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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Do you, or folks you know, pronounce 'often' by sounding the 't'? There is a very interesting discussion of this in today's Random House 'Word of the Day'. http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/?action=dly__cron_arc&fn=wordThere is also a recent discussion of 'story' used in the building sense which will interest those who followed that thread here.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Cool! Fascinating history of story!
Tsuwm, somewhere within you lies a born instructor,
I just know it!
Incidentally, I say offen, but often hear off-ten.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
A key part of the plot of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance rests on the pronunciation of, respectively, 'often' and 'orphan', which suggests that in the late 19th century both words sounded similar, ie the 't' was not sounded.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
I'm definitely with the "t". It sounds weird without, not sure if this places me above or below the salt.
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 112
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 112 |
>>I'm definitely with the "t". <<
Me, too!
In "Souf Effrican Inglush" the 't' is silent. Not that that's any criterion - the language is of't'en severely mauled.
Your turn with the salt, Jo!
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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>not sure if this places me above or below the salt.
please gloss...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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>the pronunciation without the (t) sound became predominant among the educated classes in North America and Great Britain, and the one that included (t) was not looked upon kindly In the middle ages people sat at a long table in the manor house. The peasantry sat below the salt. By extension - I am a peasant! http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/list/61200.htmlThank goodness I can say nuclear!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In the late 60s and early 70s, I was very "into" folk music. I still have an album by a surely-defunct-by-this-time British group called "Fotheringay". Its title is "Below the Salt." The cover picture illustrates well the concept.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Pooh-Bah
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