Tennis racket

[djidji 3]

Hu, anybody has a tennisracket too much and for sale ?

[yorta2 693]

I thought the above was about a scam involving tennis. Is "racket" the American way of spelling "racquet"?

[brotherbuzz 3,206]

I thought the above was about a scam involving tennis. Is "racket" the American way of spelling "racquet"?

I have too much time on my hands at the moment, so I looked.

 

"Racket is the standard spelling of the word. Racquet is an alternative spelling^[2][3] used more commonly in certain sports (squash, racquetball, badminton) and less commonly in others (tennis).^[1]Racket is the preferred spelling in tennis.^[1] While some writers, especially those outside North America, prefer the French-influenced racquet, racket is the predominant spelling by a large margin.^[1]Similarly, while some believe that racket came about as a misspelling of racquet, racket is in fact the older spelling: it has been in use in British English since the 16th century, with racquet only showing up later in the 19th century as a variant of racket.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racket_%28sports_equipment%29#Spelling

 

 

racket noun (SPORT)

A2 [C] ( also racquet) an object used for hitting the ball invarious sports, consisting of a net fixed tightly to a round frame with a long handle:a tennis/squash/badminton racket

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/racket

You'll be pleased to know it didn't show up in the Australian National Dictionary.

[yorta2 693]

Oh, okay, but as a high school teacher (English and History) I was taught "racquet" and have always taught the same. I see you used wikipedia, which is really an American spelling tome, and isn't always really correct, English-wise, but I take your point. I guess it may have came about due to the great vowel change in England occurring after the emigrants had wandered across the Atlantic - a bit like where Yanks call pigs hogs, and hogs being the older term.

[djidji 3]

New balls please

[brotherbuzz 3,206]

Oh, okay, but as a high school teacher (English and History) I was taught "racquet" and have always taught the same. I see you used wikipedia, which is really an American spelling tome, and isn't always really correct, English-wise, but I take your point. I guess it may have came about due to the great vowel change in England occurring after the emigrants had wandered across the Atlantic - a bit like where Yanks call pigs hogs, and hogs being the older term.

Wiki came up first on my search and yeah, many don't give it much credence so I added the Cambridge British definition. When I read your post I agreed with you that "racket" didn't seem right, so off to Google I went

 

Funny you mention hogs and pigs. I actually asked a co-worker about that a year or so back. He's a country boy, it's us "flatlanders" as he calls us that don't know how the difference.