Page:The American language; an inquiry into the development of English in the United States (IA americanlanguage00menc 0).pdf/275

 They are far more careful than we are to retain the apostrophe in possessive forms of nouns used in combination, e. g., St. Mary's Church, ladies' room. When they write 8/10/22 they mean October 8th, not August 10th, as is usual with us.

There remains a class of differences that may as well be noticed under spelling, though they are not strictly orthographical. Specialty, aluminum and alarm offer examples. In English they are speciality, aluminium and alarum, though alarm is also an alternative form. Specialty, in America, is always accented on the first syllable; speciality, in England, on the third. The result is two distinct words, though their meaning is identical. How aluminium, in America, lost its fourth syllable I have been unable to determine, but all American authorities now make it aluminum and all English authorities stick to aluminium. Perhaps the boric-boracic pair also belongs here. In American boric is now almost universally preferred, but it is also making progress in England. How the difference between the English behove and the American behoove arose I do not know. It is merely orthographical; both forms rhyme with prove. Equally mysterious is the origin of the American snicker, apparently a decadent form of the English snigger.