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Flavor vs. Flavour

An anonymous reader writes "A recent flamewar ensued on the Linux kernel mailing list, this time debating the proper spelling of 'flavor', or is it 'flavour'? Even Linux creator Linus Torvalds joined the fray with some rather humorous comments. For the most part, it sounds like spellings will stay as they are, but it makes for an entertaining read."

32 of 925 comments (clear)

  1. Flavor, flavour... by Empiric · · Score: 5, Funny

    I suggest we all, in a show of universal brotherhood and cultural tolerance, join hands and announce to the world:

    Linux: It gots much flavah!

    --
    ~ Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?
    1. Re:Flavor, flavour... by kurosawdust · · Score: 5, Funny
      I'll see your +5 Funny and raise you a -1 Troll...

      Marklar: It gots much marklar!

      now everyone can be happy (until it gets to the HOWTOs: "plug the marklar into the marklar, but whatever you do, DO NOT plug it into the marklar.")

  2. Flavor/Flavour by dpu · · Score: 4, Funny

    If I'm not mistaken (and I'm drawing on Grade 2 or 3 here), "flavour" is the proper English spelling (UK and Canada and Australia), whereas "flavor" is the common spelling (US). There are lots of words like that, including colour (color), centre (center), and idiot (ijit).

    --
    Dammit, I meant to post that anonymously!
    1. Re:Flavor/Flavour by TedCheshireAcad · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, this patch was done strategically.

      Apparently, there are a high volume of European developers at SCO, and they evidently own the copyright on the spelling of words with -ou insted of the American English -o.

      This is just keeping Linux safe from yet another threat.

    2. Re:Flavor/Flavour by Cyno01 · · Score: 4, Funny

      yeah, that'd be a lot of weed

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    3. Re:Flavor/Flavour by glwtta · · Score: 5, Funny
      Like Microsoft's implementation of Java, perhaps

      No wonder I freeze up all the time when trying to talk to people!

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
    4. Re:Flavor/Flavour by Xoro · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wasn't that in response to calling "french fries" "freedom fries"?

      You know, given the politics surrounding that war, the righteous thing for Americans to do would have been to start referring to french fries as "chips"... ;)

      --
      Kill, Tux, kill!
    5. Re:Flavor/Flavour by hawkeyeMI · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wow, along that line of logic next you're going to tell me that the rest of the world doesn't use the English system of measurements! And I suppose we should switch to metric instead!?

      --
      Error 404 - Sig Not Found
    6. Re:Flavor/Flavour by dersen · · Score: 5, Funny

      We could argue for years over when dictionary-writing became serious, but most people would probably cite Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755, about 75 years before Websters. Note that it included only spellings, not definitions.

      You mention Samuel Johnson... I just have to quote from Blackadder:

      Dr. Johnson:
      This book, sir, contains every word in our beloved language.

      Edmund:
      Every word, sir?

      Dr. Johnson:
      Every word, sir.

      Edmund:
      Well, in that case, sir, I hope you will not object if I also offer the doctor my most enthusiastic contrafibularities.

      Dr. Johnson:
      What??

      Edmund:
      Contrafibularities, sir. It is a common word down our way.

      Dr. Johnson:
      Damn!

      Edmund:
      Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulation.

  3. Slow news day? by telstar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Next week will we be covering Linus's trip to the bathroom?

    1. Re:Slow news day? by Alien+Being · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm submiiting a patch to replace all occurances of "bathroom" with "lavatory".

  4. So let me get this straight... by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's an article about Torvalds' offhand comments about a flame war about the spelling of a non-critical word in the kernel tree.

    Man, if I'd only subscribed I could have seen this way early!

    1. Re:So let me get this straight... by thelandp · · Score: 3, Funny
      Yes, but it was Linus. When god speaks, you listen. And when he makes a joke, the whole world should stop and listen. Anything he says has "(Score: 6, Linus)" after it.

      Seriously, is this an example of hero-worship gone too far?

      --

      -- the only thing we have to fear is really scary things
  5. I don't want to start a flamewar... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Even Linux creator Linus Torvalds joined the fray with some rather humorous comments.

    ...shouldn't that be humourous?

