Colour or Color—Which Is Correct?

• When choosing between color and colour, keep in mind that both spellings are correct.
• The shorter one, color, is the preferred spelling in the United States.
• The rest of the English-speaking world uses the longer form, colour.

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How do you spell color? You’ll see other writers do it two ways—the one we’ve already used in this sentence, and another one—colour. Neither of the spellings is wrong, and they both mean exactly the same thing. Still, the two spellings are slightly different, so there has to be something to it, right? Let’s see.

Difference Between Color and Colour

You might have noticed that there are other words with the same duality of spelling—words like “honor,” “traveling,” “favorite,” and the past tense of the verb “spell.” These variations in spelling exist because of differences between American English and British English. Color is the spelling used in the United States. Colour is used in other English-speaking countries.

The word color has its roots (unsurprisingly) in the Latin word color. It entered Middle English through the Anglo-Norman colur, which was a version of the Old French colour. The current difference in spelling between the American and British variants is credited to (or occasionally blamed on) Noah Webster, the American lexicographer. Seeking to establish American independence and identity in language, Webster implemented a number of spelling reforms in A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, which he published in 1806.

Color or Colour—Which Spelling Should You Use?

There are a couple of ways you can choose which spelling to use. You can, for example, choose the spelling that’s prevalent in the country you’re from—if you’re an American, use color. If you’re from any of the Commonwealth countries, use colour. If English is not your first language, use the spelling you were taught.

You can also choose to conform to the spelling that’s preferred by your audience. If you’re writing for Americans, use the spelling they prefer. If you’re writing something for Brits, Australians, or Canadians, use the spelling they prefer.

If you’re still not sure which to choose, or if you’re writing for an international audience, the best thing to do is choose one of the spellings and stick with it. In other words, choose consistency.

Examples of Color

The choice of Kaine is particularly glaring in light of the fact that people of color, especially African-Americans, hold the key to a Clinton victory.

The New York Times

These two types of pigment are eumelanin, which colors hair black or brown, and pheomelanin, which colors hair blonde or red.

Business Insider

Perhaps the color gray has finally found its match.

The Indianapolis Star

Examples of Colour

Out of 169 productions at this year’s festival, we could only find 14 that feature Indigenous performers and performers of colour.

CBC

The colour catches the eye.

The Telegraph

Purple was one of her favourite colours and her coffin was brought to the church in a horse drawn hearse with purple plumes on the horses.

Gloucestershire Live

Offence vs. Offense—What Is the Difference?

• Offence and offense are both correct.
• Offence is the spelling more commonly used outside of the United States.
• Offense is the spelling more commonly used in the United States.

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Offense is spelled differently based on where you, or your audience, are. But neither offense nor offence are wrong.

Offence vs. Offense—Which Is Correct?

In one sense, offense means an attack. But it also means an affront or insult. Offense can also be spelled offence. The difference is that offense is the standard spelling in the United States, while offence is standard in other English-speaking countries:

The team had troubles with their offense because they key player was injured.

No offense meant.

The offence was clearly much lighter than the punishment.

The adjective derived from offense, offensive, is spelled with an s in American and British English alike. It doesn’t have a version that’s spelled with c:

I found the comedian’s remarks about Her Majesty very offensive.

They could have won the game if they were more offensive.

It’s the same with the adverb offensively—it’s never spelled with a c:

He offensively prodded the air with two fingers, making a rude gesture.

Playing the game offensively isn’t always the best strategy.

Examples

Offensive in American Publications

It didn’t seem to be in a way that meant offense, but he seemed so accustomed to alcohol being at weddings that he was perplexed.

The Huffington Post

Cal quarterback Davis Webb paced the Golden Bears’ offense by completing 32 of his 48 pass attempts to finish with 301 yards and two touchdowns.

Los Angeles Times

Offence outside the US

Henry also declined to answer further questions yesterday after issuing a statement on Saturday night saying he “meant no offence” to the two women he spoke about to Bruce.

The New Zealand Herald

Mounties say drivers are sent an email that states they’ve committed a driving offence and a fine will be mailed to them.

