Spelling Grammar Words Language

We started a discussion in the comments on certain word usages…. Villages, Reginald Hill, and Pictures of Perfection Reginald Hill a great one for using obscure words, and I had mentioned ‘wrack’ and ‘desert’ used in a specific and unusual way. Everyone had a lot to say. One of the matters I mentioned was that when I was writing for a US magazine, I used the word spelt - as in 'he spelt it wrongly' and there was a furore online, people claiming this word didn't exist except as a grain. I'm sure I asked some grammatically-minded Americans to adjudicate, but can't remember any outcome. I feel there is a distinction: 'He spelled it wrongly' means he always spelled that word incorrectly. 'He spelt it wrongly' means 'on this occasion.' It is a similar construction to learnt, dreamt, and even dwelt, which is definitely archaic. It's good to remember that online furores over word use have been going a long time. Some (the more polite) of my commenters back then would fit right in on Clothes…