Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Greyer Than Gray


Ever wonder why there are two ways to spell gray/grey? It's simple really, grey is the original English spelling, and gray is the Americanized version. Many words got jumbled letters as they traveled/travelled across the bumpy and wavy Atlantic.

So, I guess you could say that

Gray is a color

while

Grey is a colour

Although I am aware that neither of these is really a color/colour, as they lack any chromatic component.

I have always liked the English version better, grey seems to me much more greyish than gray does. More dusty and ancient. Grey Poupon, Gandalf the Grey, Earl Grey, Grey's Anatomy...all the classic greys are grey and not gray.

3 comments:

Alisa said...

Dave, you have a tendency to brighten my day. I am not kidding when I say that I have literally always wondered about grey/gray but I have never taken the time to find out. Thank you!

wildmary said...

Ironically, the anatomy book is Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body or something like that, spelled with an "a" which is strange because Gray was a Brit. But the TV show is Grey's Anatomy and the Grey in the show is American. Therein lies the irony.

Saint Spice said...

Never though of it like that. I like this post.

BTW: I'm not a spam bot, I'm a human ;). Just thought I'd add that in.