Re: OT: Program[me] (Was Re: Conlang FAQ was Re: Grammatical tones)

Thomas R. Wier writes:
 > Quoting Tim May <butsuri@...>:
 >
 > > bnathyuw writes:
 > >
 > >  > what programme do you edit in ? good old notepad ( or
 > >  > equiv ) or something flashier ? i tend to use
 > >  > dreamweaver for speed and then clear up the glitches
 > >  > in html afterwards
 > >  >
 > >
 > > This is not particularly relevant to anything, but do you normally use
 > > the spelling "programme" to refer to software?  I was taught (in
 > > primary school) "program" for that, and "programme" for broadcasts,
 > > itineraries and all other uses.
 >
 > Isn't the spelling <program> originally entirely foreign to
 > Britain in the first place? I had been under the impression
 > that it was an import from America, and that its use as a
 > technical term in technology came about because the technology
 > in question was imported from the United States.
 >
This is certainly my understanding of the situation - nevertheless,
the distinction has been conventionalized (although the New Oxford
appears to consider "programme" the basic spelling, with "program" a
variant form acceptable only in that sense).

 > BTW: since we're going to be nitpicking ( 8P ), when posting
 > off-topic posts, use of the tag "CHAT:" is suggested since
 > subscribers not interested in off-topic posts can have those
 > filtered out.  "OT:" is, unfortunately, not a tag the listserv
 > recognizes.  (Of the other tags, "Grouplang", "NGL", "Theory"
 > and "Usage", the first two are essentially obsolete, while the
 > latter two are used quite often.)
 >
Oh?  Very well then, I shall use CHAT: from now on.