Canceled vs Cancelled?

[Jlivan]

Today at work we were having a conversation about which one was right. I guess they are both right but I just thought it would be interesting to see which one was used more often.

[knottravesty]

I'm not even sure I've written it before lol.... to tell the truth... I guess I would use two L's...

[04GTboySC]

i use two L's as well

[ArunSenior04]

Labor Labour
Color Colour
Colonel sounds like "kernel"

Omg the possibilities

[Silentwolf]

Supposed to be 2 "L"s

[rusto85]

Two dos deux due Ni 二 ..........L's :D

[rckozma]

Both. Per the dictionary:

can·cel - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kan-suhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -celed, -cel·ing or (especially British) -celled, -cel·ling, noun
–verb (used with object) 1. to make void; revoke; annul: to cancel a reservation.
2. to decide or announce that a planned event will not take place; call off: to cancel a meeting.
3. to mark or perforate (a postage stamp, admission ticket, etc.) so as to render invalid for reuse.
4. to neutralize; counterbalance; compensate for: His sincere apology canceled his sarcastic remark.
5. Accounting. a. to close (an account) by crediting or paying all outstanding charges: He plans to cancel his account at the department store.
b. to eliminate or offset (a debit, credit, etc.) with an entry for an equal amount on the opposite side of a ledger, as when a payment is received on a debt.

6. Mathematics. to eliminate by striking out a factor common to both the denominator and numerator of a fraction, equivalent terms on opposite sides of an equation, etc.
7. to cross out (words, letters, etc.) by drawing a line over the item.
8. Printing. to omit.
–verb (used without object) 9. to counterbalance or compensate for one another; become neutralized (often fol. by out): The pros and cons cancel out.
10. Mathematics. (of factors common to both the denominator and numerator of a fraction, certain terms on opposite sides of an equation, etc.) to be equivalent; to allow cancellation.
–noun 11. an act of canceling.
12. Printing, Bookbinding. a. omission.
b. a replacement for an omitted part.

[SuperGLS]

I like the two L's.

Just think, generally when a word ends with one consonant and you want to add -ed on it you have to add the same ending consonant.

Fan to fanned. Slam to slammed. Can to canned.

Generally when a word ends with a consonant then an E you just add the D.

Shove to shoved. Emerge to emerged. Dance to danced.

So following this logic (which may or may not be valid), it would have to be Cancele to be Canceled.

The problem is that the English language is difficult and has a lot of exceptions to the regular rules.

[BColeman]

That should be a prime example of why the American English language is so screwed up.

And personally, I've always used the double 'L'.

[Munky]

I would hate to be a foreigner learning English for the first time. So many damn rules, exceptions, etc.

I use the double "L" as well.

[Doohickie]

In a two-syllable word ending in -el, the grammatical rule that applies is this: If the second syllable is the stressed syllable, as in the case of rappel (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=rappel), the trailing "l" is doubled so as to keep the "e" a short "e". But when the vowel of the last syllable is an unstressed schwa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa) sound, the schwa remains essentially a short vowel regardless of what is around it and the extra "l" is not required, so in the case of cancel, canceled is correct. The rule applies to other consonnents besides "l" as well.

Having said all that, the correct spelling, pronunciation, etc., is also determined by common usage. Because so many people have misspelled "canceled" over the years, "cancelled" is now considered to be an acceptable spelling even though it does not follow the preferred convention, but is less common in the U.S. than in Britain, due to the influence of Daniel Webster.

Here is the complete lesson from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences# Doubled_consonants).

You can close the thread now, James. ;)

[bdiggy]

Nice! I finally voted right.^^

[4mynikka]

Labor Labour
Color Colour
Colonel sounds like "kernel"

Omg the possibilities

Labor- american spelling
Labour- Canadian/british spelling

Same for Colour, Centre=center, neighbor = neighbour.

It's all the same.

[OneandOnly1]

The rule applies to other consonnents besides "l" as well.
Webster also spells "consonnents" as "consonants." ;)