The most successful push on spelling was when the Chicago Tribune switched to simplified spelling in the 1940s through the 1960s.[1] They started with about 40 words, and gradually expanded. But after McCormick died, the company gave up, retaining only "tho" for "though". That ended in 1975.[2]

[1] https://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_media/tribune-media...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/30/archives/thru-is-through-...

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tdeck 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> In support of its adoption of "drouth" in place of "drought" THE TRIBUNE cites the fact that most persons use the pronunciation indicated by the first — and simpler — spelling.

This one seems very strange. Do people really pronounce the final sound as /θ/?

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xboxnolifes 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I've never heard anyone ever pronounce it that way.

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Freedom2 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yes, I've heard that commonly pronounced by Americans. Not to mention that most will also try to correct you if you dare pronounce it differently than they do!

	▲	tdeck 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I'm an American and don't remember ever hearing this pronunciation. Wiktionary lists /draʊt/ for both the US and UK pronunciation. America has a lot of regional accents though, it's not unbelievable to me that this exists somewhere.
	▲	cratermoon 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I’ve also heard it as drouth. It is, in fact, an archaic alternate spelling https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/drought-or-drouth

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reaperducer 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Colonel McCormick actually got together with a bunch of other large newspaper owners to push the simplified spelling. Not for any kind of altruistic reason, but to save on ink and paper.

All these people who have pushed for simplified spelling since don't realize they're carrying water for another era's long-dead barons.

/Former Tribune employee who heard it from the old-timers.