Archaic Spellings
Oftentimes, we come across words in our books with odd spellings. In general we don't change what the author or printer wrote. Post-processors do usually correct printer's errors and leave a transcriber's note so that the reader has access to a work with its integrity intact. (They see what we saw.) There are some words and phrases that are either completely out of use or just not as common today. Following is a list of such words and phrases:
Hyphenated words
Words that almost always retain hyphens:
- good-bye
- good-by
- to-day
- to-morrow
Words that sometimes retain the hyphens:
- care-taker
- common-place
- co-operate sometimes coöperate
- court-yard
- down-town
- farm-yard
- fire-place
- fire-wood
- good-will
- honey-moon
- honey-suckle
- house-keeper
- new-comer
- note-book
- note-paper
- now-a-days
- pocket-book
- sea-side
- some-one
- to-night
- up-lifted
- up-stairs
- work-man
Along with these, any direction may or may not be hyphenated: north-east, south-west, northwest, etc.
Words that we've seen hyphenated that we were surprised by:
- bar-tender
- crest-fallen
- fore-finger
- hap-hazard
- near-by
- Pall-Mall
- rail-road
- suit-case
- table-spoonful
- week-end
Spelling rarely used today
- Alleghanies vs. Alleghenies
- æroplane
- æsthetics
- any body
- archæology
- Cæsar
- chuse
- clew
- coöperate
- dulness
- dumfound
- eery
- encyclopædia
- frowardness (often mistaken for a misprinted "forwardness." Frowardness is a word)
- fulness
- gayety
- heydey
- hôtel
- manœuver
- mediæval
- Pittsburg
- Porto Rico
- preëminently
- rôle
- Servians
- Shakspeare, Shakspear
- shew
- some one
- staid
- wilful
British/American Spellings:
The differences between British and American spellings varied from decade to decade. Some spellings we now think of as "American" were standard in British English until late in the PG era. Conversely, older American books often use spellings we now think of as "British".
| British | American |
|---|---|
| acknowledgement | acknowledgment |
| aluminium | aluminum |
| catalogue | catalog |
| centre | center |
| colour | color |
| cosy | cozy |
| despatch | dispatch |
| dialogue | dialog |
| fulfil | fulfill |
| grey | gray |
| kerb | curb |
| indorse | endorse |
| judgement | judgment |
| licence (noun) | license |
| manœuvre | manœuver or maneuver |
| mould | mold |
| neighbour | neighbor |
| practise (verb) | practice |
| programme | program |
| spelt | spelled |
| theatre | theater |
| travelling | traveling |
| tyre | tire |
| worshipping | worshiping |
Abbreviated words:
- 'bus for omnibus
- doc. for doctor
- exam. for examination
- frat. for fraternity
- Fresh. for Freshman
- grads. for graduates
- gym. for gymnasium
- Lit. for Literature
- per cent. for per centum
- 'phone for telephone
- Prep. for Preparatory
- Proc. for Proctor
- prof. for professor
- Soph. for Sophomore
- 'varsity for university
- &c. for etc.
Phrases:
- household gods
What if I am unsure?
A [**note] is almost always a good choice. Asking in the project thread is another good idea. DP is very widely read and chances are someone has come across the same situation as well. Additionally, some of our members have access to the Oxford English Dictionary which holds a wealth of information on word usage through history.
It may also be worth looking up unusual spellings to see if they have an entry in Wiktionary, which includes many archaic and variant spellings.