Why is 'totaled' spelled differently in American and British English?

[Ivan Seeking]

Every now and again I find that there are subtle spelling variations that I never noticed. I just caught one:

Totaled: as in "the car was totaled".
Totalled: the entire amount

 

[Chi Meson]

50% probably know this one:
"compliment" (with an i) "That's a nice tie"
"complement" (with an e) "That completes the whole"

 

[Gokul43201]

Totaled: as in "the car was totaled".
Totalled: the entire amount

I do not believe this distinction exists. The latter spelling is the original British spelling. The American spelling (of late) skips the repeated consonant in the past (and often, in the continuous) tense. I've repeatedly seen the former spelling applied to the latter connotation. But perhaps the reason the latter spelling is rarely used in the former connotation is that the usage itself is largely endemic to the US.

In short, no matter what the meaning, you can write it as 'totalled' (Brit) or 'totaled' (US).

 

[Chi Meson]

...snip snip ...
In short, no matter what the meaning, you can write it as 'totalled' (Brit) or 'totaled' (US).

Aw. I liked that one! Can't we just use 'em that way anyhow?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Hmmm, it came up like this in the quick definitions:
http://www.onelook.com/?w=totaled&ls=a
http://www.onelook.com/?w=totalled&ls=a

 

[Gokul43201]

Hmmm, it came up like this in the quick definitions:
http://www.onelook.com/?w=totaled&ls=a
http://www.onelook.com/?w=totalled&ls=a

Randomly picking a couple of those results:

total
One entry found for total.
Main Entry: total
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): to·taled or to·talled; to·tal·ing or to·tal·ling
1 : to add up : COMPUTE
2 : to amount to : NUMBER
3 : to make a total wreck of : DEMOLISH; specifically : to damage so badly that the cost of repairs exceeds the market value of the vehicle <totaled the car>

v. to·taled, or to·talled to·tal·ing, or to·tal·ling to·tals or to·tals
v. tr.

1. To determine the total of; add up.
2. To equal a total of; amount to.
3. To wreck completely; demolish: survived the crash but totaled the car.

It seems to me like 'totaled the car' is spelled that way because of its American origin. It doesn't definitively say that 'summed' is spelled 'totalled', so I'm not sure about that one. But I've always been under the impression that the dropping of the repeated consonant in many words is an artifact of pronunciation differences between US and British English. The common "rule" with polysyllabic words is to double the final consonant only if the last syllable is stressed. With some words, it's hard (for me, at least) to tell if any of the syllables are stressed. I think in those cases, different people spell differently based on subtle defferences in pronunciation and/or convenience.

 

[JasonRox]

50% probably know this one:
"compliment" (with an i) "That's a nice tie"
"complement" (with an e) "That completes the whole"

Thanks. I was thinking about that the other day and got confused as which was which.

 

[Moonbear]

"Totaled" looks all wrong! I think the "American" spelling that drops the double consant is a creation of microsoft's spellcheck. I never saw such a spelling until starting to use spellcheck, at which time I determined spellcheck is wrong, I'm right, and turned spellcheck back off. Curse you Bill Gates!

 

[DaveC426913]

It's not Miscrosoft. American english is being changed to drop all the double letters from the words. At least, that's what I thought.

 

[Moonbear]

It's not Miscrosoft. American english is being changed to drop all the double letters from the words. At least, that's what I thought.

But when did this happen, and who decided it? It sure isn't what I was taught in grade school.

 

[DaveC426913]

But when did this happen, and who decided it? It sure isn't what I was taught in grade school.

Yeah, recently. Last ten years?
I may be talking through my hat, so an authoritative source would be good.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I can't spell at the best of times, but you guys have just given me a nervous tick reading this thread, what? compliment, complement, really? Anyway can I just apologise in advance for mangelling English and hope people understand what I'm driving at from context, otherwise I'm screwed basically.

About two years ago I found out there were to ways to spell counsellor and councillor, up till then I though they were both doing the same jobs I'm serious about that though, I had no idea they differed in the way they were spelt?

When your posting day revolves around correcting yourself for using their instead of there for the millionth time without thinking. The intricacies are soon forgotten.

 

[BobG]

"Totaled" looks all wrong! I think the "American" spelling that drops the double consant is a creation of microsoft's spellcheck. I never saw such a spelling until starting to use spellcheck, at which time I determined spellcheck is wrong, I'm right, and turned spellcheck back off. Curse you Bill Gates!

