Well, since the element was named from the oxide mineral alumina, the spelling by all rights should be "aluminum," just like ammonia-ammonium, magnesia-magnesium, etc. Unfortunately, some wonk with no etymological knowledge looked at all those "i"s in other elements/compounds and insisted it be spelled with as "aluminium."ChromeAlchemist said:Ignoring the difference in spelling, why oh why is there a difference in pronunciation for some words? Why must it be spelt aluminum and said that way, instead of aluminium?
Much the same with the pronunciation. I wonder if everyone insisting on the British spelling calls one of the world's most valuable metals "platinium"...
Unrelated but interesting note: "colonel." From what I understand, spelled the Italian way, pronounced the French way.
You're older and wiser, I must say.I remember me and my friend saying when I was younger that American English was the lazy man's English. Now that I'm older I think maybe that was a bit of a dick-ish thing to say, but at the same time...