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Interesting, NicholasW...I never thought of the dropping of the "e" for the --ing suffix, in the case of aging/ageing, as being a US/UK variation until your mention of it. Is this the case in anyone else's experience? And why, Nicholas, does it stand out to you as an Americanism in this particular word and not the others where the "e" is dropped? And is there any early English rule (or tenet), perhaps, that states that one form should be favored over the other when both are acceptable...or outlines a preference for certain situations?
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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No, I think it's only in this one word. We never write rageing or pageing; they're mistakes pure and simple. I don't know why ageing should have its E.
How odd, I've just checked Modern English Usage. Fowler discusses rules and exceptions under Mute E, and gives lists of examples, but nowhere mentions 'age'. So the rules make it 'aging', and his lack of mention of 'ageing' suggest to me it's a recent innovation. Anyway, it is now the almost universal British spelling.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I gotta go with aging. Ageing just looks like a typical case of Brit vowel wastrelism.
However I believe I prefer mileage to milage; not sure about saleable/salable.
Well, looking at them whomped up right next to each other like that saleable looks better. Salable looks like it has something to do with salt and milage with grain grinding.
Dunno.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Agreed on all three counts.
milage with grain grinding The word for that is "millage", I believe, more typically associated with a tax (e.g, "millage rate")
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Carpal Tunnel
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milage with grain grinding
The word for that is "millage"
Agreed, but, to me, milage looks more like a misspelled millage than it does a co-equal to mileage.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I agree with you, faldage. "Salable" and "milage" are each awkward in that it isn't clear (as it would be with "saleable" and "mileage") that the first vowel is to be pronounced with a long sound.
BTW, the AWAD spellchecker accepts "mileage" but not "saleable".
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Carpal Tunnel
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milage with grain grinding Milage reminded me of silage.
the visual effect of an Americanism is so strong that I have reluctantly gone back to ageing. Ni-cho-las, c'mere a minute, will ya?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Odd...I can get Microsoft Word to accept ageing and aging in several different Enlgish varieties but cannot get it to accept milage in any.
I am taking a few minutes off at work (all right, ya got me, I'm just screwing around) so I don't have access to other than my office Websters. Can anybody find milage in their own dictionary.
I also prefer aging to ageing and Canadian English accepts both. I also agree that milage looks too much like millage for my taste and I always add the e.
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old hand
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old hand
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Come, let us conjugate together...Paging, waging, aging.You don't need no "e" in "aging".The "e" serves no function. Except in England where-maye God bless the goode Queene-it serves to keep the language as antiquated as they like it. Lagging, dragging, sagging, bagging, fagging, and aggin. "Aggin" as in "Dang it Bubba,if you don't stop aggin on Junior you uns is fixing to fetch a flogging". Note: The second "g" in aggin is incumbent, a third "g" at the end would be redundant.You see, in Alabama, we are economical with our words and letters, we speake today the English language of tomorrow.
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