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SUPERSEDE
2

SUPERSEDE

SUPERSEDE

(OP)
This may have been discussed before, but my pet peeve is SUPERCEDE. To me it is only SUPERSEDE, even though the lexicons now show it both ways. My english professor drove that one into my head years ago, and it stuck. I have seen writers whom I normally respect spelling it with a "C", and it truly irritates me.

RE: SUPERSEDE

I kept seeing a technical report marked "Supercedes D4567"  and every time I did, I thought that "Super-cedes" was an engine product for Daimler.

RE: SUPERSEDE

Odd.  Supersede is British English and is more sensible than the "c" alternative.  In general we (Brits) spell strangely and cling to the strangeness.  Where is the "c" coming from?

- Steve

RE: SUPERSEDE

'Supercede' is incorrect per current English dictionarys. Its misuse is probably due to the fact that it is derived from both the French 'superceder' and the Latin 'supersedere'.

Quote:


cede   verb [T] FORMAL
to give something such as ownership to someone else, especially unwillingly or because forced to do so

supersede   verb [T]
to replace something, especially something older or more old-fashioned

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=supersede&searchmode=none
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=cede&searchmode=none

cheers

RE: SUPERSEDE

Per the Miriam-Webster site:

Supercede has occurred as a spelling variant of supersede since the 17th century, and it is common in current published writing. It continues, however, to be widely regarded as an error

Believe it if you need it or leave it if you dare. - Robert Hunter

RE: SUPERSEDE

So does that mean...

"supercede" has not superseded "supersede" as the proper spelling?

winky smile

DaveAtkins

RE: SUPERSEDE

You know, I think  I may be one of the guilty.

Must try harder...

My wife gets upset by licence and license.  It try telling here it's a Brit thing but...

Licence to Kill really bugged her apparently.  I pointed out it was a British film (more or less) but she wasn't placated.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: SUPERSEDE

(OP)
That's the way I see it, DaveAtkins.

RE: SUPERSEDE

I wonder how the Miriam-Webster site worked out that supercede is more common in published writing.

Google search for supercede gives  714000
Google search for supersede gives 2200000

Guess websites are not considered published writing.

RE: SUPERSEDE

Supercede makes more cents to me and allways haz.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

RE: SUPERSEDE

Just did a search on alta vista

supercede  4750000
supersede 18900000

Still out by a factor of 4.

RE: SUPERSEDE

(OP)
O.K. You guys remember this discussion the next time you are reviewing an engineering document that has "supercede" in it--even if it was written by your boss.

RE: SUPERSEDE

I did just that 15 years ago.  We checked it up in a dictionary and I was correct.

RE: SUPERSEDE

Miriam Webster....nice woman, lived down our street years ago.

Bill

RE: SUPERSEDE

Supersede ic indeed the Britich way of cpelling, doec it really matter if Amerisanc ctart cwopping c’s with s’s?

Only you san deside that.

RE: SUPERSEDE

Supersede is taken from the latin, where it means "to sit above". If something (or someone) sits above something (or someone) else, then it/he/she replaces the lower thing/ person as a higher authority. It supersedes.

RE: SUPERSEDE

If Supersede is 'correct' per M-W, why does she/it proclaim that accede, concede, precede and recede are correct, while their 's' counterparts are not. They all have supersede and superceder as their root.

cheers

RE: SUPERSEDE

Does either usage detract from the ability to understand the author's meaning?  Both are used sucessfully.

RE: SUPERSEDE

It's not a US/UK thing.  The "c" variant/misspelling (however your politics dictate you label it) has been around on both sides of the Atlantic for a long time.

(Besides, there are probably more cases in which US spelling has "s" and UK has "c" than the other way around--license, offense, defense on the one side vs. practice on the other.)

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: SUPERSEDE

civilperson, and there starts the slippery slopewinky smile

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: SUPERSEDE

Jack traded his cow for some superseeds, and killed the giant.

Now he supersedes the giant as the owner of the golden goose.

RE: SUPERSEDE

You forgot the harp

There is no castle left: it fell down with the beanstalk.

RE: SUPERSEDE

The one and only authority is not Websters or the OED and it matters not the roots or orginis nor what happened in the colonies.
Bill Gates tells me it is supersedes and that is good enough for me even though I'd like to use supercedes because it just "feels" right.
But, it just got red-lined by Big Bill G who is watching what I write even now, and Boy, if Homeland Security was as on the ball as he is..... but who am I to argue with Big Bill? I don't want another plague of blue screens which forced me out of Win 98 into XP.

I'd like to suggest to Big Bill a transatlantic spelling (never mind your Latin, what have the Romans ever done for us? I mean, apart from roads, public health....)

So I suggest Superscede as in descends, incandescent.

Nope, Big Bill just threatened me again and I don't want to have to upgrade to Vista just yet.

(Curious, "Win" is not red-lined but "XP" is....)



JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

RE: SUPERSEDE

Change your Billy dictionary to English UK, and modelling and labelling are allowed. Supercede isn't allowed in either language. Why are you using UK English in CA?

RE: SUPERSEDE

(OP)
WOW!! I guess I got you all to think----I think?

RE: SUPERSEDE

Personal preference.  The single "l" just doesn't make sense with english spelling rules.  The "ll" is starting to catch on.  It's practically the preferred spelling now at the company where I work.  :)

I wouldn't want to switch over to the UK dictionary though.  Spellings like "colour" and "civilise" wouldn't fly at all, though "grey" pops up once in awhile.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

RE: SUPERSEDE

"The single "l" just doesn't make sense with english spelling rules."

lol If you are looking for (logical) sense in the rules of English spelling ... you will be looking for an awfully long time.

cheers

RE: SUPERSEDE

had the same issues with gage & gauge...

If you feel like a riot
Dont you deny it
Put your good foot forward....

RE: SUPERSEDE

Ga(u)ge...

I'm not sure when this happened.  I grew up with "gauge" (US but with a pretty heavy dose of non-US).  Then I walked into an engineering classroom in 1995 and saw "gage" in all the textbooks.  Bothered the hell outta me.  I learned to accept it, but I still toss in "gauge" here and there just to feel better.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: SUPERSEDE

I've always thought that gauge lost its 'U' in the same way that aluminium lost its 'I' - that is someone threw them overboard during the Pilgrim Fathers' voyage. :)

RE: SUPERSEDE

Aluminium/Aluminum:

I read somewhere (reference escapes me) that the Yank spelling supersedes (see, not OT at all) the British spelling.

- Steve

RE: SUPERSEDE

Or should that be precedes?

Language eh?

- Steve

RE: SUPERSEDE

Heres another grey vs gray....

If you feel like a riot
Dont you deny it
Put your good foot forward....

RE: SUPERSEDE

A gage is a small, often either green or yellow fruit of a tree in family Prunus domestica from the genus Rosaceae.
Small plums.

Bill

RE: SUPERSEDE

(OP)
OK WGJ,I am gauging that you worked hard to dig out that plum of information?

RE: SUPERSEDE

Was your gauge a gouge?

Nah, not really, I am an amateur, amateur gardener and they also grow wild along some of the local footpaths.

Bill

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