According to their website , the Simplified Spelling Society was founded in 1908 with the aim of updating English spelling "for the benefit of learners and users everywhere." The main thrust of their reasoning is that written English would be of greater widespread utility if all sentences, "You are beautiful." for example, were instead written something like "U ar butiful." BBC NEWS recently posted an interesting exchange between Simplified Spelling Society member Masha Bell and linguist Vivian Cook (a spelling "traditionalist," as it were). Read the whole thing here . And before you rush to dismiss simplified spelling enthusiasts out of hand, note that our own beloved Melville Dewey (or "Melvil Dui") was himself an advocate for simplified spelling, credited with, among other things, dropping the -ue and giving us the American spelling of "catalog."