Sunday, May 23, 2010

Huh?

So last night I was sitting in the loo, wearing my bright orange pyjamas and eating a yoghurt that tasted like a little like liquorice all the whilst pondering over the proper spelling of the word "GRAY" (or is it "GREY"?).  Suddenly I realised that my programme was almost on.  I got to the tv and saw that instead of quick manoeuvres and mediaeval jewellery heists that there was a message on the screen written just to me.

  Of course, I was a bit of a sceptic that the note was a phoney, since I only wear my favourite cosy mauve coloured trousers on special occasions, like when I'm planning on being the centre of attention or eating breakfast or something.


I decided to do an enquiry into the matter and look for artefacts that may lead me to the true author of this cryptic telegramme.  I walked a mere metre towards the door and realised that whilst I was hypothesising a green automobile with grey upholstery had arrived at our kerb.  A mysterious hand dropped an encyclopaedia that weighed at least a tonne out of the tinted windows and right on the border of our neighbour's yard.

After hearing the tyres squeal around the corner I rushed outside with a tremour to discouver the meaning of this unusual behaviour.  Inside the weighty yet unglamourous volume of mouldy passages I found the following passage highlighted: 

Grey became the established British spelling in the 20th century... and it is but a minor variant in American English, according to dictionaries. Canadians tend to prefer grey....Both Grey and Gray are found in proper names everywhere in the English-speaking world. Americans tend to use "gray" in reference to the color and "grey" as the adjective.

In other words:  The gray matter of my brain was quickly falling into an ever greying pile of mush.  I blame it on me drowning my grey sorrows over my numerous gray hairs in a weekly sugar splurge that sent me greyly into the depths of nonsense and labourious attempts at grey humour.      

Or in simpler terms: 
Gray is a color
AND
Grey is a colour.  

****************************************

6 comments:

Jocelyn Christensen said...

Since my earliest school days,I have always spelled it "grey".

alexandra said...

Holy Cow. I went back and checked my comment on your last post and noted that I spelled it both ways. So I guess I spelled it correctly regardless of how you look at it (or incorrectly - depends on if you're a glass half full or half empty kind of gal).

I usually spell it "gray," I think.

K said...

Uh-huh.

annalisa said...

wow! i don't know what to say:)

Steve-Rosanna said...

We see you finally got with the programme. After all our favourite colour here at at the centre is grey. We sincerely hope that you have not been mizled by Matt's misleading demands.

Stef said...

Okay, that was a fun post. I am a horrible speller. I always go with the pheonetc spelling... Gray. But I too am always stumped when it comes to writing it down. I don't want to look dumb. Thanks for clarifying and also, really enjoyed this post.

google analytics