Words at Play : 8 Spelling Suggestions That Didn't Stick
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Who Proposed the Change:
Noah Webster
Why the Change:
Noah Webster's 1828 An American Dictionary of the English Language was the first great dictionary published in North America, and was enormously influential.
Motivated both by nationalist fervor and a desire to reform spelling, Webster proposed numerous spelling changes in his work. Some of these, such as dropping the U from honour and mould, were accepted in America. Others, such as masheen (and spelling women and ache as wimmen and ake), were not.
—Ammon Shea
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More Words at Play
