theatre

[Paul Frank]

> Although theatre/theater doesn't show up in the name of its edifice
> (which is named The Playhouse on Main), the Starkville (MS) Community
> Theatre uses the re spelling in the name of the organization.  I just
> checked its web page to be sure:
> http://www.library.msstate.edu/sct/
>
> Btw, would those who consider it pretentious to use the re spelling in
> the US consider it pretentious to use the er spelling in England?
>    --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)

My guess is that most Brits would consider it odd or American, which amounts
to the same thing. I've never come across the -er spelling in England,
Scotland, or Wales. I went to secondary school and university in England, by
the way -- not that it makes any difference. But I suppose that if most
Americans reckon that there's nothing affected or pretentious about the
theatre spelling, then there's isn't. Let's see. (Surfing). Some people on
your side of the wet bit do seem to object to the theatre spelling:

Put quotes around the title. Use "theater," not "theatre," except in proper
names that use that spelling: She will be in the theater production. The
play is in Toland Theatre. The musical is performed by University Theatre.
    http://perth.uwlax.edu/Advancement/pub-guide/style-guide.html

theater, not theatre
    http://www.ohiou.edu/publications/usage.html#word

theater (not theatre, which is British spelling)
    http://www.aspwire.net/demo_section/references/spelling.html

theater, not theatre
    http://ecampus.bentley.edu/dept/compub/styleguide.htm

theater (not theatre)
    http://www.utsa.edu/UTSAInformation/News/styleguide/style.htm

theater (not theatre)
    http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~uopubs/grammar/dictionary.html

I can't access the online version of the AP Style Guide, but I seem to
recall that it recommends theater, not theatre.This is all prescriptivist
stuff, so I probably deserve to be drawn and quartered for citing it. But
for what it's worth, a quick rummage in the LA Times archives yields 163
hits for theatre and 510 hits for theater. Many but by no means not all of
the latter refer to movie theaters ("'The Nobel Prize is not the Olympics,
who's No. 1 or No. 2. It's about cultural concepts, not achievement,' said
Meng Jinghui, a young director at China's Central Experimental Theater.").
The New York Times seems to prefer theater too ("Canby began reviewing films
for the Times in 1965 and was its senior film critic from 1969 to 1993
before turning his attention to theater."). Same goes for the Washington
Post ("Gao is better known in Chinese literary circles. His 1981 novel, 'A
Preliminary Discussion of the Art of Modern Fiction,' influenced many
Chinese writers, said Beijing theater critic Ye Tingfang." See also Fall
Arts Preview: Theater). As I said last time I butted in, I'm not a linguist,
so I'm asking this question in a spirit of what the Chinese would call
"throwing a brick to get a piece of jade in return" (pao zhuan yin yu), or
putting forth my inexpert opinion to induce someone else's learned response.

Paul
____________________________________________
Paul Frank
Business, financial and legal translation
>From Chinese, German, French, Spanish,
Italian, Dutch and Portuguese into English
E-mail: paulfrank at post.harvard.edu - Thollon, France
____________________________________________
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby
some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2