My hair is gray.
My hair is grey.
Which is it?? Why can I not figure out which word is appropriate?
Cartooniverse
You stole my thread.
Thanks; this has been bugging me forever but I keep forgetting to post it.
General Rule, not exclusive by any means: GREY if you are a Brit; GRAY if you are a Yank.
Everybody else picks sides and takes their chances.
Agreed. Merriam-Webster gives gray as the primary spelling, listing grey only as a variant. I presume a British dictionary would give the reverse.
For the Earl and his tea, the Grey spelling is the only way to go.
For everything else, you get a free choice, unless it’s part of a quoted phrase or a name or byname. For example, Fafhrd’s companion in the Lankhmar stories is the Gray Mouser – a grey mouser would simply be a way to describe a cat. The Grey Havens in Tolkien may well be described as gray, but their name is Grey. And the UK/US predominant usage already mentioned is pretty much the way to go.
[Wayne Campbell]
Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
[/Wayne Campbell]
“Grey” is also the Canadian norm.
It’s a safe bet you can blame W.R. Hearst’s support of spelling reform for your colour confusion. 
" Gray" and “grey” run neck and neck on google.
Gray is a common second name in my wife’s family.
Heh. Grey vs. Gray. I once wrote an essay for an English professor who knocked me a point for using British spelling. I replied that this was an English class, not an American class, right? Why should it matter? The prig wouldn’t give me back the point.
Ah. So if you maan the color, it’s spelled gray. But if you mean the colour, the word should be spelled grey. Got it. Thanks.
Grey is a colour.
Gray is a color.
Damn slow connection.
Now if I could just turn the grey/colour into some useful mnemonic…
Hmmm
GrEy. ColoUr.
EU.
In the EU, they have the colour grey.
Cool. (Obviously that’s a stretch, since the UK is hardly the EU, but it will help me remember it now)
I always remember the “correct” spelling by thinking of the anagramically named Gary Gray.
Sidewalks, flashlights and trash cans are often gray, whereas pavements, torches and dustbins are usually grey.
Uh, huh? Explain? Please?
Oops… that’s what preview’s for. Ignore that on this particular thread…
Sidewalk, flashlight, trashcan, gray = American
Pavement, torch, dustbin, grey = British.
Sidewalk, flashlight, trashcan, gray = American
Pavement, torch, dustbin, grey = British.
Sidewalk, flashlight, garbage can, grey = Canadian.