Single syllable ending in a consonant has the consonant doubled.

Three or more, you don't double the consonant.

Two has been optional as long as I can remember, even if doubling is more common. (That way, it matches when you can add the -er -est endings instead of inserting more/most in front).

 

[berkeman]

Ones that make me pause and think each time I use them:

-- weather and whether

-- it's and its

 

[JasonRox]

This is why this site is so awesome. We put some effort into how we write our posts.

 

[Mk]

When I type "their"/"there"/"they're" I always note that somebody else is always spelling there words wrong.

 

[Evo]

capital and capitol

material and materiel

People that type reoccurring. It's RECURRING! Except, so many people misspell it, it's being added due to BEING ABSOLUTELY WRONG because people are too stupid to know what the right word is.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=recurring

Look at how many people misuse it! Yes, this is a major pet peeve of mine.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=reocurring&btnG=Search

 

[selfAdjoint]

Ones that make me pause and think each time I use them:

-- weather and whether

-- it's and its

its and it's bug me. I often type the wrong one, and have to go back and edit the post. But if I left it I would have to hide my face!

 

[Moonbear]

Ones that make me pause and think each time I use them:

-- weather and whether

My favorite is when I see someone spell either one of those as 'wether.' A wether is a castrated sheep or goat (wether is to ram as steer is to bull).

 

[Ivan Seeking]

"Totaled" looks all wrong! I think the "American" spelling that drops the double consant is a creation of microsoft's spellcheck. I never saw such a spelling until starting to use spellcheck, at which time I determined spellcheck is wrong, I'm right, and turned spellcheck back off. Curse you Bill Gates!

My first thought was that it comes from auto insurance agents who can't spell. And you know, the dictionary is based on common usage.

For years I messed up effect and affect.

 

[Mickey]

Existence.

I'm always surprised when this word is misspelled. The irony is just too much. Whenever one says something like, "in all existence," how much does one actually know about existence after spelling it existence?

Google the word "existence", and tell me it's not funny.

 

[Chi Meson]

A truly existantial paridox.

Why is this mispelling so much more atrocious than others?

 

[berkeman]

A truly existantial paridox.

Why is this mispelling so much more atrocious than others?

You misspelled misspelling.

 

[daveb]

The one that gets to me is when people spell it definite...the root of the word is finite, folks, so spell it definite!

 

[Evo]

You misspelled misspelling.

You missed the joke if you missed "existantial paridox"

 

[Chi Meson]

You missed the joke if you missed "existantial paridox"

I'm Chi Meson, and I approve this quote.

 

[zoobyshoe]

50% probably know this one:
"compliment" (with an i) "That's a nice tie"
"complement" (with an e) "That completes the whole"

I'm glad you brought this up because I didn't realize there were two separate terms here. I have been writing and speaking of "complimentary" colors when the correct term is complementary. The former made complete sense because complementary colors serve to make each other look their best when placed together. I assumed they were complimenting each other: "Wow, you really look red today!" "Naw, you're just saying that 'cause you look so green!" That's the way it works: if you want to emphasize the hue of a hue you place some of its complement nearby.

However, the Webster's says the complementary part of the term complementary colors refers to their ability to creat a grey when mixed together:

"1 : relating to or constituting one of a pair of contrasting colors that produce a neutral color when combined in suitable proportions"

I like my anthropomorphic scenario much better, it's a superior mnemonic device for getting people to remember how complementary colors affect each other, but that quality is, apparently, not what the term is referring to.

 

[Mickey]

A truly existantial paridox.

Why is this mispelling so much more atrocious than others?

I don't know. I think it might be Freudian or something, like the speaker feels the need to take a "stance" on "existence," obviously due to repressed sexual appetites. I mean, you can't take a "stence" on something, right? That's not sexy.

 

[scott_alexsk]

When I read a Tale of Two Cities, I took the time, a long time, to look up the words I did not know the exact meaning of. There was one, that I cannot find now, which had about 3 different ways of spelling (for one tense). I did find one which was not the same as that situation but still poses a good example for my point. In the English language it is exceptable to interchange bereft and bereaved (same tense). Now it seems that as I look at vague and older words, occasionally the spelling varies. This is possibly because the lack of communication in the past allowed less common words to develop their own unique spelling. By the way was the American variations on spelling certain words forced or did it just happen gradually over time as a result of separation from England?
-scott