I love random facts

[Carwash]

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/ize?view=uk[/url]

 

[Hilldodger]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Cobblers! Categorise/ize, standardise/ize, realise/ize - yanks use a zee, we use a ness. Specialise/ize is just one of many.[/QUOTE]

Not according to Morse

 

[Maz]

Specialise/ize etc are both valid forms of the same word.

 

[barq]

"Specialised" isn't in the Oxford English Dictionary - I've justed checked. Looks like us fans of the "ise" ending will have to make a concession here!

 

[Maz]

"Specialised" isn't in the Oxford English Dictionary - I've justed checked. Looks like us fans of the "ise" ending will have to make a concession here!

It's in the Cambridge dictionary here.

 

[Arch]

No, thats nonsense, at least the tongue bit is. However, you can only roll your tongue if both of your parents can (some genetic thing), so one day, no-one will be able to roll their tongue.

um, no, surely, it just means it's a recessive gene, so it can lie dormant... You might have parents with just the one each, so they can't, and you get both, so you can... I dunno, but that seems to make sense to me. Oh, and I'm left handed, and can roll my tongue, and wink with either eye...

 

[Graham O]

My Favourite inane fact...

1 cubic square mile of fog can be condensed into a 1 gallon can.

Shouldn't that be a 1 gallon square can?

 

[ChrisKH]

There is no real approved standard for British English - it really is down to personal preference and the standards (if any) of the environment you work in. The Times style guide advises using "ise" for everything with one or two exceptions and the OED even uses both forms of "specialize/specialise" on the same page of its official website.

Could you use both in Scrabble?

 

[redjedi]

A peanut is not a nut

It is a pea !

QI rocks!!!

 

[ChrisKH]

A peanut is not a nut

It is a pea !

QI rocks!!!

Indeed, it is a member of the legume family. Which is why peas, beans, etc are verbotten if you have a nut allergy.

 

[barq]

There is no real approved standard for British English - it really is down to personal preference and the standards (if any) of the environment you work in. The Times style guide advises using "ise" for everything with one or two exceptions and the OED even uses both forms of "specialize/specialise" on the same page of its official website.

Isn't it odd that they should use the "ise" spelling that isn't included in their own dictionary!

Professionally I write in International/American "ize" English so the "specialised" issue was new to me. Merriam Webster (the other dictionary I use) does list "specialised".

Anyway, that reminds me of another quirk of language. "Cleave" has two meanings: 1) to stick together and 2) to split or tear apart. Useful having a word that means two almost opposite things.

 

[Carwash]

Anyway, that reminds me of another quirk of language. "Cleave" has two meanings: 1) to stick together and 2) to split or tear apart. Useful having a word that means two almost opposite things.

Schott's Miscellany lists quite a few more examples of words like this, with two completely opposite meanings. I'm afraid the only other one I can recall at the moment is 'fast'.

 

[swee'pea99]

Anyway, that reminds me of another quirk of language. "Cleave" has two meanings: 1) to stick together and 2) to split or tear apart. Useful having a word that means two almost opposite things.

'Flammable' means 'burns easily'. 'Inflammable' means the same.

 

[mickle]

Concrete was invented by the ancient Greeks. Theirs didn't go off through chemical reaction but through exposure to air so some of their thicker monuments still haven't set on the inside.

 

[PaulB]

Specialise/ize etc are both valid forms of the same word.

So if I see a bike on e-bay advertised as "Specialised Roubaix Elite" and there's a picture of it emblazoned with the logo "Specialised" on the downtube, I shouldn't suspect there's something amiss?