Rudolf Polzer wrote:
> 
> Scripsit illa aut ille Richard Liang <rhliang@interchange.ubc.ca>:
> > Rudolf Polzer wrote:
> >
> > >Scripsit illa aut ille Richard Liang <rhliang@interchange.ubc.ca>:
> > >
> > >
> > >>Rudolf Polzer wrote:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>>Scripsit illa aut ille Kakarotto <kakarotto@xtra.co.nz>:
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>>*Deploys anti thwack sheild.*
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>Congratulations! It works perfectly against a thwack - at least it
> > >>>would, if spelt correctly.
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>Maybe this is the wrong time to throw this in, but it's "spelled".
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >Not really. According to the American Heritage Dictionary and Webster's
> > >Revised Unabridged Dictionary, both forms are correct. But there is a
> > >meaning of "to spell" that only allows "spelled" as past participle and
> > >simple past. You can look up these dictionary entries at
> > >http://www.dictionary.com/
> > >
> > >So you're right - to be safe, one should always use "spelled" because
> > >it's always the right form - but I'm right either because "to spell" can
> > >have the p.p. "spelt" if it has to do with ortography.
> >
> > Shoot, I have a bone to pick with my Grade 9 English teacher now :)
> 
> I did not check, but it might be an AE/BE issue.
> 
> BTW: Do you learn American or British English in Canada? Geographically
> it looks like you learn AE - historically you should be learning BE.
> What's your pronounciation of "can't": [c$(D??(Bnt] or [ca:nt] ($(D??(B is the
> phoneme that is the only vowel of "back")? The former is AE, the latter
> is BE.
> 
> > >No, I don't kill people for finding spelling mistakes in my postings - I
> > >don't even kill_file_ them. That's because I know my English isn't
> > >perfect - it's just standard German school English, no more and no less.
> >
> > Really?  I thought you had been raised an English speaker, as your
> > English seems pretty flawless.
> 
> You don't know my pronounciation *g* - you would be able to perfectly
> hear where I'm coming from. [*]
> 
> And I didn't even take English for 9 years like it's normal in Germany -
> I started, like everybody else, in the 5th form, but stopped after the
> first half of the 12th instead of taking English until my "Abitur"
> (final test at the end of the 13th). I had much better marks in
> Latin (in English my marks were worse than the average) and had to do
> too much for English (especially reading completely uninteresting books
> - the worst example was "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, which is
> so boring that you never should even think about reading it!). So
> instead I concentrated on Latin: less work, better marks.
> 
> [*]: This again reminds me of a certain thing at the IMO 2002. The guide
>      of the Japanese delegation often visited the German team. Her
>      grammar was nearly perfect, her pronounciation good (I could
>      understand it perfectly, but neither the vowels nor the consonants
>      really sounded like English and she talked too fast). I only
>      noticed one r/l mistake. Just as the German delegation were
>      on the way to the flight back, Azusa (that was her name) wa [+]
>      asked the question: "When's your fright?". It took some time until
>      someone answered because of two reasons: someone else of the German
>      delegation seemed to think "WTF could this mean?", and I thought
>      about whether I should say "twerbe folty" or not. I didn't, I
>      pronounced the departure time correctly - yes, I admit, I *am* a
>      coward.
> 
>      Another funny thing: before entering the bus, Thomas (a teammate)
>      noticed that he still has to write some postcards. The result was
>      an extremely loud "VERDAMMT!" (which is German and means the same
>      as "DAMN!"). You had to see Azusa no [+] face...
> 
> [+]: Japanese name, Japanese "declension". At least in Germany we do the
>      same to Latin names: it's not "Christus' Geburt" but "Christi
>      Geburt". You are using English rules when using Latin names, so it
>      might look strange to you. Interestingly, you do have Latin
>      declined expressions: "Corpus Christi", but you do not apply Latin
>      declensions when using them in another case ("Feast of Corpus
>      Christi", not "Feast Corpi Christi").
> 
> --

...strewth!

-- 
      'Anyone who isn't confused doesn't really know what's going on'