Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 12.07.2019 23:42

 AH>> I also note with interest that our neighbours to the south tend to
 AH>> shorten the spelling of words like "cheque" and
"neighbour", in an
 AH>> apparent attempt to simplify the language.

 AK>> Is "check and neighbor" a tendency to shorten?
 AK>> It is just the American spelling which is different
 AK>  from the British/Canadian one.

 AH> Can you think of any [esp. US] spelling which requires more letters
 AH> than the [esp. UK/Can/Aus] equivalent? Offhand, I can't....

I am not sure I understand. If they (Americans, your south neighbours)
shorten "neighbour" they got "neighbor", the American
spelling.
https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/neighbour

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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