this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
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What? How did you get to that conclusion? That's not what the article says at all? It says Phyllis Blanchard used the (incorrect) spelling with an O (while also changing the definition of the term to something most people I think would disagree with) in a paper she wrote and nobody knows why. And it spread from there.
I think you're interpreting "Today, ExtrOvert is the most common spelling of the term in the United States." to mean it's spelled with an A elsewhere, but the author even brings up the Oxford Dictionary (UK) that says that the original spelling with an A is rare in general use. I live outside the US and I pretty much exclusively see the O-spelling.
It very clearly states that since 1918 the american spelling has been 'extrovert'. That has nothing to do with whether the A or O is correct, only that O is more common in American English.
It also says she changed the definition, that's the nature of language, it evolves. That can be through a colloquialism, a hard change (as this seems to be), or many other reasons.
I am not arguing whether it is correct or not, I am simply saying it is different.
Maybe I'm tired but this comment reads to me as if you're disagreeing with me when everything you say supports what I said? My objection/question was how you came to the conclusion it's a US/UK thing. There's no support for that in the article.
We can both be tired, it's OK.
I based it on this
In her 1918 paper, "A Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte" she writes:
Not only did she change the spelling of the word, but she also changed the definition!