Both ways to spell “gray” are correct. However, one form is the British spelling and one is the American spelling. It is spelled “gray” in America, and it is spelled “grey” in Britain. One easy way to remember this is the saying: 

GrAy is how it is spelled in America. GrEy is how it is spelled in England.

Many people think that grey was originally from England, then when the Patriots won their independence, they changed the spelling. However, that is not true at all. In fact, late in the 1800s, two early American dictionaries, the Webster’s Academic Dictionary (1867) and the Webster’s Condensed Dictionary (1897) both listed the color as “gray.” Looking up “grey” would lead to a referral to the word “gray.” In Britain, a lexicographer (dictionary author) named Samuel Johnson, who lived in the 18th century, coined the word “gray” and supported its use. However, use of the word started to decline in the 20th century and was replaced by “grey.” 

So really, the Americans did not really change a traditional British word, really what happened was that the British changed the spelling of their very own word. Of course, the Americans did change many British spellings, most notably ”colour” to “color,” “centre” to “center,” etc. 

Many do not know the difference between “grey” and “gray,” which is why you can spell gray “grey” in America and grey “gray” in the UK. Really, both versions can be used in America and Britain.  

In order for a government to protect its people, the people must be willing to give up certain rights and privileges. But where do people and their governments draw the line? The answer is in our U.S. Constitution. The founders knew that government best serves the people, best protects the people, and stays in control by the people when it is small. That is why they established a federalist republic. The system established by them allows for maximum freedom while still protecting the citizens from the mob rule of true democracy.

In order to ensure this freedom, a capitalist economy must exist. I once heard from (I believe but may be wrong) Milton Friedman who said you can have capitalism without freedom, but you can’t have freedom with out capitalism. Capitalism is the free flow of ideas, money, goods, and labor. It’s not the controlled flow of such things as it is in Socialism/Communism.

Socialism and Communism are hand in glove. Don’t kid yourself. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Socialism as three things. They are:

1. b) a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
2. a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Even Marx called it a transitional stage between capitalism and communism. A so called halfway point. The definition of communism by the same dictionary is:

1. c) a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably

Marx and Engels were idiots. Plain and simple, and I make no apologies for that statement. They dreamt up a communist utopia, but the only factor they forgot to add when theorizing this utopia was human nature. Who would be the managers of such a fantasy world? Some higher being? No, only men. So basically what would exist would be a group of elitist men no smarter than you or I, telling all of us what we can and can’t do.

As long as there is a free economy in the world, socialism and communism cannot survive. All business and money will flow to that free country, thus taking the wealth of the socialist nations with them. Socialism only works when freedom ceases to exist. And that is why I believe that the only reason socialism and communism don’t have a stranglehold on the world yet is because America still stands.

What all of this boils down to is a debate of ideas, but it’s not just any normal conservative versus liberal debate. It is a debate of world governance.  The left in this country like to talk about “Global Governance.” Our own president has said he is a “citizen of the world.” Liberals and the like the world over crave one world government. The people in power right now would love to see one world government. Two things stand in their way though. America and her Constitution. The enemies of the Constitution know what the founders established. If the Constitution is obeyed and followed in good faith by those elected to power, then there is no reason why our constitution cannot act as the framework for one world government. In a nutshell, it’s our form of government versus theirs. Us versus them.

We are a nation divided into states. Our states are no different than any other country in the world except for national sovereignty. Some of our states are bigger than other countries. California’s economy is the third largest economy in the world. 

So why couldn’t another country join us as a state? What’s stopping them? The answer is the 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, or rather the disregarding of it. The 10th amendment reads as follows: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

If our federal government would get the hell out of the way, and let the states function how they were supposed to, then America would be more appealing to other countries or provinces who would want to join us. One pschological difference we have with our founders is our idea of state-hood. I was told by a history teacher once that before the civil war, people were either Marylanders, or Virginians, or Pennsylvanians, etc. After the civil war we all became Americans. There’s nothing wrong with calling ourselves Americans. But it is without a doubt equally important to recognize which state we are from. That is what makes America great! We are not the United Peoples of America, we are the United States of America.

