Can I Get a Vowel? Gray v. Grey

Mary and her colleagues at the Hobart and William Smith Admissions office in Geneva, NY, (my alma mater!) emailed to ask us about the spelling of the word "gray."

"My colleague and I were wondering why some folks spell gray with an "a" and some spell it with an "e" - grey? I looked it up on dictionary.com and it looks like it is interchangeable? Who is correct?"

This is a great question. I called Daniele for confirmation and clarification on the answer:

It turns out that "gray" with an "a" is the usual American spelling of the word. In fact, when I spell-checked my return email to Mary, the software yelled at me for "grey" with an "e." The origin of the "e" verision is British; "grey" is the commonly accepted British spelling.

In every dictionary I've checked, however, it seems as though either spelling is acceptable.

So, I guess the spelling really comes down to a matter of patriotism: "a" for America!