[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...
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.”
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.
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syntheid
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Date: 2009-12-28 05:56 pm (UTC)[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...
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Date: 2009-12-28 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-28 07:16 pm (UTC)I have to agree
Date: 2009-12-29 02:32 am (UTC)