Canceled or Cancelled in Word's Spell Check

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Bob Satyal - 27 Jul 2003 04:03 GMT

I got blasted by my boss for supposedly not using the
spell check when I sent him a note with the
word "Canceled" spelled with one only one L. He
thinks "Canceled" is spelled as "Cancelled" with a double
L. Only problem was that I did run the document through
Microsoft Word's spell check prior to sending it to him
and it came up as spelled correctly. This lead me to find
something interesting with Word's spell check. When you
run the spell check with it spelled either with a single L
or a double L, it registers both as spelled correctly.
However, every English reference I could find on this
topic says "Canceled" with a single L is the correct
spelling in the United States. With that said, why does
Microsoft Word register both the single L and double L as
spelled correctly. Even after verifying the spell check
was set to use English for the United States. Does
Microsoft have the power to change the rules of the
English Language?

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Cindy Meister -WordMVP- - 02 Aug 2003 10:57 GMT

Hi Bob,

> He
> thinks "Canceled" is spelled as "Cancelled" with a double
> L.

So do I :-)

> When you
> run the spell check with it spelled either with a single L
> or a double L, it registers both as spelled correctly.

Not on my machine; but it was set to UK English. Testing with
US English I can see that Word does, indeed, accept both.
When I look in my old Webster's (20 some years), it gives
only LL as an option.

I'd say this is a case where popular usage *in the US* has
led to an "official" acceptance of what used to be a
misspelling (and still is considered one in other regions).
So I don't think you can accuse Microsoft of re-inventing the
English language - at least not in this particular instance
<g> Granted, it has had a great influence on language -
throughout the world; but more in terms of techy-stuff.

And if your correspondence circulates internationally, I'd
say go with the "old and accepted" in such cases. But you can
tell your boss that spell check is a "Thoroughly Modern
Millie"

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jan
24 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

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