Global News

And speaking of words spelled differently in American and British English, did you know that omelet (or omelette) is one of them? Catalog is another one—it can also be spelled catalogue. And benefitted can also be spelled with only one t—that’s how they do it in the United States.

Ernest Hemingway Liked to “Do It” Standing Up

I know it’s dirty and unconventional, but I liked to do it outside in college.

The first time was spring semester of my freshman year, and once I started I just couldn’t stop. Because I went school in Wisconsin, the passing of the seasons limited when I could indulge in the grassy common areas around campus — but when the weather was right I’d do it outdoors for hours. As a young, open-minded philosophy student, it didn’t take much to turn me on — to writing.

(Please take a moment to remove your mind from the gutter before continuing on…)

There is no wrong way to write: Maya Angelou wakes up early to do the deed. James Joyce, author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, wrote lying on his stomach in bed. Ernest Hemingway liked to do it standing up. Agatha Christie admits to munching on apples in the bathtub while mulling over murder plots. Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables in his — ahem — birthday suit.

As we speak, there are thousands of writers participating in #NaNoWriMo, hundreds in #GrammoWrimo, and countless others putting pen to paper just for fun. During this month of literary abandon, hipsters are taking to the parks to clack away on vintage typewriters, novelists are grasping quill pens at dimly-lit mahogany desks, and travel writers are boarding trains and planes to rest their feet and recap new worlds. Writers are doing it everywhere, and (let’s face it) we love to watch.

So, whether you’re editing from your bed (colloquially known as bediting), co-authoring from the kitchen, journaling in a java house, or crafting prose from a yoga pose, we want to hear how you’re “doing it” this month. We’ve created a meme generator to help!

Share on Twitter or Facebook: Where does the magic happen for you?

Commas with Interrupters

Interrupters are little thoughts in the middle of a thought, added to show emotion, tone or emphasis. When we use an interrupter in the middle of a sentence, it should be emphasized with commas. This is because without the use of commas, the flow of the sentence may be awkward for the reader.

Interrupters are easily identified by saying the sentence out loud; you’ll naturally pause where the commas should be. Consider the examples below:

Queen Victoria was, as they say, a formidable woman.

The interrupter as they say needs a comma before and after it to separate it from the rest of the sentence. A few other examples of sentences including interrupters are listed below.

Having demonstrated a decided lack of ethics, the CEO was, needless to say, dismissed from the company.

Teachers do, in fact, change lives.

Names can also be interrupters. See the following sentences for reference.

What, Susan, do you think?

Now, where do you suppose, Davey, your shoes might have gone this time?

Other common interrupters include to say the least, however, generally speaking, sadly, happily, and unfortunately.

Modal Verbs–Definition and Usage

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) like can, will, could, shall, must, would, might, and should. After a modal verb, the root form of a verb is generally used. The word to should not appear after a modal verb. An exception is the phrase ought to, which is considered a modal verb.

Modal verbs add meaning to the main verb in a sentence by expressing possibility, ability, permission, or obligation.

You must turn in your assignment on time.

He might be the love of my life.

The doctor can see you now.

When a modal verb precedes the main verb in a sentence or clause, use the root of the verb rather than the infinitive, which contains the word to.

The doctor can to see you now.

The one case in which we deviate from this rule and use the full infinitive form of a verb is with the modal phrase “ought to”

The doctor ought to see you now. (You’ve waited long enough.)

To Do as a Modal Verb

The verb to do can be used as a modal verb or a main verb. In this sentence, to do is being used as a main verb and can is being used as a modal verb.

You can do it.

Whereas in this example, do is used as a modal verb.

You do know how to sing!

Remember, however, that do can be used as a modal verb only if there is no other modal verb present in the sentence.

Thank you, I can do sing.

Thank you, I do sing.

Thank you, I can sing.

What Is Comradery?

• Comradery is a spirit of friendship and community between two people or a group of people.
• Camaraderie is the more popular spelling, but comradery is an acceptable alternate.

