Semantics - 'WW2', or 'WWII' ?

Discussion in 'Historiography' started by von Poop, May 1, 2010.

?

Which abbreviation do you use?

  1. WW2

    7.5%
  2. WWII

    57.5%
  3. Either

    34.9%
  1. A-58

    A-58 Not so senior Member

    The "Greater" War....
     
    Slipdigit likes this.
  2. slaphead

    slaphead very occasional visitor

    The year before I went to the local comprehensive, my school was a grammar and still had the "old school" teachers, so it was
    The Great War
    The Second World War
    and WWI and WWII (I'm guessing Latin pretentions still even for us oiks?)
     
  3. slaphead

    slaphead very occasional visitor

    I always think, rightly or wrongly, Of 'WWII' as a primarily American usage, or maybe more suited to dramatic film posters.

    Been thinking about this a bit more.
    Royalty (who used to start all these wars) were always Name and Number.
    So our Queen is refered to as "Queen Elizabeth the second" and that is abridged to Elizabeth II. George the sixth was George IV and so on.

    So I would go with Smudger Jnr that the Roman numerals are more European than American... That they look better in posters is more to do with designers creativity ???

    Having just searched unsucessfully for the AVP III game poster (where the "3" is done as 3 slashes in the paper as if there has been an Alien striking the poster) I found that all the film and game posters for a "3" film use the number 3 and not the III

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Is it correct that the film 'The Madness Of King George' wasn't called 'The Madness of King George III' as people would wonder where the other 2 films were?
    ;)
     
  5. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Hahahaha, that had never ocurred to me !
     
  6. KevinC

    KevinC Slightly wierd

    Been thinking about this a bit more.
    Royalty (who used to start all these wars) were always Name and Number.
    So our Queen is refered to as "Queen Elizabeth the second" and that is abridged to Elizabeth II. George the sixth was George IV and so on.


    so poor George got demoted from George 6 to George 4 ( or was it promoted) :D
    for the record
    WWII
     
    von Poop likes this.
  7. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Damn! He went backwards!
     
  8. bofors

    bofors Senior Member

    WW2, WWII , the Second World War, what does it matter as long as you know what you are talking about and by the looks of things you need to use all if you are googling!!

    regards

    Robert
     
  9. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    When talking about the Second World War I probably use both 'World War Two' and 'Second World War' interchangeably without thinking about it.
    On the internet I invariably use WW2 (although this sometimes appears as WW" due to my dubious typing abilities) rather than WWII.
    On First World War I use that term or WW1, never used 'The Great War' or WWI.
    Is this an English thing? What do other nations use?

    Mike
     
  10. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Another thought on the subject.......................

    Whenever I've recommended this site I simply say "Key in doubleyew doubleyew two talk dot com, all one word".

    I very much doubt that my listener would even think of GOOGLING for "wwII.com

    Ron
     
  11. AussieBrit

    AussieBrit Junior Member

    WW11 seems OK to me, I use this all the time, it has a better ring to it

    Aussie Brit
     
  12. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    WW11

    World War Eleven ?
     
  13. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    WW1+1 perhaps?
     
  14. marcus69x

    marcus69x I love WW2 meah!!!

    A bit different from the thread title, but which Japanese city did the Americans drop an Atom bomb on, other than Nagasaki?

    Is it Hir-o-shima, or Hiro-sheema?

    How do you pronounce it?
     
  15. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Simple, go here!


    Hi·ro·shi·ma

    [​IMG] /ˌhɪər[​IMG]oʊˈʃi[​IMG]mə, hɪˈroʊ[​IMG]ʃə[​IMG]mə; Japn. ˈhi[​IMG]rɔˈʃi[​IMG]mɑ/
     
  16. marcus69x

    marcus69x I love WW2 meah!!!

    Aye Za, but that gives two different pronunciations. I think it's each to their own. Heard lots of people say it differently. I say Hiro-sheema.
     
  17. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    I wouldn't say you're too far wrong :)

    Having gone through a lot of Japanese cinema throughout life , pronounciation can sound rather different from the written form, this one would sound like Hirôôô - shmah , a long "o" and a very clipped "shima" with the "i" almost mute.

    English is the only language I know where an "i" can be pronounced "eye" :) so "Hairoshaima" never!!
     
  18. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    WW2 or WWII, the Dutch confuse it even more.
    WO 2.
    :)
     
  19. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  20. A-58

    A-58 Not so senior Member

    A bit different from the thread title, but which Japanese city did the Americans drop an Atom bomb on, other than Nagasaki?

    Is it Hir-o-shima, or Hiro-sheema?

    How do you pronounce it?
    We call it "the first one we dropped the bomb on".

    In Slipdigit's part of the country, they would call it "Heero-sheemer".
     

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