gr[ae]y matter

[rone]

[Poll #1504390]

Comments

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

"Grey" is more sophisticated than "gray."

[sweh.livejournal.com]

Well, "grey" is a colour rather than a mere gray color :-)

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Precisely. For example, horses, Mercedeses, and Poupons can be grey, but Corollas and Dells can only be gray. Likewise, working class hair can gray, but upper-class hair may grey instead.

Spalding was Gray.

[notr.livejournal.com]

Joel could only ever be Grey.

[sweh.livejournal.com]

"Gray" is either the SI unit (Gy) for measuring absorbed radiation, or the American misspelling of "grey" :-)

[rbarclay.livejournal.com]

But, but, doesn't Gy mean Giga-year?
(scnr)

[sweh.livejournal.com]

Gigayear? How backwards of you. Petaseconds, please!

Concur

[mopti.livejournal.com]

"Gray" is a misspelling :)

[ewx.livejournal.com]

[in 1893] “Many correspondents said that they used the two forms with a difference of meaning or application: the distinction most generally recognized being that grey denotes a more delicate or a lighter tint than gray. Others considered the difference to be that gray is a ‘warmer’ colour, or that it has a mixture of red or brown”

I suspect those correspondents would be optimistic if they expected to be reliably understood in the ways they describe...

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Heh, nice. Where'd you find that?

[ewx.livejournal.com]

It’s part of a discussion appended to the etymology section in the word’s entry in the OED. It concludes: “As the word is both etymologically and phonetically one, it is undesirable to treat its graphic forms as differing in signification.”

I have to agree

[notr.livejournal.com]

with both parts: I tend to write grey for light and cool and gray for dark and warm, but they're two spellings of the same word denoting exactly the same range of colors.

[devonapple.livejournal.com]

I see "grey" used most often in the usernames of wiccan-compliant types to imply the wisdom associated with experience, which is usually attributed to having earned gray/grey hair.

[palecur.livejournal.com]

GraeyWraeyvn876 posted "LOL GOKU ROXXX"

[epileptikitty.livejournal.com]

Ah! "Eminence Gris"!

[pootrootbeer.livejournal.com]

I tend towards the "gray" spelling now because of certain early web browsers that implemented HTML's 16 named colors by stemming from the first three letters of each value; thus "grey" would be misinterpreted as "green".

[sambushell.livejournal.com]

I don't think american citizens are allowed to use the word "grey". Aid and comfort to the OED, or something.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

That'll make having named my baby "Grey' somewhat complicated, then.

[sambushell.livejournal.com]

OMG! He'll be deported over and over again, from and to the same destination!

[ptomblin-lj.livejournal.com]

I worked on a project that dealt with colour a lot. It had been written by Australians, worked on for several years by Americans, and then they hired me (a Canadian) to work on it. The correct spelling of that colour (or indeed, the word "colour") was a constant source of debugging fun.

[dwenius.livejournal.com]

Nobody ever gets abducted by the Grays.
Only by the Greys.

Which, given current US Immigration policy, probably explains our spelling preference! Fnarr Fnarr.

[oh6.livejournal.com]

So that's why they never come.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

I do feel there's a qualitative difference between crawfish and crayfish, though.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Crayfish swim in Fluorinert.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

And play electric blues.

But I can explain how.

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

Grey is bluer and greener. Gray is redder. You're welcome.

Re: But I can explain how.

[epileptikitty.livejournal.com]

Payne's Gray is bluer, while his Grey is redder.

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

There are far more compound words with gray, from graybeard to grayfish (as opposed to crayfish), to gray wolf. I'm sure that means something. Both gray and grey seem to come from Old English. Does the OED differentiate them further back - from different languages? Now I'm curious.

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

I'll see yer grayfish and raise you a great grey shrike (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greatgreyshrike/index.aspx) (there's a lesser grey shrike too, but the RSPB doesn't have an entry for it), a grey heron (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greyheron/index.aspx), a grey partridge (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greypartridge/index.aspx), a grey phalarope (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greyphalarope/index.aspx), a grey plover (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greyplover/index.aspx) and a grey wagtail (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greywagtail/index.aspx). Then I'll annoy you even more by mentioning the greylag goose (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greylaggoose/index.aspx). :P

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

Obnoxiousness aside, i would use "greybeard" rather than "graybeard". Not sure if that's a personal choice or a reflection of the greater use of "grey" over here, and the greater use of "gray" over there...

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

No. *I* am over here. YOU are over THERE. And you silly people can't spell anything, so I'm not taking your spelling preference seriously.

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

Feh, uppity Colonials.

[epileptikitty.livejournal.com]

Is there a subliminal pronunciation difference, like 'caught' v.s. 'cot'?

Phonological history of English low back vowels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_low_back_vowels).

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

'Gray' is a neutral color. 'Grey' to me has associations with yellowness and greasiness, very negative associations. It's also associated with bergamot for obvious reasons.

I understand that they are actually supposed to be synonyms, but this is happening on some other level.

[tau-iota-mu-c.livejournal.com]

Why do you hate damp dreary English towns?

[eejitalmuppet.livejournal.com]

Someone who used "gray" killed my parents, you insensitive clod!

[tau-iota-mu-c.livejournal.com]

"gray" is American and so is covered in boold.