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I have some questions about these words:

  1. What's different between these two words?
  2. Which word will be correct for use?
  3. Which word doesn't use now?
Junior L
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1 Answers1

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DisorganiSed vs disorganiZed

1.What's different between these two words?

"Disorganised" is the British spelling (BrE). "Disorganized" is the American spelling (AmE). That is the only difference.

2.What is the [sic] word will be correct to use?

The correct word to use would depend on whether you are writing using British English or American English.

3.What is the word no [sic] used now?

Both words are now used. Again, which word is used depends on if you're in a place where American English spellings are used or in a place where British English spellings are used.

Billy
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    "-ize" is not an exclusively American spelling. Although it's not as common in the UK, it does exist there, so both "-ize" and "-ise" can be considered British spellings: https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/03/28/ize-or-ise/ – herisson Jul 11 '18 at 03:06
  • @sumelic - I didn't say otherwise. What you're saying is true of American English, as well (e.g., It's "circumcise," not "circumcize," in AmE.). I only spoke regarding the words "disorganized" and "disorganised." I made no sweeping declaration about the usage of "-ize" versus "-ise." – Billy Jul 11 '18 at 04:04
  • My comment was supposed to be about the suffix "-ize"--which is what occurs in the word "disorganized/disorganised"--not just about all words that happen to end in the letters "ise" or "ize". I'm trying to say that it could be viewed as somewhat misleading or inaccurate to say that "disorganised" is "the" British spelling when "disorganized" is (or has been) also used by some British publications/authors. – herisson Jul 11 '18 at 04:53
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    For example, the British National Corpus has 47 hits for the spelling "disorganized" from British academic sources (mostly social science, apparently in the phrase "disorganized capitalism")--although there are no hits from news, and only 1 from magazines. The "ize" spelling actually seems to be more common than "ise" in academic contexts: "disorganised" has 10 BYU-BNC hits from academic sources, although it's clearly the preferred spelling in newspapers (10) and magazines (11). – herisson Jul 11 '18 at 04:59
  • @sumelic OK. I have resulted: "-ize" / "-ise" uses in UK. "-ize" - official correspondence, "-ise" - non-official correspondence or talk in UK. And only "-ize" - uses in US. Do I right understand? – Junior L Jul 12 '18 at 01:10
  • Go ahead and stick to your guns. The thing is, I'm not making it up. I provide two sources, the Oxford English Dictionary and the Collins Dictionary, both of which specifically state that "disorganised" is the British spelling. The OED is the Bible of English grammar and spelling. It defines Queen's English. It is irrefutable. So blah, blah, blah this and saw it spelled with a Z in this one place there, but it's to no avail. Oxford has spoken. So has Collins. The dictionaries defy you. And who are we to believe, you and your hodgepodge of non sources or Oxford and Collins? – Billy Jul 12 '18 at 01:11
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    @Billy: I don't understand what you mean. In this answer, you linked to Collins, which says "in BRIT, also use disorganised", and the "Oxford Living Dictionaries" (which is not the same thing as the OED) which says "British disorganised". I don't dispute that "disorganised" is a British English spelling: what I'm saying is it's not the only British English spelling. The OED entry uses the "z" spelling, in fact. – herisson Jul 12 '18 at 01:23
  • @JuniorL: "-ise" definitely seems to be the way to go in non-official contexts in the UK. In official contexts, it would depend on what style guide you are supposed to follow. I don't think either spelling is more official than the other. – herisson Jul 12 '18 at 01:25
  • Thanks Billy and sumelic for discussion. I understood the difference. – Junior L Jul 12 '18 at 01:49
  • The correct OED link specifically has disorganized with a Z. That’s what your so-called “Bible of English grammar and spelling” has: a Z. The link that’s being misrepresented in this post as real is not the OED. Accept no substitutes. – tchrist Jul 12 '18 at 02:29