this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024
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Mildly Interesting

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[–] [email protected] 99 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (10 children)

"Matt" paste? Isn't it "matte" or am I taking crazy pills again?

Edit: What the fuck... It's spelled differently in the UK, the US, and Canada (where I'm from). It's matte in Canada, mat in US, and matt in the UK.

From the Government of Canada website: https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/writing-tips-plus/matte-mat-matt

[–] [email protected] 148 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure it's matte in the US, too

[–] [email protected] 85 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Seconded. Literally have never seen it spelled mat.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Colour me surprised, at least you greybeards have honour enough to spell some words correct.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

'u' died with the Queen. Have yo no respect?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Shooldn't it be Qeen, or did "U" get berried with her?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I appreciate your cheekiness, sir

[–] [email protected] 64 points 6 months ago

It's definitely matte in the USA.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Thirding the notion that it's definitely not "mat" in the US. A mat is something you put on the ground, Matt is my cousin's ex-fiance, and matte is a surface finish with little to no shine.

Really don't know what people say English is hard to learn, we use the same word for so many things that there's fewer words to learn /s

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Why waste time say lots words when few words do trick?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago

USA here- matte

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago

It’s matte in the US. I think the manufacturer is just being silly

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

From the UK. I've never seen matte spelled as matt. CA, UK and AU are generally pretty close with spelling, whereas the US is usually off doing its own thing. It's a similar thing to blonde and blond.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Blonde = female; blond = male

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 months ago

But that's the french's fault.

[–] Blizzard 5 points 6 months ago

I thought it was blond = hair colour and blonde = person with blond hair.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

I shit you not, that is the etymological distinction between the two.

How strictly that distinction is observed is an open question.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Now I'm not saying anything, but I dated a Matt, and he did produce a lot of paste... I'd have to run the numbers to see if it's viable for mass-production though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Hmm, did you try it in your hair though?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

... no comment

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yep all 3 are valid, matte is the new variant. https://www.etymonline.com/word/matte#etymonline_v_9722

And I’ve seen all 3 in use in the USA. It’s not matte = Canada. I’ve seen matte more than mat which is historically the spelling. The oed doesn’t list matt as the proper spelling but who knows with the brits.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Chamber's dictionary has it as "Mat, or Matt, or matte" stating that it comes from the French "mat" or the German "matt", so fuck knows where matte comes from!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Probably my Stavanger-dialect in Norway. It's matt in Norwegian, but matte in my dialect.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The American spelling "matte" probably comes from the spelling "mate" derived from French "mate", and doubling the "t" to differentiate it from "mate". The British spelling "matt" was probably primarily influenced by the German word "Matt" considering the UK tended to have more German influence.

Alternatively, either (or both) may be an etymological spelling from Latin "mattus" (which means "drunk" but likely became a word for "pale" in French).

While I am a linguist, I only deduced this from a bit of Googling and a lot of speculating, so don't take my word for it...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I'm like 90% sure it's matte in the UK.