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#3244 06/02/00 03:17 PM
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tsuwm Offline OP
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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=word

There is also a recent discussion of 'story' used in the building sense which will interest those who followed that thread here.


#3245 06/03/00 11:19 AM
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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.


#3246 06/03/00 11:38 AM
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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.


#3247 06/03/00 11:17 PM
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I'm definitely with the "t". It sounds weird without, not sure if this places me above or below the salt.


#3248 06/04/00 09:33 AM
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>>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!


#3249 06/04/00 03:23 PM
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tsuwm Offline OP
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>not sure if this places me above or below the salt.

please gloss...


#3250 06/04/00 04:35 PM
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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.html

Thank goodness I can say nuclear!




#3251 06/04/00 05:13 PM
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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.


#3252 06/04/00 07:00 PM
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#3253 06/04/00 07:07 PM
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You got it!

Gaudete!


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