Words that should be spelled differently

Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Tenderiser, Jul 12, 2017.

  1. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    No, you're right, we're NOT agreeing. There's a hard K sound in my SKY-on that isn't there in Cylon. Or... what? Jesus, why is this difficult? No, I'm sure - we're disagreeing. SKY-lon isn't the same as SIGH-lon.

    And now that I've established our disagreement - you're wrong, you illiterate peasant. Smarten up.
     
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  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    And other than the strangely aggressive US speaker, I think you're right...

    http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/scion

    Apparently the word is pronounced in a manner reminiscent of illiterate peasantry. How quaint.
     
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  3. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    I believe in the movie Dogma, one of the characters is The Last Scion, and Alan Rickman (who played the Voice of God in one of my favorite roles of his ever) pronounced it SIGH-on. Not that that has any bearing on the conversation, just an observation. :)
     
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  4. Robert Musil

    Robert Musil Comparativist Contributor

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    Depends on which scion we're talking about, I suppose.
     
  5. JLT

    JLT Contributor Contributor

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    That settles it for me, because Alan Rickman is God. (Or, actually, the Voice of God.)

    Merriam-Webster opts for "SIGN-en" https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scion

    These weird pronunciations got me thinking about reversals, where phonemes are switched. Robert Claiborne points out that in the New York/New Jersey area, "oil" is pronounced "erl" and "burner" is pronounced "boiner." Which means that when it's cold and the erl boiner quits working, things can get into a toymerl.

    And in Texas, "en" is pronounced "in": "Git me a pin and I'll sign it." And "in" is pronounced "en": "Let me pen up the him on that dress."

    All these quote are from Our Marvelous Native Tongue: The Life and Times of the English Language, which should be required reading for anybody who loves words.
     
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  6. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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  7. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I'd second whoever it was that said that we need to get together and standardize (standardise?) the defense/defence offence/offense etc thingy.

    Also, is it grey or gray? I can never remember which one is supposed to be American and which is British.

    And when your word is used in an English sentence, it has to follow English rules. Just as I'm not allowed my guns in Japan, you aren't allowed your Latin plurals when speaking in English. Caesar (there's another one needs fixed to Seezer) may have had different criteria, but we're gonna have either criteria/criterias or criterion/criterions because we're not speaking frikkin' Latin! My vote's for the first one, btw.
     
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  8. Samunderthelights

    Samunderthelights Active Member

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    I once read that it's grEy in England, and grAy in America. There are probably some extra rules to it though, but that's how I try to remember it.

    I hate the word sandwich. Because I always type sandwhich, because of the word which, because that one isn't spelled wich. And then there's also witch... Maybe it's just because english isn't my first language, but I always mess these ones up. Same with whether and weather. They should get rid of the h after the w and be done with it. :meh:
     
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  9. Earp

    Earp Contributor Contributor

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    Why is it impossible to starve to death in the desert? Because of the sand which is there. (Compliments of The Kids Big Book O' Jokes.)

    (Dammit. I came back to change 'complements' to 'compliments', but I'm still not 100% sure.)
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2017
  10. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    Sammich
     
  11. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    *claps softly in tasteful appreciation*

    And just to bolster the above, if anyone is about to type a hackneyed monologue about how English is such a hodgepodge, and we've got words from here and there and everywhere, and at least two syntactic revisions because of Viking conquest, and at least three re-revisions because of Norman-French conquest, and let's not forget what the Latin-loving friars and priests did to English when they were the only literate people around, and blah, blah, blah, as a reason to justify all the idiosyncrasy... Just stop.

    Here's a truth for you: Every major language in the world today can boast a similar storied history. English is in no way unique as regards this aspect.

    My other native language, Spanish, is a Romance Language, but it's got so much Arabic in it that Arabic speaking people can understand a goodly part of anything I say. It's also the largest repository of Celtic word roots outside the extant Celtic languages. But Modern Spanish doesn't try to follow the syntax rules for those other languages. No. The words get borrowed (or sharply imposed), fine, but they will dance the same dance as the rest of the words. And the spelling in Spanish is gorgeously, logically, elegantly phonetic. There are no spelling bees in Spanish speaking countries. They are not needed. If you can say it, you can spell it. We borrow words all the time because Spanish is spoken over a HUGE swath of the globe and has more native speakers than English, so contact with other languages is equally high, but when we borrow them, we write them according to the orthography of Spanish. What other orthography would we use for Spanish but the one made for Spanish?
     
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  12. JLT

    JLT Contributor Contributor

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    You're right. My bad. SIGH-on it is.
     
  13. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Comple> think completes.

    'Compliments of' could be replaced by 'thanks to' and one would be thankful of compliments. Though it is not as intuitive as 'complements complete', you have it correct.
     
  14. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    This desire to standardise the langwidge is double plus ungood Comrade Aschendale, the Ministry of Love will be calling on you shortly
     
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