Grey-cheeked or gray-cheeked thrush? (1 Viewer)

[dantheman]

In the UK at least ... Comments on this thread ( http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=293724) , and earlier set me wondering ...

... would a vagrant Grey Wagtail turning up on the eastern seaboard of the US become a Gray Wagtail? Isn't that just a bit 'wrong'?

A few further questions -

How long has it been the Grey-cheeked Thrush in the UK? (I note eg both BOU and Collins call it 'Grey')
How many other N. American birds have a different English/UK name?
Does anybody care?

I could understand species native to both sides of the Atlantic having different names, but a vagrant, having to change it's name to fit in with spelling usage, seems a bit odd imo.

 

[CJW]

missing the point that "gray" is an incorrect spelling no matter which side of the Atlantic one resides. The correct spelling is "grey" and should not be open to debate.
All we (outside the colonies) are doing is insisting on the correct spelling.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

I get round this by spelling all 'new world' spp with gray and colored, and all 'old world' spp with grey and coloured on my world list (which is all typed by hand and ammended as it changes). So my list contains eg Gray-cheeked and Grey-backed Thrushes.

 

[dantheman]

A point new to me, although it probably is good to always quash debate?

'Incorrect' may be a bit strong? - http://grammarist.com/spelling/gray-grey/ (Internet source, hence it must be correct )


And on the emotive level, Gray-cheeked thrush sounds like a (slightly) exotic foreign visitor. Grey-cheeked Thrush sounds as boring as **** to me ...

I guess I'd like to know if I should be resisting what I see as inappropriate change (shades of Fan-tailed Warbler and Crested Coot), or if I'm out on my own on this one ...

 

[Richard Klim]

I get round this by spelling all 'new world' spp with gray and colored, and all 'old world' spp with grey and coloured on my world list (which is all typed by hand and ammended as it changes). So my list contains eg Gray-cheeked and Grey-backed Thrushes.

Ditto.

IOC: English Names: British vs American...

...we encourage each author and publisher to select whatever spelling of these words is deemed appropriate.

Oxford Dictionary of English...

gray ► adjective US spelling of GREY.

 

[Tiraya]

Gray-cheeked thrushes are only found in America, Grey-cheeked are only found in Europe. Job done.

Alternatively: If you are of American nationality, you will only ever see Gray-cheeked. Otherwise you only see Grey-cheeked.

 

[CJW]

'Incorrect' may be a bit strong? - http://grammarist.com/spelling/gray-grey/ (Internet source, hence it must be correct )

The sentence you need to be aware of is:
but the favoring of gray in the U.S. and grey everywhere else has remained consistent

It says everything about being lectured by an American internet site on the spelling and usage of English...

 

[chris butterworth]

I'm with Larry. Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Gray Catbird ( and Siberian bloody Tit, FFS ).

 

[Jane Turner]

I'll dig out a couple of 18th Century dictionaries I own later - you'd be surprised how often the US spelling was the way words were written in the mid 1700s - its us who have changed the spelling.

 

[chris butterworth]

A lot of North American ( Canadianists are just as bad ) words / terms can be seen as being archaic. We, in the UK, haven't used 'petcock' for a small tap since the 16C. but even roughty-toughty bikers can be found saying it, with a straight face, in the US.

 

[njlarsen]

The Opus has also chosen to use American spelling for species that originate in the new world and English spelling for more or less the rest of the world.

I applaud Jane for bringing up the fact that it usually is the English spelling that has changed recently (and this change has been adopted in most of the former and current colonies such as Oz or Isle of Man 8-P )

Niels B

 

[CJW]

The Isle of Man is a colony of where exactly?
I'm certainly not about to take English lessons from someone who would make such a glaring political faux pas.

 

[davercox]

I applaud Jane for bringing up the fact that it usually is the English spelling that has changed recently

Usually ? (Gray/Grey, maybe).

 

[8669]

I noticed that the HBW uses English spelling in all Volumes 1 to 15, and suddenly American spelling in Volume 16. Not very consistent.

Theo

 

[Mysticete]

Grey or Gray...does it matter?

This is just a difference between American and British English. Yelling at people for using one form or another or shouting imperialism when one committee chooses a spelling you disagree with is no different to me than birding in Japan, Germany, or any other country, and getting mad that they refuse to use english language names for birds.

At least the loon vs divers, Jaegar vs Skua debate I can understand, since those are completely different words, and I no birders that do get confused over that. There is absolutely 0 confusion if I use a different spelling of gray/grey in written communication (and none in spoken language!)

 

[Tiraya]

Greay-cheeked thrush or Grei-chicked thshh.

 

[Snapdragyn]

A lot of North American ( Canadianists are just as bad ) words / terms can be seen as being archaic. We, in the UK, haven't used 'petcock' for a small tap since the 16C. but even roughty-toughty bikers can be found saying it, with a straight face, in the US.

That must be a regional one, because I have NEVER heard it before, in either the South or California.

 

[njlarsen]

I intended my comments to be thoroughly tongue in cheek, and I therefore added a couple of the biggest smileys I could find. I am sorry that this is not enough to get the post understood in the way it was intended.

Niels

 

[Richard Klim]

Btw, Gray-/Grey-cheeked Thrush doesn't fit 100% with the New World/Old World approach, given the Siberian breeding population. But I reckon that 'Gray' takes clear priority on the basis of relative population/range sizes.

 

[CJW]

At least the loon vs divers, Jaegar vs Skua debate I can understand, since those are completely different words, and I no birders that do get confused over that. There is absolutely 0 confusion if I use a different spelling of gray/grey in written communication (and none in spoken language!)

The irony...