red750 Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 Here's one for O.M.E. Do you know why there are so many "silent letters" in English? Like the 'b' in doubt and debt, the 'p' in psychology (and in swimming ) etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tuncks Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 I do know that the silent "k" used to be pronounced. A few of the other silent letters ( Read vs red) I reckon help to convey more meaning in writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man emu Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 8 hours ago, red750 said: Do you know why there are so many "silent letters" in English? Here's a place to start. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Plumber is from Lead Pb (Plumbum). Change spelling to Led ZED LERN and you lose word meaning . Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I still blame the French with their rotten language full of mangled pronunciation. We were on a bus approaching Gare Saint-Lazare, intent on jumping off to look at the Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine - and an old peasant French lady opposite us took great interest in us (probably our Aussie accents), and said to me, "Gah sala zah?? Gah sala zah?" - obviously intent on helping us find Gare Saint-Lazare. The problem was, I couldn't understand what she was saying! I gathered she was trying to be helpful with our destination, so I just replied, "Non! - Madeleine!" and this satisfied her. We wouldn't have half the English spelling and pronunciation problems if the French had kept their lousy language to themselves! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Yeah Poms told me "WOGS begin at Calais" and asked why would I go "THERE?" Could we be confident if the situation was reversed and happened in Australie the courteous action would be duplicated. I had a French Businessman WALK two bocks with me out of his way to help me find the Spanish Consulate in Toulouse.. . Nev 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 It's a good question for Roly Sussex. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red750 Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C? Why is there a 'D' in fridge, but not in refrigerator? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Just now, red750 said: Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C? Neither, if you take the c as a soft c as in cent. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_Atrick Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I know a lot of NZ'ers who who pronounce it as skent... Oh.. Wait.. Now I get it; they meant they wree skint! 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 16 minutes ago, Jerry_Atrick said: I know a lot of NZ'ers who who pronounce it as skent... Oh.. Wait.. Now I get it; they meant they wree skint! 😉 Nah, they'd pronounce that "scunt". And I haven't put the "s" on the wrong end. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man emu Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 12 hours ago, red750 said: Why is there a 'D' in fridge, but not in refrigerator? "Refrigerator" from refrigerate, which itself is from from Latin refrigeratus, "make cool or cold." Notice that there is no "d" before the "g". "Fridge" is shortened and altered form of refrigerator. The addition of a letter is an unusual way of word-formation in English. The "dg" sound is a voiced, alveo-palatal, affricate consonant. It is interesting that in the word refrigerate, the "dg" sound appears, but the "d" has never been part of the spelling of the word. Without the "d", fridge would have to be pronounced something like "frig" similarly to the sound of the type of ship the frigate. Maybe sometimes the spelling of new words actually helps with their pronunciation. "Fridge" only came into the language in the 1920s when the household item we know began to be purchased more. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmccarthy Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 I knew a frigid midget with a rigid digit. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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