American "-ize" words spelled "-ise"

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Nothing George will does surprizes me.

In a message dated 1/2/06 5:46:23 PM, mspahn at LOCALNET.COM writes:


> A sentence in a column today by George Will reads:
> "Philip Morris is America's largest maker of cigarettes,
> a product legal to use but problematic to merchandize legally."
>
> That spelling "merchandize" gave me a start.
> The usual form of this word is "merchandising",
> so I would expect the verb to be spelled "merchandise"
> (last syllable pronounced the same as the word "dies"),
> which is not to be confused with the noun "merchandise"
> (things bought and sold; last syllable pronunced "dice").
> But a dictionary list both the spelling "merchandise" and
> "merchandize" (both pronounced to rhyme with "dies")
> for the verb, listing the "-ize" spelling as a variant.
>
> Another such word is "advertising", and its corresponding
> verb "advertise" (last syllable pronounced "eyes").
>
>