Focusing.

[ollypenrice]

Focussing? Focusing? 

I've often wondered and, being strictly off duty since I gave up English teaching, I've never bothered to look it up. Reprehensible, I know. Then, blow me, I'm reading a book about the English language this morning in bed and there is the word itself under discussion. Well I know you can't contain your excitement so the answer is - either! You can do some focusing or some focussing but I suspect that only Gollum is allowed to focuss....

Olly

[steppenwolf]

Catches me out too, Olly - I use the word (and its derivatives) often in articles and it never looks right with just one 's' but I have researched this and am happy that one 's' will suffice. What I can assure you of is that the 'k' is silent as in 'banana'.

[SilverAstro]

I blame Guttenberg and ilk.

Chaucer had the right idea, and until I figure out why my speelchucker has got itself disabled in my K-Meleon browser I'm staying with Chaucer.

So there !

 

[Knight of Clear Skies]

When one's focus on focussing is unfocused one may be predisposed to cuss. 

[ollypenrice]

24 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

Catches me out too, Olly - I use the word (and its derivatives) often in articles and it never looks right with just one 's' but I have researched this and am happy that one 's' will suffice. What I can assure you of is that the 'k' is silent as in 'banana'.

They both look wrong to me! My book's author, not being an astronomer, doesn't go into 'focuser' or 'focusser' but I think I'll go for one 's.' A focusser with too many esses looks likely to slip to me. And now I have it!!!  'A rack and pinion focuser or a Crayford focusser.' By gad, a linguistic breakthrough...

Olly

[Filroden]

I think focus is one of the exceptions to the double s rule in that it can take either a single or double s. Both seem accepted in British English and single s seems more common. I think American English is more prescriptive and it would normally take the double s.

[gnomus]

http://www.future-perfect.co.uk/grammar-tip/is-it-targetted-or-targeted/

[SilverAstro]

I think life is too short, untill someone comes up with an imorttalitty pil, then til then I'm not going to wory about how many elles trhaer shud be in until.

 

[SilverAstro]

Who made these stupid rules anyway - no one - it came about by custom and can be changed by custom as first America showed and now the internet is following.

In English at school I was terrified by the i before e except after c rule,   being more interested in the sciences and amateur radio I wondered why my recievers as well as my receivers all worked just fine.