I'm through/thru with it!

There is no such word as "thru"! Or nite. Or brite. Or any of those other horrible short-forms invented by advertisers. Therefore, the correct spelling is "through".

Sandi LeFaucheur said:

There is no such word as "thru"! Or nite. Or brite. Or any of those other horrible short-forms invented by advertisers. Therefore, the correct spelling is "through".

Click to expand...

Absolutely.

Perhaps your actually hung up on the word "threw", which is the past tense of "throw".

He threw the ball and ran.
He went through the door.

And, yes, there's no such word as thru.

Thru is logical, it's efficient, it's fine for informal emails, but it's one of those things that will brand you as an amateur if you use it in your writing.

thru

Julie Worth said:

Thru is logical, it's efficient, it's fine for informal emails, but it's one of those things that will brand you as an amateur if you use it in your writing.

Click to expand...

When someone sends me an e-mail with "thru" in it, informal or not, it gets deleted the moment I hit the "word" thru. It's neither logical nor efficient, it's illiterate and ignorant, and people who use it in any e-mail are doing no more than spreadng illiteracy and ignorance by validating something a third grader should know not to use.

Jamesaritchie said:

When someone sends me an e-mail with "thru" in it, informal or not, it gets deleted the moment I hit the "word" thru.

Click to expand...

Good move. Such an act of discernment should be rewarded with a dozen donuts.

Admittedly, I do use "through," but I'd much prefer "thru." I've gotten used to using "through," but in my deepest of thoughts I keep thinking "truff" and "troje." No big deal, though (or tho)


Just me.

Thru is like 'Cuz' -- one of those words that makes me fear the writer os a txt-writer. It may be the more logical word but one needs to be able to use conventional language when required. Thru is the sweat pants, through is anything you wear outside the house.

Ah, but you pick a bad example. "cuz" may feel to you more natural, but not throughout the English speaking world. "Because" has no emotional baggage; it waves phonetically, and gets in nobody's way.

Ah, if only Willy had penned, "What lite thru yonder window breaks?"

A consummation devoutly to be wished.

Ah, Maryn...just because a government says thruway, it doesn't make it right. I'd say "thruway" is sort of slang, like "donut". And as for E-Z pass...Hmmm....what's an E-Zed pass anyway?

In the context of New York Thruway, I find it more acceptable, because that is a proper (if grammatically improper) name. But in writing? No way! Stick to the standard form. Although language is dynamic and we don't speak or write the same way that good old Willy Shakes did, standards must be maintained. By this cantankerous old English bird, anyway! Or before long, we'll all be writing L8 for late. Ack.

elzoria said:

Which is appropriate?

I went through the door.

or

I went thru the door.

I get so hung up on this one.

Click to expand...

Check your dictionary. "Thru" is not even a real word.

Not even a real word in the dictionary, Maestro? Had I known that I would not have made such a fool of myself.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary shows thru as a variant of through when you type thru in the search block.

However, when you pull up "through", it doesn't show "thru".

What's up with that?

I dislike seeing it written as "thru", also. Way back when I was learning how to spell it certainly wasn't considered a word.

When in the course of human events, break the rules when you know the rules. Your writing will improve.

Lazy spelling bugs me -- especially in emails. I have very little patience for it in actual books.

Teddy Roosevelt tried to change certain American English spellings -- if he would have succeeded, perhaps we'd have thru and site and CUL8R -- yano? But it never happened...

What the hell is CUL8R? And what's yano?

1. "See you later."

2. "You know."

I wouldn't let my dogs talk like that. Although, number two makes some sense wordwise--except for the grating more acceptable words, you know?

rich said:

Not even a real word in the dictionary, Maestro? Had I known that I would not have made such a fool of myself.

Click to expand...

That reminds me of a scene in Akeelah and the Bee, when Akeelah used the word "dissed" in a sentence, and Professor Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) told her, "What did I say about using words only found in the dictionary?"

She turned around and flipped through the dictionary, read the definition in it, then said, "New words get added to the dictionary all the time."

My thought was: Smart a$$.

Same sentiment, here.

(remember, respect your fellow members. You could have simply pointed out my mistake without being rude. You should have known better than that)

rich said:

I wouldn't let my dogs talk like that. Although, number two makes some sense wordwise--except for the grating more acceptable words, you know?

Click to expand...

If my dogs talked, I'd be rich. And if they spelled, I'd overlook a few typos...

maestrowork said:

(remember, respect your fellow members. You could have simply pointed out my mistake without being rude. You should have known better than that)

Click to expand...

Ray, all I saw was that someone reported finding "thru" in a dictionary.