Comradery is easy to find among the members of a winning team. Victorious teammates might high-five each other and recount the highlights of the game. Success creates a bond for the players that often continues off the court. But what is happening on the opposite side of the court? You may notice the defeated team going through a comradery ritual of their own. Instead of celebrating, they might be consoling one another and commending each other for trying their best. What is comradery?

Comradery or Camaraderie

You might already be wondering whether comradery is the same as camaraderie, so let’s address that issue first. Camaraderie came to English from French around 1835. In French, camarade was the word for a roommate or a companion. It you trace camarade back further, you will find that French got it from Old Spanish, which borrowed it from Latin! Camera is the Latin term for chamber, a room where you sleep or spend a lot of time. What about comradery? It came from comrade, a derivative of the the same Middle French word that inspired camaraderie. Around 1879, some writers (no doubt influenced by the pattern established by words like citizenry) began adding the -ry suffix to comrade to form comradery.

The next question is, which one is right? Camaraderie? Comradery? Is one way of writing the word more correct than the other spelling? Dictionaries list both spellings, so they are both correct. However, if you look at the frequency of use for each word, you will find that camaraderie is more than forty times as common as comradery in print sources. Which form you choose depends on your preference, but you should take your audience into consideration. Which spelling will be the most familiar or understandable for them?

Be careful of misspellings. It’s easy to confuse the two forms if you are not careful. The most common wrong spellings on the web are mishmashes of the two correct spellings:

comaraderie, comraderie, comrodery, cameradery

The Pronunciation of Comradery

Camaraderie sounds like kahm-rah-duh-ree. Some speakers pronounce comradery as kom-rad-ree. Therefore, though camaraderie and comradery are interchangeable in meaning, transcriptionists must write the version used by the speaker. They must listen carefully to the vowels and number of syllables to distinguish comradery from camaraderie.

Comradery Definition and Meaning

There’s no difference in the meaning of camaraderie and comradery. Comradery is a spirit of friendship and community between two people or a group of people. The memberse of the group are comfortable around each other, and they support each other. This word is often applied to sports teams or to groups of soldiers. Let’s learn from some quotes about team comradery.

Examples of Team Comradery

The girls are all talking and laughing, trying to get pumped up and for just one small sliver of a moment, I stop. Taking it all in because this is something I’ve really missed over the last year. The comradery of a team. The sisterhood of hockey players. Girls who have your back. —Jennifer Sucevic, Stay

It’s comradery, it’s team building, it’s fun to come out here and just push yourself to the limit. The proceeds stay local and people know it and and people come out and push themselves. —WIVB.com

I loved the world of roller derby because I thought it was such an empowering metaphor, that you get out there and do it. It’s such a rocker, athletic, capable, cool exhibitionist sport; it’s about this great sort of camaraderie. — Drew Barrymore

Other Instances of Comradery

The silence that falls between them is a comfortable one. He longs to reach over and touch her, but he resists, fearful of destroying the delicate camaraderie they are building. He steals glances instead, watching the way the light falls over her skin. —Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

This good fellowship—camaraderie—usually occurring through the similarity of pursuits is unfortunately seldom super-added to love between the sexes, because men and women associate, not in their labors but in their pleasures merely. —Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd

Political Definition and Usage of Comradery

As you learned earlier, comradery derives from comrade. A comrade is a fellow member of a group, an associate, or a person who does the same activities that you do. However, around the nineteenth century, members of the Communist party began to refer to each other as comrades. According to an article in the South China Morning Post, “consolidation among party members and . . . the idea of equality” were the characteristics of the term that attracted the attention of the Communist Party. Today, comrade may carry a political connotation—in particular, it may imply that someone has extremely leftist views on issues. However, the same connotation doesn’t necessarily carry over to the use of comradery, unless the context suggests a political affiliation. Here are some quotes featuring comrade from popular media sources:

China Seeks to Improve Ties With ‘Comrade’ Vietnam” —The Wall Street Journal

At the [White House Correspondents’ Dinner], Obama played on that comparison, calling Sanders his “comrade,” a term often associated with the communist Soviet Union. —Bustle

Air show pilots performed an aerial salute Saturday to their comrade who died after his World War II-era plane crashed in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey a day earlier. —NBCNewYork.com

How to Use Comradery

Now that you’ve seen how writers use it, how can you use comradery in a sentence? Comradery is a noun, so it can be the subject or the object of the sentence.

