Gray is a color, while grey is a colour.
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2026
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No Stupid Questions
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Yes
grey - 🇬🇧 english (traditional)
gray - 🇺🇸 english (simplified)
This is correct, but for some reason in my head I think of gray as warm toned (like with yellow or brown undertones) and grey as cool toned (like with blue or purple undertones).
I have no idea why my brain has decided this is the way.
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I'm splitting hairs but I always read grey - 🇨🇦 english (eh)
gray - 🇺🇸 english (simplified)
grey - 🇬🇧 english (traditional)
gr*y - 🇦🇺 english (explicit)
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(5 replies)
E is the European version, A is the American version. This sounds trite, but is true, and makes it simple to know which one to use
E is English. A is American.
This makes the Scottish very mad
I’m sorry.
But the Scottish want to claim something English as theirs? When did that start?
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. . . Unless you’re in the majority of the English speaking world, which includes India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Of course, grey is the appropriate spelling for all of those but Canada, which uses both.
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It's pronounced gay ya twats
I know that this is “no stupid questions” but it boggles the mind that people post in forums when the answer is either yes/no, or a single sentence explanation available in a web search.
we should just not have Lemmy at all and only read news articles, wikipedia and talk to ourselves
I’m glad you asked. This is something I never realized how often I have brief flashes of curiosity about before I yolo it and never bothered looking up. As soon as I saw the title I was looking forward to reading what people had to say.
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Yes
It is spelled grey in correct English. In the USA, they like spelling it gray.
All language is made up. There is no ‘correct’.
Standardisation of language is not pointless. Shared standards serve concrete functions:
- When 8 billion people write "colour" the same way, you don't pause to decode variants
- Technical manuals, legal documents, medical instructions need precision: ambiguity costs lives
- Cross-generational understanding: Shakespeare's English is already hard without adding modern variation to the mix
- Standardized spelling keeps homophones distinct (their/there/they're)
Standardisation of language isn't about one version being inherently right. It's about shared agreement that enables function at scale.
Here to give you a boost away from the downvotes.
Lawsuits are won and lost over grammar and spellings. Constitutional crisis happen over the question: is the text to be understood in the time period of writing or reading (because the meaning of words shifts over time)
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No we don't. Grey is the only way.
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I think it's a USA vs European English thing.
I prefer the 'grey' spelling though, even though 'gray' is most common in the states.
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I know it's an American vs other English speaking countries thing, but as an American I can honestly never remember which one we are. I always used to look it up, but now I just shoot from the hip and assume I'm right, which feels the most American way to approach it.
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