Ax vs. axe
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010I was reading an article in an aviation magazine today (true story) and ran across an article with a title that mentioned an ax to grind.
First problem: The title was split on two lines and the word ax was at the end of the first line, with to grind at the beginning of the second line. Ech. It’s no fun to read a typical phrase such as this one that’s been split in two as if it’s a banana flippin’ split. Ruins the flow for the reader. Not to mention that the last word on the first line is a mere two letters long.
But I digress once again.
Second and, for the purpose of this entry, main problem: Ax was spelled ax. Two letters. It just looked wrong.
So what did I do?
(Wait for it.)
Someone ought to have an ax to grind with the room designer (photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mccready/3069366812/)
OK, don’t wait for it. You know the drill; I looked it up on Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary and — what the?! — ax is the preferred spelling! The dictionary gods must be crazy, but apparently they have deemed axe (three letters and the spelling that I grew up with, unless my memory is playing tricks on me) as the secondary spelling. The variant. The sub-par. Egads.
There you have it. I might not like ax right now, but I will after a few days of stewing. I hope that you will, too.
Happy trails!
SAK
