Does the Army spell "quarter" differently?

[ZenRevan]

lol

Bill’s point was that the military and Treasury dept are part of the government. The Treasury dept registered the word quarter. Something like that. Doesn’t make his explanation any less illogical.

[Duckster]

@ZenRevan

At that point he explained to me that the U.S. Treasury Department owned the word “quarter” therefore the U.S. military has to spell quarter as cuarter. I don’t believe he was joking with me. I’ve known him for years and this isn’t his type of humor.

@PSXer

The idea that the Treasury could own the name of a fraction is so silly how could anyone really believe that

@Mangetout

Maybe just an error followed by face-saving then.

You need to push him a bit. You know, nickel and dime him a little and see if he changes his approach. In for a penny, in for a pound.

[picunurse]

@Sailboat

A little searching shows both Close Quarters Battle and Close Quarters Combat being used…maybe they switched terms at some point?

Interestingly, at one time, the US Army did spell “align” differently.

I don’t know if they still do so, but years ago, I worked for a company that made military radios. We printed two versions of the manuals – one for the Air Force, Navy, and Marines, and a separate version just for the Army. The ONLY reason for the army version being separate was their insistence on spelling the word “align” a-l-i-n-e…as in “aline the arrows in these two drawings to match up the schematics.”

I was told (no idea if it’s true) that the reasoning was that Army brass decided the average recruit would not be able to understand the apparently exotic spelling of “align.” Personally, I don’t see how it’s any more odd than the spelling of “schematic,” which was used in some of the same sentences, and I thought it was the dumbest thing in the world.

This is not something a friend of a friend told me – I was directed to print the manuals myself. Unbelievable.

I don’t know if it’s still true, but, in the '60s the Army didn’t require a high school diploma, while all other branches did.
That may have been the thinking. They were speaking to the lowest common denominator.

[Xema]

@ZenRevan

I don’t believe he was joking with me.

Well, either he was joking with you or someone’s been joking with him.

[ZenRevan]

@Xema

Well, either he was joking with you or someone’s been joking with him.

Maybe he’s joking with me?
I’ve known him for seven years. This would not be his typical sense of humor. Granted maybe he deviated from his usual humor. If that is the case then he had the best poker face I’ve ever seen. But my instincts and years of experience with him tell me he was sincere.

Maybe somebody was joking with him?
The problem with that is he has military experience. 8 years in the U.S. army. How could he be fooled all those years in the military?

I think he was lying or delusional. Probably both. He’s told me blatant lies before. The scary thing is I think he actually believes them.

[ZenRevan]

Quick note: When I said he was sincere I meant he wasn’t joking. He either believes what he’s saying (badly misinformed, delusional) or he was seriously trying to persuade me (lying).