Nickel or Nickle?
Nickel or nickle?
I used the word nickle (referring to a coin) some time back in one of my posts. I always use spell check on my writing and nickle passed the test. Just recently I was told by my daughter that I had misspelled nickle. I got out my trusty old dog eared dictionary and checked. According to my dictionary nickle can be spelled nickle or nickel. That explains why my spell checker didn't say it was wrong.
However, in my reading of the definition in my dictionary I understand that nickle is used mainly when speaking of the coin and nickel is used when speaking of the metal, nickel. Below is a copy of the following question about nickel. So for any of you who thought my spelling was wrong, I hope this clears it up for you!
Quote: (from Google)
Q. I have a question about your entry for the word nickel. I noticed you list an alternate spelling as nickle; could you tell me about that spelling? Is it slang?
A. Of nickle and nickel, the latter is the original spelling, the usual spelling, and, in the opinions of many people, the only correct spelling. Even so, nickle is common in casual writing and, in fact, not at all rare in edited prose. We have examples from the Boston Herald, Chicago Tribune, and the Reno (Nevada) Gazette-Journal.
Nickle has been used in professional writing from around the country. It's not a regional or slang spelling; it's not limited to one sense of the word, and it's not, as some believe, inherently wrong. That being said, it's probably safer to use nickel because other people might assume nickle is a misspelling. Unquote.
Q. I have a question about your entry for the word nickel. I noticed you list an alternate spelling as nickle; could you tell me about that spelling? Is it slang?
A. Of nickle and nickel, the latter is the original spelling, the usual spelling, and, in the opinions of many people, the only correct spelling. Even so, nickle is common in casual writing and, in fact, not at all rare in edited prose. We have examples from the Boston Herald, Chicago Tribune, and the Reno (Nevada) Gazette-Journal.
Nickle has been used in professional writing from around the country. It's not a regional or slang spelling; it's not limited to one sense of the word, and it's not, as some believe, inherently wrong. That being said, it's probably safer to use nickel because other people might assume nickle is a misspelling. Unquote.
posted by kyra lafain @ 8/19/2008 12:30:00 PM
5 Comments:
I'm glad you posted on that. I love words and word usage. I have always spelled it "nickel," and I didn't realize that "nickle" was acceptable, too.
I looked for this because I love the show "American Restoration" and I noticed that on a Pepsi machine Rick had created a sign that read "nickle" and I thought it might be a mistake. I wonder if "nickle" was in more common usage back in the 40s?
It should be 'nickel'. Just because some writers in chicago, some other journal use it does not make other spellings legitimate. These could be new young writers who may have committed an error the first time and decided it was ok. I'm tired of these silly surprises. It is supposed to be the same as the spelling for metal.
http://nickle.org/name.html
Aw, this was a very nice post. In idea I would like to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and precise effort to make an excellent article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and not at all seem to get one thing done. gsn casino games
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