Hmmm....is it Judgment or Judgement?
- Judgment 3
- Judgement 19
I'm curious how you lovely folks see/spell this word. At a glance, which one seems correct to you? My brain has a hard time doing the soft "g" without the extra "e".
For those with a tiny chunk of time on your hands, here's some evidence from out in infoland...
"Most lawyers and courts spell it “judgment”, while the spelling “judgement” is found in many prominent places, including the New York Times. It appears without the extra “e” in most printed works, but the double “e” judgement can be found throughout society. Conversely, when the renowned British lexicographer H. W. Fowler was writing his book on word usage, the single-e version of judgment was being used by a host of British writers. Fowler still prefers “judgement.”
"Judgment can also be spelled judgement, and usage experts have long disagreed over which spelling is the preferred one. Henry Fowler asserted that "the OED [Oxford English Dictionary] prefers the older & more reasonable spelling. Judgement is therefore here recommended…." William Safire held an opposite opinion, writing, "My judgment is that Fowler is not to be followed on his spelling of judgement." Judgement is in fact the older spelling, but it dropped from favor and for centuries judgment was the only spelling to appear in dictionaries. That changed when the OED (Fowler's source) was published showing judgement as an equal variant. Today, judgment is more popular in the U.S., whereas both spellings make a good showing in Britain."