@MLClark Dictionary Wars:
"If Noah Webster had had his way, the spelling divide would have been as it is with color and colour, theater and theatre, and draft and draught: he defined ax in his 1828 An American Dictionary of the English Language and included the note “improperly written as axe.” This was in direct defiance of Samuel Johnson’s 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language, which wasted no ink on the shorter form but included only axe."
#ax #axe #fight
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/ax-vs-axe-difference
As I tell my students often, English is a challenge because we carry complex histories in our spellings. :) But that's the joy of it, as well; every spelling carries a tradition in it, and teaches us something about regional variation. We carry our culture with us, wherever we might roam.
The funny thing with "grey" (as I spell it, as a Canadian) is that, in my mind's eye, it's genuinely a different shade than "gray". Gray feels lighter somehow, while grey invokes something darker, and more brooding.
Does the lightness of your "gray/grey" change with spelling?
@MLClark Never thought about it but maybe gray is for objects and hair and grey is atmosphere?
@MLClark Indeed. It's a mutt, really have to do a cheek swab to know what's going on.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/gray-vs-grey-usage-difference