The filosofy behind outwits
As you might guess, tradition in spelling does not figure highly.
The pursuit of simplicity and standardisation throughout society underlies much of the discussion here. This pursuit might seem to conflict with the fashion for freedom and individuality but it need not necessarily do so and as Lenin said: "Freedom is indeed very important - that is why it has to be rationed."
We should all concern ourselves with fostering greater co-operation between all sorts of organisations. There are far too many august little groups independently pursuing all but identical goals; too many amateur emporers trying to distinguish themselves from one another.
There is an ocean of worthless comment and contest on the Internet but there are also great co-operative initiatives like the many wikis. Are there perhaps too many wikis?
OUTwits is a superstitions-free zone!
All contributions here are of a scientific tone.There should be more defence of The Enlightment in the face of modern society's tendency to religious residivism.
Whilst comments are gladly received and reproduced on the site, those lacking in logic or pregnant with prejudice will be expeditiously excised .
This is a freespel site
Despite its clear absurdity, English spelling is steadfastly defended from the ivy-clad ivory towers of the literati. Some wel-directed arsn wouldnt go amis!
Please visit www.freespeling.com for a glimpse of a simple route to a better language. More formal, and consequentally more forlorn, approaches to the reform of English spelling are pedalled by the Simplified Spelling Society. The society has been laudably banging its drum to lamentably little effect since 1908 so by all means join up but don't delete your spell-checker just yet.
Only a modicum of deliberation is required for it to become clear that effective reform of Inglish spelling is no simple matter. Our spelling has been stupidly left unrationalised for so many centuries that no scheme of reform can now deliver both consistent rules of spelling and a manageable change for us existing writers of the language.
However, we can make some progress step by step. These pages consistently use "f" instead of "ph" (because the change is never ambiguous) and might use:
- Cut-spelling; for which there is a fairly impressive dictionary compiled by Christopher Whatsisname of the Simplified Spelling Society.
- Double consonants or labials only to protect short sounding vowels from the "magical" lengthening effect of a nearby following vowel
- Something more logical than "gh" and "ght" where it shouldn't course undue discomfort to an easy-going reader.
- "ize" instead of "ise" where the former is more logical.