Letter of Authorization from Owner to use Vessel

[Little Dorrit]

Slight thread drift. How does Nicky Morgan require "Authorization" to be spelt by 6 year olds?

I think the use of 'z' to replace an 's' in some words is perfectly acceptable and not incorrect. I'm showing my age but when I went to school this would not have been the case. Now thanks to google we seem to accept this as the norm. I expect we'll all be spelling this way one day but I agree a bit confusing for 6 year olds.

 

[macd]

I think your historical account is a little off, paella, but reflects the time in which you have lived. My understanding is that the -ize ending is less an Americanism, as is commonly supposed, than a Classicism. The word in question derives from the Medieval Latin auctorizare. -ize was usual in British english, -ise endings becoming common only in the years after WWII. Whilst there is no official authority on British english spelling (or grammar), the OED is probably as close as we have: it accepts both spellings.

There are a great many myths about the supposed Americanization of English. For instance one of their words that jars particularly on British ears is "gotten" which, far from being a US invention, is pure Elizabethan English, as any reading of Shakespear will attest. (There are, of course, also many truths. But this ain't one of 'em.) Shakespear also used the zed ending (or zee, if you prefer ): "A womans story, at a Winters fire, Authoriz'd by her Grandam".

P.S. This is from the Church of England's website: "The Authorized Version or King James Bible..."

You can blame the Yanks for many things (more if a certain implausible quiff gets elected), but not this.