Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:53:04 -0000, "Fleetie"
wrote:


"Roderick Stewart" wrote

Fleetie wrote:

Why do some people mis-spell "shows" as "shews" and "shown" as "shewn"?

I've seen this many more times than I would expect, since it seems a very
unlikely mis-spelling to me.

I even saw it on a QUAD valve amplifier circuit diagram from the official
manual. (Decades old, of course.)

Is there something more than mere illiteracy at work here?

Yes, archaism.

The OED lists "shew" as a variation of "show", so I guess that's how it used
to be spelt.

Thanks. I wondered if it was something like that. Good to hear it confirmed
by someone else.


But let's be fair, it wasn't spelt 'shews' when Queen Victoria was
alive, never mind Peter Walker!

Probably was.

Me, as a child, "Daddy, why does that sign say 'tickets must be shewn...'?"

That would have been Nineteen-fifty-something.

--
Nick H (UK)