On 20/12/2013 10:40, Nigel Burtt wrote:
> That will be BRIMSTONE... (as in "fire and brimstone", or "Brimstone and Treacle" if you are a Dennis Potter fan)
>
> Sulphur (with a ph not f)
>
> Didn't know the sanskrit bonus but wikipedia says "the smelly one" - which sounds about right. Remember that on Christmas Day afternoon after excessive consumption of brussel sprouts...
>
> Merry Xmas all
>
> Nigel
I believe the ph spelling of sulfur is obsolescent in UK English. My 
SOED (several years old) gives both spellings, but it states clearly 
that the f is used in the US and in the UK for chemical contexts.

Wikipedia states:
However, the IUPAC 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Pure_and_Applied_Chemistry> 
adopted the spelling /sulfur/ in 1990, as did the Royal Society of 
Chemistry <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_of_Chemistry> 
Nomenclature Committee in 1992.^[6] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#cite_note-6> The Qualifications and 
Curriculum Authority 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualifications_and_Curriculum_Authority> 
for England and Wales recommended its use in 2000,^[7] 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#cite_note-7> and it now appears in 
GCSE exams.^[8] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#cite_note-8> The 
Oxford Dictionaries note that /"In chemistry... the -f- spelling is now 
the standard form in all related words in the field in both British and 
US contexts."/^[9] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur#cite_note-9> 
Obviously,  this is more recent than my SOED.

Brian



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