When writing numbers why is Forty the accepted way to write this number

Bretrick said:
Why is a Flute player called a Flautist and not a Flutist?
Click to expand...
My daughter is a professional musician, who plays the flute. When she is asked, "Do you prefer to be called a flutist or a flautist?" she answers, "Flutist, please. I play the flute, not the flaut." 😄

That flaut thing always sounds a little snobbish to me.
 

Is that extra "u" a thing only in England, or did it spread all over the British empire? How do they spell "honor," for instance, in Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, Scotland, etc.? In Wales, did they add 16 additional letters?
 
Bretrick said:
Why is it not written as fourty?
Click to expand...
I pondered that at length at one time, and finally just gave up. We have to accept that somethings in the English language make no sense. But now that we are on this, why not forteen, our forty-for? or Stop acting like a too year old? I don't know what spelling rules are four. It makes no cents.

I was taught there were rules for spelling, but then they spring this kind of $hit on you. Rules for spelling? Yeah right.
 
Sunny said:
Is that extra "u" a thing only in England, or did it spread all over the British empire? How do they spell "honor," for instance, in Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, Scotland, etc.? In Wales, did they add 16 additional letters?
Click to expand...
WE spell forty... no U..... in the whole of the UK incuding Northern Ireland...


  • The word derived from the Old English feowertig, with spellings such as feuortig or féowurtig.
  • Middle English: This period (11th to 15th century) saw numerous spellings, including fourty and forty.
  • Early Modern English: By the 1600s, the spelling "forty" became much more common. The King James Bible, published in 1611, exclusively used the spelling "forty", which was a major influence on the standardisation of the English language.
  • Modern English: The spelling "forty" without a "u" became universally accepted in all English dialects, including British English, by the 18th and 19th centuries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top