Date: Tue, 16 Jan 1996 15:50:50 -0800
From: Peter McGraw pmcgraw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CALVIN.LINFIELD.EDU
Subject: Re: -re
As a matter of fact, Steve, I've been wondering the same thing as I followed
this discussion. For years my unspoken understanding was that a "theater"
was a building where one saw a movie (or I suppose a play), whereas "the
theatre" meant the "legitimate stage" as an institution and was usually to
be pronounced with a stagy British accent. It was only when I was grown
that I learned somewhat to my surprise that everybody else seemed to
insist on one spelling or the other, with the -re spelling "chiefly Brit."
Peter McGraw
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR
On Tue, 16 Jan 1996, H Stephen STRAIGHT (Binghamton University, SUNY) wrote:
I'm curious to know whether I'm the only person in the world who
distinguishes the -er and -re spellings of theat-er/-re by using the
former to refer to the place (They're painting the marquee on the
theater.) and the latter to refer to the institution (They're creating new
ideas for the American theatre.). On this usage, the theatre
department/*theater department versus the theater manager/*theatre
manager.
Best. 'Bye. Steve
H Stephen STRAIGHT Langs Across the Curric, Binghamton University (SUNY)
NFLC Mellon Fellow, Jan-June 1996 VOX: 202-667-8100; FAX: 667-6907
1619 Massachusetts Ave NW -- Fourth Floor Washington, DC 20036
sstraigh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu ["sstraigh", not "sstraight"!]