Date   : Sun, 05 Feb 2006 20:39:16 -0000
From   : "Colin" <cwhill@...>
Subject: Re: Grammar

<snip>
>"programme", at least until the 1950s, which is when >the
.American.spelling seems to have become the norm.  I >believe that the
.American
>spelling has been the accepted-correct one in the five >decades since.

Quite true and rather makes my point.
The American expression (as far as I can tell) is used for both but we (the
British) have chosen to use it for computer references although they both
derive from the same origin.
The meaning should be identical but isn't because we have chosen to use the
American spelling as a specific name for that written for a computer as
opposed to the original meaning (see below).

'Program' is the US spelling of the English 'programme' and is 'something
written in advance' - a series of coded instructions which can be obeyed by
a computer.

'pro' means 'before' in both Latin and Greek, and 'gramma' comes from the
Greek word for 'written'.

(N.B. 'grapho' is the Greek verb meaning I write or draw
- you can see that the word 'graphics' comes from the same root.)

(from http://www.pyrrha.demon.co.uk/tquiz3.html )

One has to question the use of a foreign spelling (or "steal") and then
amend the use.

Google for the two words and spot the difference.
I really do suspect that, as most of the "modern" work on computers came
from the US with the space program(me)
it has become an accepted word by usage.

Out of interest, I use the American spelling for use with computers and the
UK one for all the other meanings (football programme etc).
Now, about the use of the word "menu"............
Colin Hill