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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
MaxQ's post about "Palestine/Philistine" popped to mind a question illustrated by this limerick:
. A male lepidopterist author
. Waxed wrother and wrother and wrother,
. Because his own brother
. Had called him a mother
. Instead of an eminent mother.
Is there a term for pairs of words which, though spelled the same, are pronounced differently and have entirely unrelated meanings?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Apparently the lepidopterist "mother" is a homograph but not a homonym of female parent "mother." A long time ago in Reader's Digest there was a little chuckle about an old fashioned librarian being upset when a young girl lepidopterist wanted to borrow a book entitled "What Every Young Mother Should Know."
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
When I was heavily into costuming for theatre, I always insisted on being referred to as a stitcher. The alternative, of course, being sewer. 
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Fiberbabe: surely you could have sewed without being a sore.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dr. Bill comments that Fiberbabe could have sewed without being a sore.
Long's she don't sue nobody.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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While thinking about "sew" I noticed I could not think of another word in which "..ew.." rhymes with "owe".Can you?
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Joined: Feb 2001
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addict
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addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
another word in which "..ew.." rhymes with "owe".
Only "shew" as the alternative spelling of "show". Still seen on oldish railway posters in UK. As kids we vandalised the "Passangers are kindly requested to shew their tickets" signs to read "chew" instead of "show".
Rod
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veteran
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veteran
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Posts: 1,289 |
There is also strew, the old spelling of strow, pronounced the same as shew.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Not a word I've uttered very often, but when I have, I've always pronounced the rew part like rue.
Bingley
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