Hrm...

[asheris]

After getting the rest done that can be done without the rest of the needed content, I did a little checking.

Apparently enquiry is the English spelling, and inquiry is the American spelling. I know which I prefer, but I suppose I shouldn't give the site a "pretentious" feel. Mark that down as another spelling issue to be clarified...

Comments

[meta.livejournal.com]

Not true. "Enquire" is to ask; "inquire" is to make a formal (usually written) inquiry. So you'd say "He decided to enquire when they would be open", but "He requested an inquiry into their behavior".

This is true in the USA as well as the UK, it's just that a lot of Americans don't know it. It doesn't help that stupid "dictionaries" like Webster's don't explain the difference, and list the two as synonyms.

Next lesson: "ensure" vs "insure" :-)

[keith-london.livejournal.com]

"Inquiry" is quite common in the news - as in e.g. "The Bristol Babies Inquiry (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/health/2001/the_bristol_babies_inquiry/)" or in the context of a Governmental "Official Inquiry" - a formal process to seek the truth or answers to questions that are in the gretaer public interest.

Making enquiries, I guess, would be part of the process of an official "Inquiry" :-)