I tend to use "grey," but I blame JRR Tolkien and Chris Claremont.
#ddtb
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“Grey”
The color or colour between black and white. U.S. spelling has traditionally been gray, and British (or at least modern British) grey. The OED notes:
With regard to the question of usage, an inqui……
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My spelling is infested with many Anglicisms due to reading many British authors. Irritates the hell out of me when Philistine M$ Office presumes to correct me.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), I end up with or modifying enough documents that are generated in non-US locales that I can’t trust what MS Word tells me about whether a word is spelled correctly (US v UK-wise).
Gray, in the U.S., as in graywacke, an interesting metamorphosed rock. Also a name I gave to a friendly neighborhood cat who used to hang around my back yard a lot, but who has disappeared. He may have found a better backyard to occupy, but I fear Graywacke has gone to the Great Beyond. A pox on people who throw their cats outside!
I rather prefer “grey”, she said is a somewhat British sentence construction. Yes, lots of British authors read, lots of British history read, Lady Jane Grey and Earl Grey tea, and I proudly wield Oxford Commas.
But I too have that perception as “gray” being a warmer color.
I far prefer grey to gray. It seems a better portrayal of how I actually say the word, and at least half a social strata over where I currently abide.
I use grey, and yes, I blame Tolkien and Claremont, too.
😉
There, fixed it for you.
What throws me with spell checkers is when they flag up something correct, and offer me the Columbine spelling. I sit there trying to remember if I’m right or it is.