Quote:
Originally Posted by thefreeze
For other people that are (like me, not having English as first language) confused about the spelling of the word for the outer part of a wheel...
A tire is the spelling in American English and Canadian English
A tyre is the spelling in British English, Australian English and others
Another mystery solved...
Apologies for being Off Topic :-)
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Moving farther off-topic
Before the 17th Century in England "tire" was commonly used for the metal wheel covering used on carts and wagons.*
*The Oxford English Dictionary
R.W,. Thompson used the word "tire" in his patent of 1845 for his first "pneumatic tire” which he called "an elastic belt" or "elastic bearing".**
** Schidrowitz, Philip "European Rubber Journal 1956
Later, the British perverted the spelling to "tyre" to distinguish steel bands covering wagon wheels from inflated rubber thingies.
The Americans and Canadians never quite got around to changing it, since in the 17th century the Internet was much slower.
Are you tired of this yet?