this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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In most cases, the American spelling of English words compared to the rest-of-the-world spelling is pretty much a wash. A matter of personal preference.
But "metre" is a hill I will die on. "Metre" and "meter" mean different things, and by spelling them both "meter", as the Americans do, you’re just making communication worse.
Also gas which can either be petrol or natural gas.
In America "gas" is short for gasoline, which is petrol.
It's still shit because our lazy asses do still call both types "gas", but there is a distinction.
Originally, yes. So were aspirin, heroin, kerosene, hovercraft, linoleum, and a bunch of other common words.
It is not. "Gasoline" is what Brits should call the substance they put into their vehicles. Petroleum is not what goes in them, that is just an unrefined version of gasoline.
Edit: Petroleum, not patroleum.
ftfy
Oops, good catch! My mobile spell-check tool (swiftkey) seems to miss a lot... no idea why. It never used to do this...
The brand was cazeline, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline#Etymology