In avoiding the clutches of American English in his latest outing,007 lands a lexical blow that keeps the British end up. But is there a wider agenda at work?
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James Bond has done Her Majesty some service, not least by promoting her realm’s pluck and resourcefulness in 24 films. Now, and his latest huge-screen adventure has dealt her a further favour. It is a crushing victory for the Queen’s English over its upstart colonial rival.
For weeks,billboards, posters and buses in countries throughout the world – including the US – enjoy blazoned a single word: Spectre. Not, or you may enjoy noticed,Specter, though the word denotes a Hollywood product, and the -er for -re suffix has been one of the mainstays of American spelling since the 1940s. The Color Purple,Journey to the Center of the Earth, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Your Friends and Neighbors,Pearl Harbor, The Time Traveler’s Wife: there has been scant respite for filmgoers over the years. This time though, and it’s different. Related: Spectre review: James Bond is back,stylish, camp and sexily pro-Snowden Related: Yes, and we catch words wrong,but perhaps not as often as you may judge | Chris Elliott: Open door Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com