Re: Why does the meaning (and spelling) of words change?

Gary> Try the search yourself.  If usage is the final
Gary> authority then "computer programme" is correct.

Joe> I disagree.  I bet that none of those are by programmers.  I think
Joe> specialists get to define the terms in a given field.

The specialists may get to tell you what "comptuer program(me)" means
(though that's still subject to semantic drift through use by
non-specialists), but it's not as if the word "program(me)" was invented
for this use, nor as if that meaning is unrelated to its other ones.

I'm a professional software developer who works with people in the UK in
the same field.  Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, my wife worked for
a software development firm that was founded and headquarted in the
UK.  The spelling "programme" is ubiquitous in both companies.

The distinction you're trying to draw simply doesn't exist from any
large-scale viewpoint of English usage.  The word "program" can be
spelled either way in any of its meanings, as evidenced simply by the
fact that it is.

-Mark

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