SI unit spelling: "centimetre" and "millimetre"

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DIV
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SI unit spelling: "centimetre" and "millimetre"

Post by DIV »

Dear Tracker staff,
I noticed a small detail in the Preferences of Editor (Plus) version 9.

In the Measurement Options of the Preferences dialogue, two of the available options under Units and Rules are "centimeter" and "millimeter".

However, the 'correct' spellings are "centimetre" and "millimetre". I say "correct" because that is according to the international standard.

In the U.S.A. the spelling "-meter" is commonly used.
I wondered about the preferences in Canada, but apparently there it's still "-metre". https://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/canadian-american-spelling-differences-does-your-blog-speak-to-the-proper-market.html

Maybe it's a deliberate marketing choice?

—DIV
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: SI unit spelling: "centimetre" and "millimetre"

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hi, DIV

Thank you for the feedback, I have to say am honestly surprised that "Meter" is considered the "american spelling" of the word, as I was born and raised in Canada, and have always spelled it Meter personally. I do not expect that this was an "intentional marketing decision" as much as it was simply a "this is how we decided to spell it" situation.

With that said, a great deal of our clients are American and German based, both of which, according to what I could find online today, prefer to use "Meter". In lieu of that, I think we shall chalk this one up as a happy coincidence and call it a day!

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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DIV
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Re: SI unit spelling: "centimetre" and "millimetre"

Post by DIV »

Hi, Daniel.
Further into the detail of this, the international standard (in English) is "metre", while in U.S. English "meter" is typically used instead.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/metre#Usage_notes

In German the word is "Meter" and must start with a capital. https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Meter
I couldn't vouch for the preferences of Germans when communicating in English, but I would speculate that it would depend upon their schooling (e.g. learning English in Germany only, or somewhere overseas) and likely with a strong (albeit inappropriate) tendency to use the same spelling as they would use in German.

And then there are other languages ....
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/metre#Translations

—DIV
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: SI unit spelling: "centimetre" and "millimetre"

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, DIV

Thank you for the additional input. I passed this along to the dev team back when we were last having this discussion, and though it was considered, it is not something which will cause any problems with the functionality, or misunderstandings, seeing as both are understood to mean the same regardless of international standards. If more people were to express an opinion on it, I expect we could see this change in the future. For now, this topic will be closing as a "rejected" change.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
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