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How to spell tambourine

Tutoring English, spelling is always interesting. The tutor mentions the spelling of the word tambourine.

tambourine (noun):

a hand-held drum with metallic noisemakers attached.

The Brits and the Yanks both spell tambourine this way.

Source:

Gilmour, Lorna (editor). Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2006.

Mish, Frederick C. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.
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English: spelling: is “disfunctional” dysfunctional?

Tutoring English, spelling can hold surprises. The tutor mentions one he got from spelling “disfunctional.”

This editor is unhappy with the spelling “disfunctional”, yet Merriam-Webster does allow for it. Given that Merriam-Webster is American, and so I’m sure is this editor, I’m playfully surprised.

Neither of my Canadian dictionaries allows for “disfunctional”; rather, they both insist on “dysfunctional.”

Source:

Mish, Frederick C (editor). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Gilmour, Lorna. Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2006.

Barber, Katherine et al. Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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English, food: fibre, or fiber?

Food research leads to self-tutoring: the tutor follows a query about spelling.

When I type fibre, the screen cautions me I might have it wrong. Really?

fibre:

Merriam-Webster: British of fiber

Oxford Canadian: dietary fibre

Oxford Canadian doesn’t list fiber. Merriam-Webster does: from their point of view, one of its meanings is dietary fibre.

Source:

Mish, Frederick C. (ed). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, 2004.

Barber, Katherine et al. Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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English: spelling variants: connexion vs connection

The tutor mentions another British spelling we might seldom see, though it’s legal.

Although I’ve seen connexion, I can’t remember the last time. However, I looked it up today. Webster’s says it’s a Brit. variant of connection. Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary & Thesaurus lists it, along with connection, as a noun form of connect.

Connexion is proper to use.

HTH:)

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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English: are we spelling tire (tyre) correctly?

The tutor discusses a spelling he’s long wondered about.

Before I had kids, I read a lot of fiction, much of it British. Often, in those books, tyre referred to the rubber around a car’s wheels.

Canadian Tire, of course, gives an example of how we typically spell the British tyre: tire, rather than tyre. Which spelling should we be using?

My Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary & Thesaurus doesn’t define tire as a noun; rather, it says tire is a verb that means to fatigue, etc. It defines tyre, only, as the rubber around a car’s wheels. In contrast, my Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English doesn’t contain the word tyre.

Merriam-Webster – Yank, of course – includes tyre, saying it’s a British spelling of tire, meaning the rubber around a car’s wheels.

Curious, eh?

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.