Why Do Americans Spell 'Mediocre' Like the British? | #shorts

A 60-second primer on why Americans buck convention, and spell the word 'mediocre' the same way as the British.

[OmnipotentNoodle]

horrified at the implication of a grocre

[copster_]

“It turns out that mediocre, against all odds, is special!” Effing hilarious. 😂😂😂😂

[PaleGhost]

They didn't want mediocre to be mediocre.

[bambooblinds]

OMG. there's an actual good reason for it! much respect for this explanation 👍

[Xr.]

All I heard at the end was “it’s lev-i-OH-SAH “ 😂

[TGWNN.]

Can you please explain why Broadway still uses theatre instead of theater?

[GriffonSpade]

That debate would have been an absolute ogre.

[NoodleKeeper]

A rare "It isn't a holdover from the British, that they themselves don't follow anymore" episode

[AlyJeann]

"Mass-as-ser" definitely does not have the same tone as massacre 😅

[KennethHiker]

As an American, I like the way "mediocre" looks in it's spelling. It's proper.

[Donald_the_Potholer]

R before E when following C.

Was never taught that one...

[CoupleMoore]

I only realize how much I look forward to your “Today’s Big Question” when there isn’t one. You’re actually good at this stuff, Laurence! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[Grizzlox]

In school, my 4th through 6th grade Spelling teacher taught us etymology and syllable structuring. This means she taught us WHY words are spelled the way they are, and how to recognize subtle clues that indicate how to pronounce a word. The school board told her it was too advanced for our grade level, until we all tested 30% higher in spelling grades than other schools in our district.
Mrs. Williamson... thanks for treating all of us like we were intelligent enough to learn something new.

[zenbija]

What's interesting is that the same problem is sometimes addressed with changing -c to -ck, like "panicked, " to avoic the c being read as an s sound. But this wouldn't work for these three words because we tend to change the vowel before -ck, so if we spelled them mediocker, acker, and massacker, we'd pronounce them to rhyme with knocker or packer.

[BurningheartofSILVER]

I’m happy to say, I figured out the reasoning right before Lawrence revealed it. My third grade teacher would be so proud

[Tedscwa]

As a theatre major from America, I can say we learned a rule that when you're talking about the building you say "theater" and when you're talking about the art form you say "theatre"

[anneharper]

you speak like a david mitchell character and i mean that in the best possible way

[morganwolf]

It's worth noting that the UK spellings of both Fibre and Theatre have specific meanings of the words in US English. (Networking and live productions)

[davidbrito]

couldn’t even edge to this, I exploded immediately!!! Clean up on aisle MY PANTS 😂😂😂😂

[mccrakens_lair]

The last word is a magical incantation.