[Python-ideas] Canceled versus cancelled (was Re: Interrupting threads)

Tue Jan 29 18:28:25 CET 2013

On 1/29/2013 8:18 AM, Richard Oudkerk wrote:
> On 29/01/2013 9:54am, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
>> Of course, I sympathize with native English speakers who are annoyed
>> by the prevalence of Globish over real English. That said, Python
>> already mandates American English instead of British English.
>> Is Future.cancelled() an acceptable American spelling?

Slightly controversial, but 'Yes'. My 1960s Dictionary of the American 
language gives 'canceled' and 'cancelled'. Ditto for travel. I see the 
same at modern web sites:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cancel
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cancel
Both give the one el version first, and that might indicate a 
preference. But I was actually taught in school (some decades ago) to 
double the els of travel and cancel have have read the rule various 
places. I suspect that is not done now. More discussion:
http://www.reference.com/motif/language/cancelled-vs-canceled
http://grammarist.com/spelling/cancel/
The latter has a Google ngram that shows 'canceled' has become more 
common in the U.S., but only in the last 30 years. It has even crept 
into British usage.
http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=canceled%2Ccancelled&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=6&smoothing=3&share=
On the other hand, just about no one, even in the U.S., currently spells 
'cancellation' as 'cancelation'. That was tried by a few writers 1910 to 
1940, but never caught on.
http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cancelation%2Ccancellation&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=17&smoothing=3&share=
-- 
Terry Jan Reedy