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Difference between revisions of "Talk:Disputed words"

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(Created page with "Just a thought: does it matter whether they would be 'allowed on Countdown' when they're over 9 letters long? ~~~~")
 
(parallels; more queries about Americanisms rule)
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Just a thought: does it matter whether they would be 'allowed on Countdown' when they're over 9 letters long? [[User:Mjbrown|Mjbrown]] 23:19, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
 
Just a thought: does it matter whether they would be 'allowed on Countdown' when they're over 9 letters long? [[User:Mjbrown|Mjbrown]] 23:19, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
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: It probably doesn't matter whether that particular word is valid by Countdown rules, but there might be parallels in words that aren't more than 9 letters long.  For example, whether BRINKSMANSHIP is a valid word would tell us whether MATH is a valid word.  I'd be inclined to say yes.
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: But there's something else I'm made to wonder about the American spellings vs. American words rule.  What if a given word exists as an American ''spelling'' of an English word, but also has a meaning it doesn't have in UK English, by which it could be considered an American ''word''?  I'd thought of THEATER before (it's both the American spelling of "theatre" and the American word for "cinema"), though in that case the contestant could just declare THEATRE and not worry about it.  But another example is TOTALED - it's both the American spelling of "totalled", meaning "added up", and an American word meaning "wrote off" (a vehicle).
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: Moreover, I can imagine there being a few cases where a BrE word has a different AmE spelling, which has derivatives that don't exist at all in BrE.  How would these be handled generally? — [[User:Smjg|Stewart]] ([[User talk:Smjg|talk]]) 12:21, 12 April 2012 (BST)

Revision as of 11:21, 12 April 2012

Just a thought: does it matter whether they would be 'allowed on Countdown' when they're over 9 letters long? Mjbrown 23:19, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

It probably doesn't matter whether that particular word is valid by Countdown rules, but there might be parallels in words that aren't more than 9 letters long. For example, whether BRINKSMANSHIP is a valid word would tell us whether MATH is a valid word. I'd be inclined to say yes.
But there's something else I'm made to wonder about the American spellings vs. American words rule. What if a given word exists as an American spelling of an English word, but also has a meaning it doesn't have in UK English, by which it could be considered an American word? I'd thought of THEATER before (it's both the American spelling of "theatre" and the American word for "cinema"), though in that case the contestant could just declare THEATRE and not worry about it. But another example is TOTALED - it's both the American spelling of "totalled", meaning "added up", and an American word meaning "wrote off" (a vehicle).
Moreover, I can imagine there being a few cases where a BrE word has a different AmE spelling, which has derivatives that don't exist at all in BrE. How would these be handled generally? — Stewart (talk) 12:21, 12 April 2012 (BST)