Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote:
>
> On Thu, 13 May 2004 21:02:52 +0000 (UTC), wrote:
>
> >In the American Southwest and in the Chile-Heads (people who love
> >hot peppers) community, the accepted spellings have become
> >"chile" for the pepper, and "chili" for the soup or stew. "chilli"
> >isn't used at all. Dictionaries aren't the definitive answer, as
> >their meanings and spellings are derived from common usage.
> >
> Bob is correct in that dictionaries are necessarily historical. The
> spelling 'chile' for anything but a country in South America has
> bloomed very recently, but seems to be outgrowing the others.
It's more common in the Southwest I think, but not a recent usage there.
>
> I think the dictionary I quoted reflected dominate usage 30 or 40
> years ago.
>
> I admit I never saw 'chilli' until this discussion.
That's more a British or Anglo-Indian spelling.
>
> However, The OED (1928) has chilli, and chilly as English forms,
> referrs to spanish chile, chili, and Mexican 16th c native chilli.
>
> Of course the latter assumes Mayan written in a Roman alphabet. I am
> not sure how that can be independent of Spanish, but I am not a
> linguist.
>
> Southwestern US usage probably has a lot of Spanish influence.
Of course.
>
> Old habits die hard, especially for old geezers. I will probably
> continue to use "chili" automatically for both soup and the pepper.
>
> Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a
>
>
LOL that's fine. Here in NM, 'chile' is the official spelling. But as
you don't live here, it doesn't matter.