Comradery is what kept the coworkers on good terms during a challenging work assignment.

Soldiers who have fought together against a common enemy form a comradery that is like no other feeling in the world.

What about making the noun plural? Comradery and camaraderie are noncount nouns, so you can’t make them plural by adding an S. They don’t have plural forms.

After ten years of marriage, there was great comradery between the husband and wife.

A little bit of camaraderie goes a long way.

Camaraderie/Comradery Synonyms

What words are like comradery? Studying them can help you get a deeper understanding of what it really means. Notice how these near synonyms relate to comradery:

• Bonhomie, like camaraderie, has French origins. Bon means good and homme means man. Bonhomie is a good-natured, friendly manner.
• A brotherhood is a group of people engaged in the same trade or who have the same qualities or interests. It also refers to fellowship.
• Conviviality is friendliness or agreeableness.
• Companionship is fellowship, especially the type of fellowship that comes from being in the company of someone else.
• Comradeship is a sense of friendship with others who share the same goals.
• Friendship is an intimate or friendly relationship.
• Intimacy is a close bond with another person, often accompanied by feelings of affection and familiarity.
• Togetherness is warm fellowship.

Camaraderie/Comradery Antonyms

On the other side of the coin, antonyms show you what comradery is not. The list includes some pretty gloomy words that should help you appreciate the positivity of comradery. Here are the top four opposites.

• Bad blood is an idiomatic expression that refers to bitter feelings between two people or groups.
• Dislike is a feeling of antagonism or hatred for someone.
• Forlornness is a feeling of isolation and alienation.
• Loneliness is a feeling of solitude and isolation.
• Lonesomeness is a painful feeling of solitariness, depression, or sadness caused by a lack of companionship.

Comradery vs. Morale

Another term you hear associated with teams, groups, and the military is morale. What is the relationship between comradery and morale? Morale is the general emotion or mental state of the members of a group. Low morale would indicate that the individuals in the group have low spirits. They might feel discouraged, depressed, or sad. High morale means that individuals are feeling well and happy. If comradery is absent, morale is likely to be low. Travis Valentine, a blogger, explains: “Low morale isn’t ideal, but the negative effects it has can be overcome with good camaraderie because good camaraderie can’t be beat.” Do you see the relation?

For a sports team, a sense of comradery and morale is highest while celebrating a win. However, a defeat can also draw a team closer together. Because soldiers spend a lot of time in each other’s company and go through intense experiences together, they often develop lifelong friendships characterized by goodwill and friendliness. Any group that spends a lot of time pursuing a common goal can cultivate the quality of comradery.

Comradery is an alternate spelling of camaraderie that carries the same meaning of friendly intimacy among members of a group. To use the term properly, you will have to remember that it’s a non-count noun. Learning so much about comradery places you among a select few who know its origins. So if you see comradery properly used in writing, you may feel an instant bond with the author!

Not-So-Sweet 16: Email Autonotification Hell vs. Should’ve Messaged

The Not-So-Sweet 16 rages on with this set of obnoxious inbox-stuffers. Which bothers you more, autonotification emails, or emails from coworkers who should have messaged you elsewhere? Honestly, we don’t love either.

Ready to vote to determine the next round of March MADness? We know we are!

Autonotification Email Hell

Autonotifications are sent automatically when someone updates a task, project, or chat. In the best-case scenario, these autonotifications can be batched, but usually your inbox gets swamped by minor updates to various channels. Is it really necessary to know that someone left a chat? Rarely.

When They Should’ve Messaged

If there is an important or time-sensitive issue that the team needs to see, an email-only approach can be a disaster. For these questions, even checking your email twice a day is not enough. You’ll miss the boat. What’s worse is that emails can get pushed down deep into the inbox, making it even more difficult to reply promptly.