NapoleAn

OK, so is it a conspiracy? A huge elaborate joke? A tragic case of contagious bad spelling? I'm talking about the mind-bogglingly widespread misspelling of Napoleon as Napolean.

Your thoughts on the matter, ladies and gents?

I dont care lol hes non important to me so i can spell his name whatever i feel like.

Thats how i feel about this let people spell how they want not to your standards.

Its not Napolean, its not Empires: Total War and its not bloody CDT!

ffs some people pay no attention to what they're saying

Originally Posted by -TopCat-

Its not Napolean, its not Empires: Total War and its not bloody CDT!

ffs some people pay no attention to what they're saying

You should try reading some Warhammer 40000 forums. I go berserk every time I see Blood/Dark Angles or Eldars.

Nabulione is better ...

I wouldn't say it's entirely due to contagiously bad spelling. I think this is more of a linguistic issue. If I recall correctly, the French emphasize the 'on' in Napoleon. But unless an English speaker has rudimentary knowledge of French they probably won't emphasize the 'on' and will pronounce it like 'Nah-pole-ee-un'. I guess writing/typing reflects that.

Originally Posted by CiviC

Nabulione is better ...

Nabuliane...

Boullion?

''That guy who conquered almost Europe in early 19th century'' This is better!!!!

Originally Posted by GHOSTMUZIKBEATZ

''That guy who conquered almost Europe in early 19th century'' This is better!!!!

Not as good as "the French midget with the hat that, like, invaded Russia".

Napoleon changed the spelling of his own last name, I doubt he would much care if English people spelled his name with an A like we pronounce it rather than the O that French emphasizes.

Originally Posted by Tiberius Tosi

Napoleon changed the spelling of his own last name, I doubt he would much care if English people spelled his name with an A like we pronounce it rather than the O that French emphasizes.

On the contrary! I think having changed his own name shows a greater interest than most in it being spelled specifically as it is than if he had retained the spelling issued by his parents.

I think spellchecking programs were made for a reason. Lots of mistakes all of the time. Napoleon is no exception. To error is to be human.

To use "error" as a verb is erroneous. I do believe you mean "to err". Spell checks are no substitute for literacy.

Originally Posted by General_Meevious

On the contrary! I think having changed his own name shows a greater interest than most in it being spelled specifically as it is than if he had retained the spelling issued by his parents.

To use "error" as a verb is erroneous. I do believe you mean "to err". Spell checks are no substitute for literacy.

And to forgive is divine.

Doesnt mean I like it though

I think spellchecking programs were made for a reason. Lots of mistakes all of the time. Napoleon is no exception. To error is to be human.

Originally Posted by Lance-Corporal Jones

OK, so is it a conspiracy? A huge elaborate joke? A tragic case of contagious bad spelling? I'm talking about the mind-bogglingly widespread misspelling of Napoleon as Napolean.

Your thoughts on the matter, ladies and gents?

This.

Who said it was spelled Napolean?

Originally Posted by RuleBritannia

Who said it was spelled Napolean?

various different forum users

Is suppose we could organise a Séance and ask him.

French people could spell it Naboléon. It would mean litteraly Leo the midget (that's the spelling for the pejorative appelation of small people right ?).

Im' french and we say : Napoléon. Becaus it writes "Napoléon". We are logical in France.

I wouldn't say it's entirely due to contagiously bad spelling. I think this is more of a linguistic issue. If I recall correctly, the French emphasize the 'on' in Napoleon. But unless an English speaker has rudimentary knowledge of French they probably won't emphasize the 'on' and will pronounce it like 'Nah-pole-ee-un'. I guess writing/typing reflects that.

I hope you're sure about this strange theory, because I'm french and in french we don't emphasize any word or syllabes.
The French don't emphasize the 'on', I dunno where you find this ideas... We pronounce napoléon in one quick block, as it's written.

What he means is that in French it's pronounced "Nah-pole-ee-on", with an "on", whereas we English speakers tend to butcher other languages to fit ourselves, and therefore pronounce it, "Nah-pole-ee-an", "Nah-pole-ee-en", or "Nah-pole-ee-un", since Americans are like that.