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Saturday, April 7, 2012

G: Grey vs. Gray


The G for today could stand for grumbles. What’s the deal with grey vs. gray? A color that is a smush between black and white. They mean the exact same thing.
How’d that even happen? Did someone who was ridiculously popular misspell it? Then all of his friends copied him?
According to google, one (gray) seems to be an American thing.
I must be a strange American though, because I always write it as grey. My spellchecker hates me for it and my critiquers shake their heads, but it just looks more right.
Maybe I’ve just read too much Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia . . .
Which one do you use?

22 comments:

  1. We in the UK uses Grey. It's strange I suppose.

    Have a happy Easter,
    Yvonne.

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  2. I usually write gray, but once in a while I type grey.

    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  3. Always 'grey'.

    I was taught 'grey' is the English spelling and 'gray' is American. Weird what happens to vowels when words cross the Atlantic ... like where did the 'u' from 'neigbour', 'colour' and 'favourite' all disappear to?

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  4. I use grey. I'm from England!

    This is me, Duncan D. Horne, visiting you from the A-Z challenge, wishing you all the best throughout April and beyond.

    Duncan In Kuantan

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  5. Funny you should say that. I couldn't tell the difference until recently. I thought I must have misspelled grey when other corrected it to gray.

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  6. I'm a Brit so I use 'grey' though 'gray' actually seems more logical and looks nicer:-)

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  7. I use grey too! Seems to be the popular choice! :D

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  8. Yes, I use grey too. And it's very common that words have been Americanized. Like dialogue... which is actually spell-checked on American word programs to spell as dialog. Many words have been Americanized... but I always prefer the British spellings.

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  9. "GRAYte" word! I prefer Grey for the same reasons you mentioned. I will use "gray" if I'm writing something "official" for business, but for personal use it's always "grey." Gandalf the Gray? I don't think so.

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  10. Typical American here, so I use gray, but I agree that grey looks cooler.

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  11. I switch back and forth and I always seem to have to look it up. I like grey better.

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  12. I write whichever one comes out, so I switch between them.

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  13. ONly recently did I learn one was more American than the other. I always thought either was correct. What is the big deal? Is there anyone who doesn't understand what it means if you write one or the other.

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  14. I never know which way to spell it and it tends to make me feel ignorant! Thanks for the lesson.

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  15. I too make the Oxford dictionary kind of mistake, and go with the British spelling. I am a grade school teacher so I get into a lot of trouble with my students' parents.

    Grey seems more, well GREY!

    Gray seems too close to gay- which is not dark at all.

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  16. I've always wondered about "gray" and "grey." Suppose I use whatever one makes me feel International ;)

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  17. I tend to use grey, and honour rather than honor as well. Perhaps because my hubs came from UK and I got used to it.

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  18. I always spell this word interchangeably. One day its grey, another its gray. They both work for me. And thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  19. I use grey.

    Look forward to your challenge run…
    --Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2012

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

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  20. I go back and forth and should probably be more consistent :P I think that it's a cultural thing, depends on what country/region you're from :x

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