Troublesome Vowel Movements

Learned versus learnt. FIGHT.

Graham — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:15:24 +0000

You may have noticed that in the previous blog post, I used the word ‘learned’. You may have thought the word ’learnt’ should have been used instead. There is some debate about which is better.

As the BBC World Service explains, both are technically correct. Once upon a time, concensus would have dictated that learnt would be the most appropriate word for a British writer to use. However, partly due to the influence of Americanisms, learned has become increasingly popular on this side of the Atlantic. While I would generally like to try my best to avoid American English, learned somehow seems more relaxed. Much as ’while’ seems slightly more natural, when placed in a modern piece of writing, than ‘whilst’ would.

I Before E, Except After C?

Graham — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:57:00 +0000

What better place to start a blog about grammar, than with one of the first grammar rules many of us learned at school?

‘I Before E, Except After C’.

For the most part, the good words of our English language abide by this rule. But there are a few rebels out there. Take the following: society, glacier or science.

As the Oxford Dictionary explains, the rule is usually correct when the sound being made is ‘ee‘. Even then, there are a few exceptions, such as (appropriately) weird.

You MUST bear these exceptions in mind next time you write to that venerable institution, the Weird Glacier Science Society. They do not take kindly to their name being spelled incorrectly.

A wierd glacier, yesterday. It looks like a giant paw, no?