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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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A friend of mine asked me something the other night as we were on our way up to choir practice that I don't know the answer to; so I thought I'd put it to y'all:
How come, since we say sigh-kul and uni-sigh-kul, etc., we say bi-sickle and tri-sickle?
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old hand
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old hand
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It's all about the sylbabblification and emPHAsis... ;0)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The sigh is an odd syllable and the si is an even syllable.
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old hand
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old hand
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See. I told you so... ;0)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The sigh is an odd syllable and the si is an even syllable. Em...cycle and recycle both sigh...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And some people pronounce it by-sigh-cl, so what's your point?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Not to interrupt the revelry, but it possibly has something to do with the pronunciation of the word cycle, and when the various types of bikes were named. The word cycle /'saɪkl/ predates the others. It may have been that bicycle was originally pronounced /'baɪsaɪkl/, but that the second of the two diphthongs was reduced by some process of dissimulation /'baɪsɪkl/.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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We say moon cycle and moon sickle.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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some people pronounce it by-sigh-cl Wha-at?! Really?? Who does that?? And why?
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old hand
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old hand
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Come on, Jackie, you must have a little southern in you somewheres... ;0)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's all up to whether you stress the -cy- syllable. But then 2sleepy already said that.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I half grew up in Tennessee and have had friends from South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi, but I have never heard anyone say bi-sigh-cle. Hmm--maybe they do over in Texas--that's a whole different south.
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old hand
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old hand
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some people pronounce it by-sigh-cl, - probably those who take it for an exotic means of transport 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I have a 12 year old son of a friend who rides one and
pronounces it uni-SIGH-cle. This is the Great Frozen Plains.
Last edited by LukeJavan8; 02/07/2010 5:49 PM. Reason: typo
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Forgive me for asking this, but have you counted the wheels? Maybe the boy hás a unicycle.
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