It's 4:30. Good night.

[jutfrank]

I'm becoming more and more convinced that the single-word spelling can rightfully be classified as BrE usage.

I also wonder whether it may be fairly well-associated with a particular age demographic within the UK, since the more senior BrE-speaking members here don't seem to find it quite so natural as some of the less senior ones.

Both emsr2d2 and myself grew up in a time when this was very popular among kids, and it wasn't long after that this first appeared on UK television. I'm sure I could find other examples of use in mainstream media from this time.

 

[jutfrank]

... From the Wikipedia page linked in the post above:

"Harper & Row published an American edition within the calendar year."

Yes, the US publishers did see fit to alter the spelling for an American readership. See here.

 

[emsr2d2]

Both emsr2d2 and myself grew up in a time when this was very popular among kids, and it wasn't long after that this first appeared on UK television. I'm sure I could find other examples of use in mainstream media from this time.

Did we? I've never heard of the book! I've heard of the TV series and probably watched about ten minutes of it. Not my cup of tea!

 

[jutfrank]

Did we? I've never heard of the book! I've heard of the TV series and probably watched about ten minutes of it. Not my cup of tea!

Yes, the book was very popular throughout the 80s. I believe it even formed part of the school syllabus for a few years.

The TV sitcom was not good, but still popular. Mind you, everything on primetime BBC1 back then was popular.