Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
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Latest Posts : Misc
I thought you could put /s/ on a copy of a signed letter to indicate the original had been signed. Right or wrong?
Can anyone tell me why the second ‘a’ in Canada and Canadian is pronounced differently?
I’m English/British and I and from England/Britain.
Surely it should either be Can-a-da & Can-a-dian or Can-ay-da & Can-ay-dian...
My guess is it has something to do with the French influence, but I would love to know for sure.
Here in the UK our language has been heavily influenced over the years, including by the French and it has always interested where these things start or change.
I was in empty space in an elevator one day when it occurred to me that it’s actually “pains-taking”, the taking of pains to do something thoroughly. I’d never thought about it before.
But it’s too hard to pronounce “painz-taking”, because the “z” sound must be voiced; whereas the unvoiced “s” combines easily with the “t” to make “-staking”, so that’s what we say. That’s my theory, but BrE might be different. Is it?
Why does the Western media have so many different spellings for some Arabic terms?
eg:
1. hezbollah hesbollah hizbullah hizbollah hisbollah
2. ayatollah ayatullah
I’m having a custom item made to indicate when our home was established. The year will be the year my husband and I were married and started our family. My issue is I’m not sure how our name should appear. Here is the text.
The (LAST NAME)
Est. 2008
Our last name is Myers. Please help! I’m not sure if it should be possessive (ownership of the home/family) or plural (for the people).
At the clinic I was directed to the “subwait area” and left to ponder my fate. I did wonder whether this should be sub-wait and how fully portable “sub” has become as a preposition and/or prefix, when attached to a Germanic-rooted word. What other words are there where “sub” is used as an English word, apart from phrases like “sub judice” and “sub” as a short form of “substitute” eg in sport “he was subbed off”?
Can you please comment on a trend that I have noticed recently. More and more people seem to be pronouncing words that contain the letters “str” as if they were written “shtr”. Strong sounds like shtrong, strange sounds like shtrange, and so on. I have noticed even my favorite NPR journalists mispronouncing these words. I first noticed this pronunciation in one of Michelle Obama’s early speeches. I’d appreciate any insight that you might have.
I have always believed, probably in common with most Scots, that the pronunciation of “gill” varies depending on whether one is referring to the organ of respiration in fishes and other water-breathing animals ( /ɡɪl/ ), or a measure of liquid (/dʒɪl/ ), or even one of the many other variations of the word. I was therefore somewhat surprised recently when watching an episode of QI to hear the erstwhile Stephen Fry and his guests use /ɡɪl/ for both the fishy organ and the liquid measure..
Does anyone know if there are rules governing the pronunciation of “a”? It’s either “AYE” or “UH”, depending on the word following. My preference is dictated by how it sounds and how it flows off the tongue, but I have never been able to establish if actual rules exist.
Americans and Australians tend to use “AYE” all the time and sometime it just sounds ridiculous, like...”Aye man driving aye car stopped at aye traffic light”
What diacritic would I use over the word YANA to accent the first a as an “ah” (short o) sound. It is pronounced Yahna. Thanks!
Latest Comments
“Big of a”
- user110930
- July 28, 2021, 9:22am
I don't mind Americanisms if they make sense, but this one doesn't. 'Big is an adjective'; 'much' is a determiner (or pronoun or adverb). Therefore: "Would you like some of the cake?" and "How much of the cake would you like?" Whereas: "Would you like a big piece of the cake?" and "How big a piece of the cake would you like?"
Texted
- user110929
- July 27, 2021, 7:57pm
I feel that "text ed" sounds redundant I feel that texted sounds redundant if if you pronounce text fully you don't need to enunciate the Ed just my opinion
“graduated high school” or “graduated from high school”?
- Jeff Litwin
- July 26, 2021, 8:12am
If you refer to this source to the experts from this service https://paperell.com/write-my-thesis , who have been writing thesis for many years, then it would be correct to say “graduated from high school”. The current standard usage is to say someone graduated FROM high school. By 1963, the fourth edition of H. L. Mencken's book "The American Language" said that the active form had triumphed over the passive form because of the American drive to simplify the language. https://www.grammarly.com/
Upon/on
- Jeff Litwin
- July 26, 2021, 8:06am
Sells or sold?
- Jeff Litwin
- July 26, 2021, 8:03am
Yeah, i agree with Rik853,
"Sold only if they used to sell them but they do not sell them anymore."
Fetch Referring to People?
- Boopy
- July 24, 2021, 1:09pm
A friend of mine was banned from Barnes and noble when he went in on crutches and asked an employee to fetch some books for him as it would be impossible for him to do so. He’s from North Carolina. He has very good manners.
LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
- Ramart
- July 23, 2021, 8:10pm
Regarding the many commenters who've made the "You wouldn't say sheeps..." argument:
Isn't that a classic case of begging the question (in the actual meaning of that oft-misused phrase, i.e., to assume the truth of the premise of one's argument)?
Who decreed that "Lego" is equivalent to "sheep" and "deer," for example, with regard to the toy name supposedly also being a plural forms not needing to end with "s"? And why does the "LEGO/Lego/Legos" debate attract more fervor than does the constant and potentially dangerous misuse of "media" as a monolithic singular entity?
If Ford declares that, henceforth, its name is also a plural, would I then be wrong to say, "I own two Fords"?
If I had told my grammatically precocious child, "Pick up your Lego," he would have scoffed, "Which one?"
There is no such a thing as...
- gulyásleves
- July 18, 2021, 10:43am
Hi, I’ve read your article happily. I am also Hungarian like your father. Do you speak Hungarian?
LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
- Timmber
- July 16, 2021, 4:10pm
There are LEGO tiles, LEGO bricks, LEGO plates, LEGO minifigs, LEGO wheels, LEGO sets, LEGO books etc etc etc. you want to pluralize something, pluralize the item, not the brand.
Mileage for kilometers
Hi,
I work in the healthcare industry in Canada and have heard and used the term "kilometration". Although, I must admit I have never found such a term validated anywhere on the internet. I am afraid this might be a made-up word, but sounds great for the purpose, doesn't it?.
Cheers!
Orlando