CAPFlyer wrote:
Because it's named after the sword (who's backcurve can be related to the swept winds of the Sabre) and is more commonly spelled with the -re instead of -er.
Not 'commonly', really. There are no 'rules' for American or British English inscribe anywhere, but British English always gives the -re spelling, while
all the American sources I've checked give the '-er' as the usual or correct American usage, but clearly lots of American's don't do so. As far as I can see, the American use of 'Saber' is usually a continuation of the other '-er' uses they're used to, while those that use 'sabre' regularly stick to the 'imported' spelling.
Quote:
Doing some reading on the "reasoning" behind the difference, it seems to me that with "American English", a lot of the difference comes from first wanting to distinguish the two in writing (practical use - when reading text, there are differences in inflection of some words, and in American English some words have different meetings from the spelling difference - like calibre and caliber)
Thanks, but there's some assumptions there. The switch to 'er' endings in American English is a sensible regularisation to follow pronunciation as it is (accent and historical diversion aside) on both sides of that ocean. British English has just stuck more to their imported French spellings, spelling regularisation being rare in British English. They remain the same words, meaning and basic (unaccented) pronunciation. (Just like 'route'.)
Spelling variation to follow pronunciation with these two (and the other Englishes) is so rare I can't think of an example. Hence the international confusions arising.
All the other words are the same,
excepting calibre and caliber, which are actually words with different meanings - homonyms, like
there and
their, and the classic typo
it's for
its. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomonymQuote:
and secondly American English incorporates more Germanic and French words, thus some of the spelling differences acknowledge those heritages of the words in American English usage.
It's a thorny area to claim American English has more Germanic and French than British English; depends how you count it... Certainly Br English is full of those imports, having been taking them for centuries longer, including many which people think are English, now, including the French! Computer has a French root, yet l'Académie française doesn't want it used in French because it's English...)
Be that as it may, the '-er' ending is an American English change to follow English pronunciation rules of usually French or Romance language words - i.e. the opposite to 'acknowledging the heritage'.
Back to the case of the North American Aviation aircraft (with relief for some I'm sure) I can only conclude that the use of 'saber' in US usage is mostly a lexicographer's desire and myth, following a trend towards such spelling, not usually applied to
this word, and, as illustrated by 'LeSabre' you can sell more because of the 'exotic' name.
As at the start, any evidence welcome. I've only ever seen 'Sabre' in official or authoritative US documentation for the aircraft, and not researched useage in the US military for the sword. Input welcome.
Regards,
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About 12,000 miles from the Limeys, and I thought it reasonable to ask you why you chose their spelling. 
