Re: [PATCH 1/3] Documentation/technical: fix a typo

[Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>]

On Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 4:12 PM Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> Andrew Kreimer <algonell@gmail.com> writes:
> > -Since there is no publically available VFS-related code for folks to try,
> > +Since there is no publicly available VFS-related code for folks to try,
>
> As a general rule, unless we are doing codewide sweep to use a
> single word in our glossary to refer to the same thing, or
> something, we should honor author's preference, when it is already
> written and it is not blatantly wrong.
>
>   https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/publically
>
> I am inclined to say that we should keep it as written, but I am not
> a native speaker, so please cite a source that tells what is written
> is blatantly wrong to help me accept this patch.

For what it's worth, I am a native speaker, and I was taught that the
correct spelling is "publicly". Indeed, my Webster's dictionary from
that era lists only "publicly"; it does not mention "publically" at
all. The modern online Webster's still spells it "publicly", but at
least acknowledges "publically" by saying:

    [variants] or less commonly "publically"

The modern day built-in macOS dictionary does not have an entry for
"publically" and goes out of its way to loudly proclaim (in bold in a
standout box) under its entry for "publicly":

    USAGE: Note that the spelling is publicly, ending with the suffix
-ly, not publically.

The word "publicly" is, of course, so frequently misspelled that it is
not surprising that "publically" has been accepted into some
dictionaries as a legitimate spelling, but, as one who grew up
understanding the correct spelling to be "publicly", the variant
spelling still makes my reading hiccup big time, so I found no problem
with this patch.