We should never try to conquer another nation to rule over it however. If another nation wants to join our glorious union, then we should welcome them with open arms. With our federal government as strong as it is now, no sovereign nation would ever want to join us. But if we shrink the national government back down to the size it was intended to be, we would once again be a beacon of freedom for the rest of the world to admire and aspire to.

There will be some of you who read this and think I’m a quack, even some conservatives I’m sure. But just think about this: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.It is self-evident that we are born equal to all men and women across the globe. What separates us from them is our government. So if we are all born equal, than why can’t another group of people join our union?

I love my state of Maryland. I love the United States of America. I deeply love the U.S. Constitution.  As I said before, what’s going on today is  not merely a liberal versus conservative issue. It is freedom versus tyranny. On what side do you stand?

spiritualhopesociety.com/EVP_Evidence.html

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/whitenoise_1.jpg

Ghost Words – Words without Meaning

Some words do not deserve a place in a dictionary. Known as spurious or ghost words, they are there, complete with convincing definitions, as the result of error. The 19th century scholar William Walter Skeat savagely described them as “coinages due to the blunders of printers or scribes, or the per-fervid imaginations of ignorant or blundering editors.”

www.printeresting.org/tag/cmyk/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/humanprinter1copy1_1.jpg

Some common words are former ghosts that have become accepted through widespread usage. Gravy, for example originated from a misreading of the Old French word granẻ (“containing grain”) as gravẻ. Other words have been evicted from their lexical home once their origins were discovered.

“Abacot”

www.sacred-destinations.com/england/cambridge…

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/5318672002f19a9d520o_1.jpg

Up to the end of the 19th century, abacot was defined in many dictionaries as “the cap of state formerly used by English kings, wrought into the figure of two crowns.” Some dictionaries even figure of two crowns.” Some dictionaries even contained an illustration of an abacot taken from the great seal of the 15th century king Henry VII.

arslounge.com/tag/art/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/helmet_1.jpg

It was Sir James Murray, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, who in 1882 revealed the true origin of the word. In a 1548 history of the kings of England by Edward Hall, the printer mistook the words a bicocket (a kind of helmet) for abococket. This was then misread by other writers, changed to abacot, and copied by dictionary compilers.

“Dord”

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or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/michaelwaynewhatdoesitmeanthatalowdensitylifestylecanmakemefluid165_1.jpg

The 1934 edition of Webster’s Second New International Dictionary gives the definition of dord as “density.” The reason: in the files of the publishers, G. & C. Merriam of Massachusetts, the abbreviation for density was listed as “D or d.” Somehow the spaces between the letters were lost and Dord appeared. The mistake was spotted in 1939 but not changed until the 1947 edition.

“Howl”

www.archinect.com/features/article.php?id=858…

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/showcasevader02x_1.jpg

An interesting dialect word that really never was, howl was at one time defined as “a house.” allegedly derived from the Scottish spelling of hovel. This can be blamed on the printer responsible for setting into type Robert Louis Stevenson’s unfinished novel Weir of Hermiston in 1986. Stevenson had been working on the book when he died in Samoa in 1894. The manuscript was sent to England, where the printer saw the word howf.

“Kime”

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or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/23423809188a9c054c79o_1.jpg

In 1808 Sidney Smith, editor of the Edinburgh Review, described the “savage customs” of Hindus, telling how “some run kimes through their hands, and widows burn themselves to death.” In a book published soon afterward, John Styles took issue with Smith for not being sufficiently critical of self-mutilation with kimes, which he assumed to be dreadful instruments of torture. As Smith pointed out, he had simply written knives, but it had been misread by the printer.

www.rcs.k12.va.us/csjh/06_07_web/drewH/drew2.htm

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/knives_1.jpg

“Morse”

cinemagypsy.wordpress.com/2008/10/

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/nurseshoes_1.jpg

“Hardened wretch, art thou but this instant delivered fro death, and dost thou so soon morse thoughts of slaughter?” So says Father Eustace in many early editions of Walter Scott’s novel The Monastery. What did Scott mean by morse? It had nothing to do with Morse code: his book was written 17 years before the code was invented.

