Impeller or Impellor

  • Thread starter Thread starter tcm
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Impeller according to the Concise English Dictionary.

As to Brendan's question about "who cares" - I do and maybe a few others do as well. He can use impellor, impella, impela, impelor or whatever he likes but he will be wrong ... or shud that bee rong?
Morgan
 
[ QUOTE ]
Impeller according to the Concise English Dictionary.

As to Brendan's question about "who cares" - I do and maybe a few others do as well. He can use impellor, impella, impela, impelor or whatever he likes but he will be wrong ... or shud that bee rong?
Morgan

[/ QUOTE ]

Seconded!

This is one nautical word that has always annoyed me.

We should care. It's our language, and if we fail to take an interest and understanding in it, we will indeed end up tlkin lik dis cos nbdy cn b bovverd 2 no how 2 rite.
 
Well impeller may be the usual spelling, but this dictionary link gives impellor as an accepted variant so perhaps he wouldn't be wrong afrer all.
 
You may like this. An Ode to the Spell Checker!

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh

As son as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
 
I think the general principle is that in a word's early useage history, the -er form directly derives the noun from the verb. So an impeller would be something that impels.
But after a long period of useage the person, equipment, etc takes on an independent entity, and in a sense floats off into common useage detached from its original verb. That seems to be when the -or form becomes established, by analogy with words like donor, vector, doctor, emperor, carburettor, etc..
 
Another common misspelling on the forum is Cutless, as in Cutless Bearing.

Most forumites seem to spell it Cutlass, as in a Short Curved Naval Sword!
 
When an apprentice (early sixties) I believe that the name 'Cutlass' was a brand name of the first bearings of that type, probably intended as a marketing pun.
 
I thought it was impellor, but looking in the VP manual, it says impeller.
I sit duly corrected.

impellor
impelleris
impellitur
impellimur
impellimini
impelliuntur?
 
Ahhh but your link is to a self confessed merkin dictionary...

"Merriam-Webster is America's foremost publisher of language-related reference works..."

.. and we all no Merkins carnt spell proper!
 
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