Schnorkel

[Lorcan]

In a pub quiz I attended last night, we were asked to spell snorkel - defined as a tube to enable breathing underwater. Every team in the room spelt it SNORKEL and was marked incorrrect. The quizmaster insisted that snorkel was just US spelling and the British way was SCHNORKEL. However, my dictionaries do not agree.

Was he right?

[Whickerman]

In a way, but no, not really.

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary lists Schnorkel, and refers the reader to Snorkel.

Collins: http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definiti ons/schnorkel

However, the SCHNORKEL seems to be a German or Dutch spelling. http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/schnorkel

[Whickerman]

get this guy:

https://www-auth.cs.wisc.edu/lists/vfr/1999-September/msg02176.shtml

[Whickerman]

yet here:
"Schnorkel
You might mention that in English it is "snorkel."

http://top40-charts.com/pedia.php?title=Talk:S ubmarine#Schnorkel

[fredpuli47]

According to the OED the word is from German 'Schnorchel'. So 'schnorkel' is neither pure German nor pure English but a composite containing elements of the spelling of both languages.

[jno]

if he wants you to spell it in mock-German he should say so. Snorkel is the English spelling. Check them out on Google: about 20 times as many snorkels as schnorkels.

[Lorcan]

Thanks all, but as we were all 'wrong' nobody gained a point and I suppose it doesn't really matter.

[Quizmonster]

Surely it depends on how he pronounced the word. Snorkel, schnorkel and schnorchel all sound different.
(Having said that, and having been a quizmaster in several pubs over many years, there is one unbreakable quizmaster's rule..."Whatever I say is the answer is the answer!" If one doesn't apply that, one could be there all blessed night!)

[dundurn]

The "original" snorkel (not counting Johnny Weismuller and others breathing through reeds) was a Dutch invention called the snuiver (sniffer). The Germans eventually copied it on their U-boats but re-christened it the schnorchel (snorer). Whether they did this before or after they found out how noisy it was to operate, I don't know.