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or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/tigersnest_1.jpg

One authority explained that it came from the Latin word mordere, “to bite”; another, that is was derived from amorce, an Old French word meaning “to prime.” Then someone looked at Scott’s manuscript. The word he had written was nurse.

“Slughorne”

www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/873851

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/873851comhastings_1.jpg

In “The Battle of Hastings.” The 18th century poet Thomas Chatterton wrote “Some caught a Slughorne and an onsette wounde.” He was using slughorne to mean “a battle trumpet.”

Image via Wikipedia

Even though Chatterton was known to be a forger of medieval works, other writers copied him, and slughornes were soon appearing in other epic poems – in Robert Browning’s 1855 poem “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” for instance. In fact, Chatterton had misunderstood the meaning of the Gaelic word slaugh-ghairm, “a battle cry” (from which the English word slogan comes). An instrument called a slughorne never existed.

“Tweed”

www.artfabrik.com/trunkshows.html

or: http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/09/01/trunkshow1_1.jpg

The cloth known as tweed is really tweel, the Scottish equivalent of twill, which refers to a fabric made with two threads. It became tweed because it was confused with the river of that name, which happened to flow through the area where the cloth was traditionally made.

Building up is the key to mastering the art of language. In order to feel completely in control of your diction, you need to have a wide range of words to choose from (obviously). Each time you encounter a new word, your mind needs time to digest each word and let it sink in, so it becomes truly yours. Like learning a musical instrument or playing a sport, improving your vocabulary requires consistent effort.

1.      Buy an electronic dictionary.

Or if you have a cell phone that can access the dictionaries online, that is fine too. When we are immersed in a book, or TV show, how many of us are going to flip through a dictionary if we come across a word we don’t know? Not many. Because this device is fast and convenient to carry around, it will make the process much easier. Plus, if you learn the definition while you still have the context in mind, you will remember it better.

For those who enjoy reading blogs or online articles, I recommend a software called Babylon  (It also does a great job of translating).Each time you see a new word anywhere on your computer screen, just use Ctrl+Right Click and this comprehensive dictionary software immediately pops up. It also comes with thesauruses and encyclopedias.

Of course, if you don’t want to pay for the software, you can use free websites like www.dictionary.com and www.webster.com. There are tools and Firefox plug-ins to make the process of looking up a word on those websites a little easier.

2.      Read!!!

Not only will this boost your vocabulary, it also helps with your writing and comprehension. When you read, immediately look up the words you don’t know. But if that is too much of a hassle, just keep a wordlist. Write down the words on paper and look them up later. Be an active reader, which means you consciously try to maintain the level of concentration and become actively involved in the text. Read periodicals like TIME, The New Yorker, The Economist, and Newsweek. For books, try to focus on the classics, because those generally contain harder vocabulary.

3.      Listen?

If your eyes ever get sore, or if you just feel like lying down to relax, turn on your radio! Find out the frequency of your local NPR station. It’s filled with intelligent talk, and more importantly, advanced vocabulary! To have more control over what you listen to, you can subscribe to your favorite programs via iTunes. Here is a few of them I recommend: New Yorker: Fiction, New Yorker: Commentary, NPR: Books, PRI: To the Best of Our Knowledge and A Way With Words.

There are also vocabulary podcasts like Just Vocabulary and Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day (you can also have it emailed to you through here).

Beside Podcasts, audio books are also helpful. Buy them through iTunes, Audible.com, or just check them out from your local library.

4.      Test Yourself and Practice!!!

For once a week, take out the word list and look up the definitions. Then punch them in at http://quizlet.com. Familiarize yourself with flashcards, quizzes, and games. Then, always use them whenever you have a chance. This really makes sure that the words are set in stone in your mind and you will never forget them!

Learning is a life long process. Keep these in mind and even you will be surprised at your progress.