File under “Centre of the Univrese, The”: Theatre and centre were not always the British spellings.
The meaning, usage, and spelling of English words vary from country to country, from region to region, from street to street, or so it sometimes seems. We could spend the next eighty-five pages chronicling the differences among American, Canadian, British, Australian, Caribbean, and other Englishes, and in fact in my first draft I did just that, but the editor cut them out and made me write some original stuff, darn him.
One difference between American and British English intrigues me, though. If British writers insist on the spellings of theatre and centre, why don’t these self-same communicators refer to themselves as writres?
I know, I know—that’s just being cute. There are technical reasons for this variance. Theater and center come to us through French and ultimately from Latin theatrum and centrum, while writer is a core Old English word, using the standard -er suffix on the verb write. Word function plays into the difference, as well. After all (aftre all?), a theater is not one who theates, and a center is not one who cents.
But here’s the interesting part: Before the publication of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, a major factor in solidifying spelling when it was published in 1755- the words in question were commonly spelled theater and center. And among those who used those spellings? A certain Mr. William Shakespeare, and if Shakespeare wants to spell theater that way, far be it for me to argue. (He was a hell of a writre, aftre all.)
Bill Brohaugh
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