IF ENGLISH IS YOUR SECOND LANGUAGE how can you figure out the pronunciation of Word and Sword?


WORDS   Delightful . Obscure/Redundant. Mispronounced. Spelled Differently.



 I have some favourite words which I try to use every day. viz:


Kerfuffle     Bloviate    Peregrinate   Comestible 


Can you create a sentence which uses all four?

------

Why have these words fallen out of style?  I rarely see them in newspapers nowadays


Gubernatorial     Solon

------


What is the difference between these two words which mean the same thing.  JAIL in the U.S.A.   GAOL  in the U.K. (a usage which is dying out).


https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-did-we-ever-spell-jail-gaol-


-----

And why do we cash Checks in the U.S. and Cheques  in the U.K?


A cheque is a document used by an account holder to pay out funds from her account. In Australia and New Zealand, it refers to your wages. If you are American, you probably call this a check. The cheque spelling comes from France. The French spelling had some use in the United States centuries ago, but now check is standard


c/f  Exchequer 


-------


When I was a youngster I was sometimes mizuled. Other folks were simply misled.

Similarly in my home City the local bakery (Parker's) had the brand name of Vitta Litty for their bread.  Most people called it Parker's Vitality bread.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more