Words that would have been better...

Ooooh funky

I use any word when it comes out heehee

The Germanic influence bothers me when I try to explain pronunciation to my children, such as:

Daughter and Laughter.

Even the simplest words, like So and Do, make it difficult to find an easy way to describe phonetics.

Eventually, I throw my hands up and say, "Just keep reading, damn it! Then you'll understand without ever really knowing why."

Some dads know by instinct how to help their kids learn.

Yeah, you're probably right about all that, Willow. But what's a man to tell his children?

I've tried, "Hey, kids, blame the Romans."

And they say, "Why, Daddy?"

To which I answer, "Heck, I don't know. We need to blame someone."

Then my oldest boy, the smart aleck, says, "Dad, if you're trying to place blame, you'd better go back a few more centuries."

After I smacked him, he refused to tell me what he was talking about.

Kids these days...

In German, everything is pronounced logically. In fact, the Germans recently got together and revised their spelling to make everything even more logical and systematic! (Which is very interesting, to let a group of people who can decide such things for everyone else - the French have a similar approach, with regulation that affects the French language.)

I've heard that English spelling used to be logical, and that it is the sounds of the words which have changed, as opposed to the spelling of the words having changed. If you want a case that's worse than daughter / laughter, consider "ough" - cough, bough, dough, through - have you had enough?

Kind regards
Victoria Grossack
www.tapstryofbronze.com

Willowmound said:

What's the longest English word that does not repeat a letter?

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Uncopyrightable.

(I cheated.)

Long live Esperanto (practically dead)!

Willowmound said:

...with a vowel mutation.

Like moose. I like mooses. Mooses are cool. But wouldn't it have been better if they were called 'meese'? One moose, two meese?

I certainly think so.

And what about 'quit'?

"I quit," he thought. Then he quat.

What else?

There's nothing like a good vowel mutation.

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I think it would be better if we had gooses, mouses and sheeps.

JimmyB27 said:

I think it would be better if we had gooses, mouses and sheeps.

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I am in agreement. I hate words that change their spelling from singular to plural. Man, Men. What's wrong with Mans? How many mans does it take to screw up a language?

Krankenhaus-spankin' haus

"SMile" because it's a "mile" long after the "S!!!"

(I have been carrying around that joke since the third grade......)

Shadow_Ferret said:

How many mans does it take to screw up a language?

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One. A mans will screw anything.

s:/ rimshot