  6. The Microsoft equivalent by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "A recent flamewar ensued on the Microsoft executive mailing list, this time debating the proper spelling of 'Linux'. Is it 'Linux,' 'GNU/Linux', 'cancer,' 'our biggest threat', or 'our second-biggest threat'?"

  7. You know... by Impotent_Emperor · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the fourth grade, I read War of the Worlds, in which theater was spelled "theatre". A few days after having finished it, I had to take a spelling test. One of the words was "theater", only I spelled it the other way, so it was marked wrong and I did not get a one hundred on the test. To this day, I hold that one test as a grudge against the British.

  8. Re:depends where you're from by I+don't+want+to+spen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its because of aluminium poisoning. Sorry, aluminum.

    --
    Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
  9. Next in your sound card config by Stonent1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hello, this is Leenoos Toorvahlds and I spell flavor, f-l-a-v-o-u-r.

  10. Fork it and Forget it. by Sir+Rhosys · · Score: 5, Funny

    This sort of disagreement can only be resolved with a fork.

    signed,
    BSD

    --

    Use Python

  11. SO let me get this straight..... by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 4, Funny
    This is a story.......debating the spelling of the word......posted on Slashdot? Boy are you preaching to the wrong crowd! Typical spellings of the word in question from Slashdotters would most likely include the following:

    1.Flavore
    2.Flevor
    3.Flirst Porst
    4.PROFIT!!!

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  12. This *IS* irony... by jpetts · · Score: 3, Funny

    In the original post...

    It changes all occurrences of 'flavour' to 'flavor' in the complete tree;
    I've just comiled all affected files (that is, the config resulting from
    make allyesconfig minus already broken stuff) succesfully on i386.

    --
    Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
  13. Non-standard? Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    The American spellings were implemented by Teddy Roosevelt when he was Secretary of Commerce, IIRC. The official reason was to save printing ink, but the real reason was to be "not British". It's not the original English spelling, but neither is what the Brits use either.

    You have to love a creative country where an actor was President and the Terminator might become a Governor. At least they don't take politics as seriously as some have spelling.

  14. Hmm by Faust7 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...shouldn't that be humourous?

    I fail to see how this relates to eyeball juices.

  15. BSD? by Poeir · · Score: 4, Funny

    Isn't this more or less how the different BSDs got started?

    --
    Sigs are like bumper stickers.
  16. Re:Oh no! by gfody · · Score: 5, Funny

    while(homies.down)
    {
    bustcap;
    punk(whitey);
    bustcap;
    bustcap;
    }

    --

    bite my glorious golden ass.
  17. Re:Lets use another language... by BrainInAJar · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, it's called "English" as opposed to "American".

    They speak English in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. and in America, they speak American. Also they pronounce the letter z wrong. it's Zed, not Zee. And they think Kraft dinner is Kraft mac & cheese (and food, for that matter), and the beer tastes like watered down piss. etc.

    Differences in countries are stupid to debate about, because there's no right answer, just differences.

  18. Re:"Standard language is just a dialect with an ar by ant_slayer · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ok, gotta' quote this:

    A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling
    by Mark Twain

    For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all.

    Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli.

    Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

  19. Re:Common? by yomegaman · · Score: 5, Funny

    The only time I see it spelled "flavour" is in British recipe books. As in, "boil until all flavour and texture has vanished". :-)

    --
    ...wearing a skin-tight topless leather jumpsuit, with cutaway buttocks and transparent crotch panel.
  20. Re:Google says... by iapetus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Google says:

    Eminem - 2,230,000
    Mozart - 1,970,000

    Burger - 1,670,000
    Caviar - 575,000

    Piss - 2,750,000
    Chardonnay - 742,000

    Your point?

    --
    ++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
    Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
  21. Re:Not quite by Mad+Marlin · · Score: 5, Funny
    (Though I normally spell Metre as Meter, since I work in an industry that is dominated by the U.S.)

    Then why don't you spell it as "about a yard"?

  22. Re:That's no flamewar by AvantLegion · · Score: 5, Funny
    > It's a light flamewar, they are just less explicit about it... (Eg. "Fucking" vs. "Having Sex")

    Please be quiet or I will assault you and have sex with your posterior.

  23. Re:Common? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    As apposed to "Deep fry until rubbery, oily consistency has been achieved. Place between two halves of a bun. Serve."?