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60-second fix: judgement or judgment
Author : Cathy Dann
Posted : 24 / 08 / 11
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Brace yourselves: there are two spellings for judgement/judgment.
‘Aha!’ we hear you say. ‘This is an American thing, isn’t it?’
Well, yes and no. It is true that in the US there is only one spelling: judgment. Elsewhere it isn’t quite that simple. In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK, both spellings exist – and have traditionally been used for slightly different purposes.
However, things are changing. The Oxford and Collins dictionaries both list the two spellings as interchangeable, while the Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph all prefer judgment in all instances. In short, judgement with an ‘e’ is looking more old-fashioned by the day.
If you’re sentimental about the ‘e’, by all means hold on to it. But the future, it appears, is judgment.
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