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"Many illustrious people frequently spelled their name in various ways including William Shakespeare who spelled his name Shakespeare, Shakespere, Shakespear, Shakspere and Shaxspere."

So wright you are. In my own ancestry, in one family the father and his two sons spelt their surname three distict personal ways (Scots-Irish).

Starrat
Starratt
Starritt

My own great-grandfather is the source for my surname. In his lifetime he spelled it three ways (Swedish).

Andreasson
Andersson
Anderson

Reasons for spelling differences abound: Many people couldn't read and write, immigration, change of customs, etc.

No justifiable reason to be hard on this woman, who is apparently a legitimate artiste.

George Bush obviously has problems with speaking in a grammatically correct way. If you look at a transcript of the debate his words and sentences probably look fractured and don't follow a strict rules.

I'm not voting for him for his strict adherence to grammar rules, but rather the content of his ideas. Kerry speaks in a rigid, grammitically correct way, but his ideas are hollow. Maybe some of the grammar police here should switch sides and vote Kerry.

These meretricious arguments about the lack of standardization in the spelling of proper names in ancient times are frankly disingenuous. Prior to the eighteenth century there was not even a standardized English spelling of many common words. But we don't live in the nineteenth century. In the last hundred years the spellings of English names, places, and common words has been standardized.

A person of minimal intelligence and professionalism can check the spellings of words in an exhibit to be used in a public display. That is the point of this protest: like many artists, Alquilar is of the opinion that she can turn out crap at the taxpayers' expense, then insult people who question her professionalism. Preposterous excuses about "not understanding art" or "names not having standardized spelling" don't cut it. A seventh grader would be red-marked for misspelling Shakespeare's name, and an artist who claims to be competent to use a computer can run a spelling check.

Fix the mural or have it removed.

Do you honestly think the artist was deliberately using archaic spellings? Does she use Old English or Middle English spellings on her other works? Doesn't seem likely to me.

William Shakespeare is a major literary figure, and thus there is a standard modern English spelling for his name.

I love the irony of this so-called artist misspelling the names of some of the most well-known artists in history! Yup, she certainly knows more about art than us peasants.