scrypt
Head-Fi's Sybil
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2002
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The headphone is called "Aluminium" isn't it? Why call it "Aluminum" when that isn't the name?
Leaving out the "I" for no-good reason, one might as well call Sennheiser "Sennheser" or Anniversary Edition "Annversary".
Not to mention Pottasum and Magnesum or Uranum or Sodum.
In any case, the material was invented by Sir Humphry Davy, so the name he settled for should be the one in use. No point naming something if people call it what they like. Henceforth, let posters here refer to "Aluminium" for this headphone please!
The issue isn't that people are leaving off the letter i wantonly. It's that aluminium is spelled aluminum in the United States. Note that North American product pages usually leave out the i as well.
Here's a fun little experiment for you:
1. If you have access to a copy of Microsoft Word, change the spelling dictionary from British to U.S. English. If you don't have access, then visit to the site of a U.S. dictionary, such as Merriam-Webster Online.
2. Type the word aluminium in a Word doc or, on M-WO, type it into the search field and hit Return.
3. If you're using Word, notice that aluminium is flagged as a misspelling. If you're looking up aluminium in Merriam-Webster, note that it's defined as a "British variant of aluminum."
You can insist on the British spelling all you like, but that's the equivalent of yelling at Americans for using color instead of colour. Not the most tolerant approach to an entire nation of people who've been taught to spell the word differently from childhood, is it?
By that logic, the entire German language is incorrect as opposed to merely being different from British English. Good luck telling that to Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.