Enterprise Ad

[EcclesCake]

US vs UK battle of style and language.....Aluminum vs Aluminium

Debate to correct pronunciation....UK bloke says 'aluminium' is correct because it has a 'u' in it.

Errr, what am I missing because I thought it was a missing 'i' that separated US and UK pronunciation.

Am I having a very public blonde moment???

[bert_h]

The UK bloke is having a senior moment. It's 'aluminium' because it has an 'i' in it.

[cazzz1975]

the american pronounces it Aloo-minum, maybe this is what the british man means when he mentions the "u" ?

[EcclesCake]

Mmmmm, three different opinions. It is either clever or sloppy advertising.....but it's got us talking about the ad.

[Old_Geezer]

You should not take it so seriously. It is meant to capture your attention and apparently it did.

As I understand it, the Americans names that element first but didn't follow the "rules" that were used for previous naming/pronunciation, and so the Brits corrected it for them. But were they grateful ?

[rojash]

Actually, it was a Brit, Sir Humphry Davy, who first called it Alumium, then Aluminum. The name was changed to Aluminium to conform to international standards. And, as we all know, the Yanks are not very good at conforming to international agreements.

[EcclesCake]

I appreciate the US & UK difference in the spelling, it is the correction that the British guy makes that seems to me incorrect that is bugging me.

Like I say..... is it sloppy or clever......

I should be working not watching daytime TV......

[deb_m]

Totally agree

[OrdinaryGirl]

Only found this post when I decided to google the ad because when the UK guy 'incorrectly corrects' the US guy it drives me mad too! If it's clever advertising, it's a bit too clever for its own good imho, because hardly anyone I know has noticed it! (Eccles - we are obviously too brilliant for our own good too!)

[Pigletion]

Totally agree, British guy is just plain wrong. He should have said "i". Been driving me mad! Thankfully Tivo has fast forward.

[albaqwerty]

I thought the US guy was saying aluminim, which would make sense when the other guy mentions the 'u'

[EcclesCake]

I'm going to have to watch this Ad again......

[geolab]

On the periodic table it has been agreed Internationally to be spelled Aluminium, so.... the UK English pronunciation is correct. Unfortunately the advert should say 'it has an 'i', not a 'u'. The U.S. pioneers were mainly illiterate or came from non-English speaking countries, therefore spelling mistakes and poor grammar have become accepted over the years and called American English :-)