# Spelling of flotation/floatation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178 "2008-05-22T00:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/1 "2008-05-22T00:42:35Z")
So by way of some background, I was at my Sisters house last night and the talk got on to schooling methods, as a result of my nephew (in grade 3) doing a computer based mathematics learning exercise. And I discovered they had not been taught long division (a whole other kettle of fish which I won’t start on at the moment). This then lead to English, thanks to me enquiring about how they were being taught English, whether it was ‘whole language’ or phonics or what. (I think they are the terms used these days). So anyway somehow off the back of this my nephew now gets an impromptu spelling test on his “words of the week” spelling homework. (We’re getting really close to the point now so don’t give up) One of his words is _flotation_. He spells it f-l-o-a-t-a-t-i-o-n. Hmm… close I think to myself, but good effort. “Correct” says my sister. :eek: I’m sorry hang on what’s that? In my nephew’s school book, floatation has been marked as correct by his teacher. :dubious: Thinks I. To the Web I say, and discover, lo and behold, both spellings are techincally correct. American English versus British English you say? The source of so many of these spelling difficulties right? Apparently not. So given the academic supra genius and general super smartness on these boards, what a better place to ask then here? So how do you spell flotation? And can anyone shed some light on why both spellings are considered acceptable? My Google-fu hasn’t been succesful in shedding any light on it. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/2 "2008-05-22T00:44:30Z")
I use “flotation” myself and was also surprised that “floatation” was in common usage. That having been said, I doubt there’s more of an answer as to “why both spellings are considered acceptable” than that both spellings get used by people. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/3 "2008-05-22T00:53:55Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever needed to spell that word, but I think _flotation_ is the way I would spell it, although _floatation_ doesn’t particularly irk me, either. Why two spellings? I don’t know. Plenty of words have more than one acceptable spelling. See: traveler vs. traveller, ageing vs. aging, catalog vs. catalogue, amoeba vs. ameba, axe vs. ax, gray vs. grey, adviser vs. advisor, etc… ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/4 "2008-05-22T01:03:33Z")
Eh, the dictionary confirms that “flotation” is correct, and “floatation” is an acceptable variant, but the first actually looks wrong to me, and I’d have spelled it the second way. After all, it’s derived from "“float”, not “flot”. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/5 "2008-05-22T01:09:54Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Eh, the dictionary confirms that “flotation” is correct, and “floatation” is an acceptable variant, but the first actually looks wrong to me, and I’d have spelled it the second way. After all, it’s derived from "“float”, not “flot”. [/QUOTE] How d’ya know it’s not derived from flotsam, eh, eh?? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/6 "2008-05-22T01:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] How d’ya know it’s not derived from flotsam, eh, eh?? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Duh, because it’s not pronounced “flottation.” :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/7 "2008-05-22T01:16:41Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] How d’ya know it’s not derived from flotsam, eh, eh?? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Because we would then also have to have “jetation”, which sounds like it has something to do with airplanes. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/8 "2008-05-22T01:31:12Z")
I’ve only spelled it floatation (if I’ve ever even spelled it…) although just now I see Firefox puts a red line under it, so it’s dictionary thinks it’s wrong. I mean, like what was said, it comes from _float_ so floatation makes more sense to me than flotation. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/9 "2008-05-22T01:33:54Z")
Ignore this post. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/10 "2008-05-22T01:45:27Z")
I always did a double-take when I saw it spelled “flotation” on the airplane seat cards until I looked it up in the dictionary. Word spelling and usage is not set in stone, as you may have gather from many spirited discussions on this board. If an error becomes used often enough by enough people it becomes a variant, then eventually becomes correct. BTW I am very amused at the Google ad at the bottom of this thread, note both spellings at once 🙂 : > [@](#): > > Buy a Floatation Tank > All the Benefits of Flotation Tanks without that “closed in” feeling > [www.floatation-tanks.co.uk](http://www.floatation-tanks.co.uk) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/11 "2008-05-22T07:24:39Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] After all, it’s derived from "“float”, not “flot”. [/QUOTE] Yes, but the word ‘float’ comes from the Middle English _flot_ - and Middle English already had the action suffix _~acioun_ - so I think it’s case of _flot_ turning into _float_ somewhat independently of _flotacioun_ turning into _flotation_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/12 "2008-05-22T07:28:00Z")
A similar sort of disharmony appears to be in place for the words _pronounce_ and _pronunciation_. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/13 "2008-05-22T11:05:56Z")
According to the style guide of _The Times_, the different spellings have different meanings: > [@](#): > > **flotation:** pertains to shares/companies. > > **floatation:** as in tanks. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/14 "2008-05-22T11:33:27Z")
Flotation, but then, in Spanish it’s\* flotación\*. From _flotar_. My bet is that the Latin verb just managed to grab an extra “a” in English. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/15 "2008-05-22T11:53:02Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] According to the style guide of _The Times_, the different spellings have different meanings… [/QUOTE] That seems really weird, since the term _‘flotation’_ pertaining to the stock market is just a metaphor for liquid-based bouyancy, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/16 "2008-05-22T18:56:18Z")
I have the same reaction as **Cooking With Gas** when I’m on the plane. To me, only floatation makes any sense. But I did exactly as the OP, looked it up and went, hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/17 "2008-05-22T19:44:51Z")
First few cites in OED show that the variants have been tussling with each other for ages. > [@](#): > > 1806 GREGORY Mechanics I. 377 The plane of floatation is the horizontal surface of the fluid in which the vessel floats. c1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 158 Water Lines, or Lines of Flotation. 1853 KANE Grinnell Exp. xv. (1856) 115 These constantly shifting centres of flotation. 1853 SIR H. DOUGLAS Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 53 Compared with the stability of the vessel and its power of floatation. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/18 "2008-05-22T20:55:10Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] That seems really weird, since the term _‘flotation’_ pertaining to the stock market is just a metaphor for liquid-based bouyancy, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] It is weird, and I suspect it is actually due to different sections of the paper having different house styles. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spelling-of-flotation-floatation/450178/19 "2008-05-22T21:32:45Z")
> [@](#): > > flotation: pertains to shares/companies. > > floatation: as in tanks. Sounds like bull to me. > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I always did a double-take when I saw it spelled “flotation” on the airplane seat cards until I looked it up in the dictionary. Heh, funny thing is, I learned it as _flotation_ and did the same double take when I saw it spelled your way on the back of an airplane tray table! It was Northwest Airlines, by the way. Years ago.