# Gray vs Grey which one is the color? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858 "2014-11-17T16:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/1 "2014-11-17T16:22:14Z")
I distinctly remember one of those words is a person’s last name and the other a color. It’s a major faux pas to send a memo to Mr. Color. Getting it right is important in the office. I’m pretty sure Gray is the name but wanted to check. The internet claims one word fits all. That’s not correct unless something has changed in the past 45 years. Whats the Straight Dope? > **[‘Gray’ or ‘Grey’? - Quick and Dirty Tips](https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/gray-or-grey/)** > > Have you ever wondered why you see “gray” spelled two different ways? “Grey” is the preferred spelling in British English, but “gray” is more common in American English. Who Was Earl Grey? I’m American, but I enjoy Earl Grey tea, named after... ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/2 "2014-11-17T16:26:32Z")
As far as I know, either spelling is the color. I think GREY is used more by the British and the US uses GRAY. Edit: NOW I have read your link and it says pretty much the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/3 "2014-11-17T16:27:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I distinctly remember one of those words is a person’s last name and the other a color. It’s a major faux pas to send a memo to Mr. Color. Getting it right is important in the office. I’m pretty sure Gray is the name but wanted to check. > > The internet claims one word fits all. That’s not correct unless something has changed in the past 45 years. > > Whats the Straight Dope? > [‘Gray’ or ‘Grey’?](http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/gray-or-grey) A simple search in the phone book shows that the internet is right. edited to add: [Wiki link on colour spelling.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/4 "2014-11-17T16:28:17Z")
As far as I’m aware, both spellings have been exactly interchangeable for each other for the color name. Probably for many centuries. As for the surnames, both spellings are well-established surnames, neither one being “correct” while the other is “wrong”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/5 "2014-11-17T16:28:59Z")
Your link answers the question for the color. If it’s a person’s name, all bets are off. One of my family surnames is Gray, but there are tons of Greys out there as well. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/6 "2014-11-17T16:30:07Z")
I wish the internet had been around in 1969. My elementary school teachers insisted on using one word for the color. I just can’t recall which. 😛 Heck it was a standard question on our weekly spelling quizes. Stupid teachers and their rules. My way or you fail. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/7 "2014-11-17T16:30:13Z")
There is a whole website dedicated to this conundrum. The website agrees with I. Dunno. It is mostly US vs. England with respect to the color. There are people who spell their name Gray and some whole spell it Grey. > **[How do you spell the color Grey or Gray? Which is correct?](https://greyorgray.com/)** > > How do you spell the color Grey or Gray? Which is correct, grey or gray spelling? We explain this and other most commonly misspelled words. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/8 "2014-11-17T16:30:23Z")
Grey is simply the proper way to spell the word that describes a the colour between black and white. The US spelling variant showed up in Webster’s dictionary in the early 19th century - [http://books.google.ca/books?id=twC-H4a8VcYC&pg=PA282&redir\_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false](http://books.google.ca/books?id=twC-H4a8VcYC&pg=PA282&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false) Both Grey and Gray are used as last names. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/9 "2014-11-17T16:31:54Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Grey is simply the proper way to spell the word that describes a the colour between black and white. The US spelling variant showed up in Webster’s dictionary in the early 19th century - [Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of ... - Marianne Celce-Murcia, Donna Brinton, Janet M. Goodwin - Google Books](http://books.google.ca/books?id=twC-H4a8VcYC&pg=PA282&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false) > > Both Grey and Gray are used as last names. You’ve been waiting for this moment for 12 years, haven’t you. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/10 "2014-11-17T16:33:57Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That’s not correct unless something has changed in the past 45 years. Or you’ve just been wrong for 45 years. And that’s not a personal dig, teachers screw up all the time and teach kids falsehoods, or they oversimplify thinking that kids will figure out that life has more “gray areas” (pun intended) later in life. I’m still unlearning stuff I was taught as fact in grade school. I remember being taught that “grey” was British and therefore was as incorrect as “colour,” but then I got older and discovered that both were fine. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/11 "2014-11-17T16:38:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s a major faux pas to send a memo to Mr. Color. Getting it right is important in the office. The way to check, as with any name, is to call the person, the assistant, or the company receptionist and double check. The major faux pas is to believe that the spelling of a proper name follows any kind of rule. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/12 "2014-11-17T16:47:01Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > \*\*Grey is simply the proper way \*\*to spell the word that describes a the colour between black and white. “A” proper way, not “the” proper way. Both “gray” and “grey” have equal standing, just as “colour” and “color”. Seniority doesn’t matter a whit, even whenit can be conclusively established. Without researching, I bet “gray” has a very long history. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/13 "2014-11-17T16:56:32Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > “A” proper way, not “the” proper way. Both “gray” and “grey” have equal standing, just as “colour” and “color”. Seniority doesn’t matter a whit, even whenit can be conclusively established. > > Without researching, I bet “gray” has a very long history. The _ **proper** _ way. I mean, would I lie? 🙂 > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > “You’ve been waiting for this moment for 12 years, haven’t you.” Just waiting for the deep debate on why anal probing is a completely legitimate branch of xenobiology and then I can finally stop posting. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/14 "2014-11-17T16:57:27Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > The _ **proper** _ way. I mean, would I lie? 🙂 > Just waiting for the deep debate on why anal probing is a completely legitimate branch of xenobiology and then I can finally stop posting. _Niiice!_ ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/15 "2014-11-17T16:58:12Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Or you’ve just been wrong for 45 years. And that’s not a personal dig, teachers screw up all the time and teach kids falsehoods, or they oversimplify thinking that kids will figure out that life has more “gray areas” (pun intended) later in life. I’m still unlearning stuff I was taught as fact in grade school. I remember being taught that “grey” was British and therefore was as incorrect as “colour,” but then I got older and discovered that both were fine. Paul Simon said it best. _When I think back On all the crap I learned in high school It’s a wonder I can think at all_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/16 "2014-11-17T16:58:14Z")
Personally, I think of “gray” and “grey” as being two subtly different colors. This is doubtless due to my early reading of Tolkien, Lewis, and other British authors: The sorts of things they refer to as “grey” tend to be different from the sorts of things boring American authors refer to as “gray”. So, grey is the color of wisps of fog blowing in from a haunted moorland, or of a wizard’s beard, but gray is the color of a T-shirt that’s been accidentally washed in with the dark laundry. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/17 "2014-11-17T17:02:47Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Without researching, I bet “gray” has a very long history. [OED page for “grey|gray” with historical citations](http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/81341?rskey=8IyLPm&result=1#eid). Run a find on the spelling “gray”, and find the many dozens of cites from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a few of which predate _The Canterbury Tales_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/18 "2014-11-17T17:05:52Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Without researching, I bet “gray” has a very long history. And you’d be right: [QUOTE=OED] The variation between spellings in _ei_, _ey_, etc., and in _ai_, _ay_, etc., in later Middle English results from the general Middle English merger of the _ei_ and _ai_ diphthongs. . . The present word is distinguished by the fact that both spelling types continued in frequent use for a very long time, and different spellings have been selected as standard in U.S. English (_gray_) and in British English (generally _grey_, although individual usage can vary). [/QUOTE] Edit: damn you! In the time I spent putting the italics back in, you posted the link. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/19 "2014-11-17T17:16:29Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > And you’d be right: > Edit: damn you! In the time I spent putting the italics back in, you posted the link. Thanks for the backup all the same 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858/20 "2014-11-17T17:33:21Z")
Surely grey is the colour, whereas gray is the color? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gray-vs-grey-which-one-is-the-color/704858.md?page=2)