book) taught us a rule about this.  I can't remember the rule in its
entirety, but part of it involved the location of the accent.  If the
accent is on the last syllable, then the final consonant is doubled --
modulo the rest of the rule. :)  For example, "referring" and
"fathering."

Of course, there are exceptions.

--Chris




>
> http://www.reference.com/motif/language/cancelled-vs-canceled
> http://grammarist.com/spelling/cancel/
>
> The latter has a Google ngram that shows 'canceled' has become more common
> in the U.S., but only in the last 30 years. It has even crept into British
> usage.
>
> http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=canceled%2Ccancelled&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=6&smoothing=3&share=
>
> On the other hand, just about no one, even in the U.S., currently spells
> 'cancellation' as 'cancelation'. That was tried by a few writers 1910 to
> 1940, but never caught on.
>
> http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cancelation%2Ccancellation&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share=
>
> --
> Terry Jan Reedy
>
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