Theater vs. Theatre — Page 4

i use theater only when im talking about movie theaters (cinema's)
broadway or stadge is always theatre for me

---

I spell theatre "theatre" all the time. Whether I'm talking about cinemas or Broadway theatres.

Only in America is it spelt 'Theater'. I always looked at it as being a sort of dumbing down of the English language. As I said only in America will you see it spelt thus. So for me it is always 'Theatre'.

No, I don't because I'm in school right now and teachers have a fit with British spelling, which I intend to use after school.

And I'm going to say the same thing, again, it's NOT being pretentious, it's a preference...it's just a way for me to distinguish the stage in my writing.

---

Updated On: 10/8/06 at 11:30 PM

Okay. At least that's an explanation. It's still odd to me. But this idea of dumbing-down, is absurd. These spellings have been around since the early 1800's; and, the fact is that England simplified the language, not Americans. American English is far more proper, and from the original source (Germanic), which the English eliminated. For example, we still use have gotten, whereas, the English use the more simplified (or dumbed-down if you prefer), have got. But, it wasn't Americans who changed that, it was the English. Many other changes, as well. Webster made the spelling changes, because they reflected our pronounciation of those letters - theater, is pronounced the way it is spelled; theatre, is not.

For what it's worth, the stylebook of The Associated Press, which basically dictates the style of almost every newspaper across the U.S., is to use "theater" regardless of context unless it is a part of a proper name that spells it "theatre." If you notice, even the New York Times, which has some of its own style rules that differ from AP, uses "theater."

I've lived in the US my whole life, and I've NEVER seen "catalog" or "dialog" anywhere...is this a new thing?

---

The use of the word “theatre” goes back to the turn of the 20th Century. Most of American society, particularly those who owned live theater venues, looked upon the new cinema art form as nothing more than a bawdy fad that would soon collapse under its own low-class offerings.

To make a distinction between the “legitimate stage” and the cheap mass produced moving picture productions that had everyone seemingly getting their own piece of this new-fangled pie a line was drawn.

This line divided those venues that offered specific types of entertainment. Live shows that performed on stages without screens remained “theaters” while the new form of entertainment, moving pictures, were shown on screens without a stage for live productions and were, therefore, called “theatres”.

Having this unique spelling informed the public what type of entertainment they were going to see.

Of course, the two-name distinction lost its relevance quickly once the general public began to embrace movies not as the bawdy display of yore but a medium that was growing in sophistication and class. Soon, both forms of entertainment were in the same venue. Comedy, dancing and singing acts would perform prior to the “shorts” which were followed by the “feature attraction” trailed (remember this word) by what was coming next week using snippets from that feature film that, in industry slang, became known as “trailers”.

Today, the line has faded away with history. The only people who are conscious of the distinction are motion picture exhibitors, who name their companies, and companies that own venues strictly for live performances. Take a look at the entertainment section of your newspaper and you’ll probably see the two words used loosely all over the page.

So, no actual claim can be made by anyone, purist or not, that by using one word or the other has its proper usage. Rather, the distinction is one of tradition only.

THEATRE

---

Wow this is an old thread. Who really cares if it's theatre or theater. They are both pronounced the same.

---

But read and read aren't.

---