Spell Check

[imoldernu]

Adviser or Advisor?

 

[ERD50]

Fermenter or Fermentor? (a vessel for fermentation)

 

[RonBoyd]

Fermenter or Fermentor? (a vessel for fermentation)

Hmmmm. March 2005: Grammar Trap: adviser vs. advisor

Grammar Trap: adviser vs. advisor
According to most sources, both spellings are acceptable, but my Webster's doesn't have a separate listing for "advisor" (with an "o"), it is merely an alternate spelling of the listed word, "adviser" (with an "e").

As with all words that have alternate spellings, consistency is the key. You can't refer to an “adviser” in one part of a document and an “advisor” in another. That's why, for example, the Associated Press prohibits “advisor.”

 

[scrabbler1]

According to my Scrabble dictionary (4th edition, not the one which just came out last month), advisEr is the preferred spelling while advisOr is the alternate spelling.

 

[Walt34]

I thought one was male and the other female.

 

[Sarah in SC]

In the financial advisory business we always refer to ourselves with the O. I have no idea why, to be honest. I've never seen it spelled adviser.

 

[imoldernu]

In the financial advisory business we always refer to ourselves with the O. I have no idea why, to be honest. I've never seen it spelled adviser.

Exactly...
For some time now, the spell checkers have been correcting me... Just didn't look right with the "e". Nice to see some commiseration.

 

[braumeister]

Sounds like the situation where real estate agents got the word Realtor® trademarked.

Are we likely to see Financial Advisor® eventually?

 

[marko]

Exactly...
For some time now, the spell checkers have been correcting me... Just didn't look right with the "e". Nice to see some commiseration.

I go with the "O" but like you, my spell checker says "E".

 

[donheff]

I go with "o" despite the objection of spell checkers. Like others, it just doesn't look right to me with an "e." Probably because the industry uses the "o" spelling.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Sounds like the situation where real estate agents got the word Realtor® trademarked.

Are we likely to see Financial Advisor® eventually?

Not likely. The CFP is already in existence, as is CFA, with certification processes in place.

 

[rbmrtn]

The oxford dictionary explanation ( there is no right answer )

Nouns ending in -er, -or, and -ar - Oxford Dictionaries (US)

 

[Tadpole]

I go with the "e" if the word is small case and the individual is a non-professional. I go with the "o" when the term is associated with a professional person or company. So Meryl is an "Advisor" and my husband is my adviser.

(Not related to any grammar rules other than my observation of my own tendency to make it up as I go.)