xiven.com stating the blatantly obvious since 2002

Manoeuvre, Manoeuvrable, Manoeuverability??

Oh, the joys of the English language!

This little saga was started by this bug report on Voidwars. Actually it started a little before when I first looked up the word manoeuvrable for use in Voidwars (we have to indicate manoeuvrability of ships for example). I looked it up by starting up my word processor, setting the dictionary to UK English and just typing in what I thought was the correct spelling: maneouverable. To my suprise, upon running the spell check, it said I was right, and so that was the spelling I used throughout.

Then came that bug report. From the original post, I could see that the bug reporter was going by the American spelling (maneuverable) so I quickly responded by saying that we're using UK English (proper English ☺) and that it was in fact correct.

Unfortunately however, a later post by someone who had looked the word up on dictionary.com said that I was in fact still wrong and that the correct spelling was in fact manoeuvrable. So I checked this out and it seemed to be the case.

I also needed the spelling of manoeuvrability so, going by the spelling already given, I guessed how it would be spelt and checked it on dictionary.com.

No entry found for manoeuvrability. 1 suggestion found: manoeuverability

Eh? Where on Earth did that extra 'e' come from? Puzzled by this, I went downstairs to get the big guns: the Oxford English Dictionary, which most UK English speakers consider as being The foremost authority on current English.

It turns out that I was in fact correct with my guessed spelling for manoeuvrability and that the spelling on dictionary.com was in fact incorrect.

So endeth the saga (I hope). Sorry for boring you all.

Posted: 2002-12-31 15:53:48 UTC by Xiven | Cross-references (0) | Comments (0)