My, you went in a different direction. My mind was looking at the "ten-ant" part of the word, and wondering if any or all of the previously mentioned were just about as popular *as* ten ants? ;-))
-- Carey (still giggling quite giddily....)
Of-ten.
Hugs, Kather> ok, here's another one! Often. How do you pronounce it? Off-Ten, or
I think so, Gwen, since my father - who was definitely NOT an Aussie - pronounced it the same way.
Kather> Katherine I would like to say that is a bit of the Aussie coming out
LOL Or of mother being stubborn. I remember years later, she refused to sing "Adeste Fidelis" in English.
Kather> Katherine, a case of "mother know best " says i with a grin God > Bless Gwen >
I've always preferred it in Latin too. I miss when Mass used to be done in Latin as well... it always seemed holier that way. Also, when we used to have Midnight Mass in Latin on Christmas Eve, there were always more non-Catholic people in the church than Catholics. ;o)
Peace! Gemini
Off-en. It was always that way until somebody decided to go all "poetic" about the time "correct spelling" was invented, and invented the spelling with the "t" in it, back-formed from "oft". Then some people looked at the spelling and began to pronounce it that way. One of the puns in Gilbert and Sullivan depends on the off-en pronunciation.
=Tamar
Really? Interesting.
Katherine
Scientific language is more or less dictated by the official bodies in different countries and that is where the difference came from in this case; the original discoverer's spelling was kept by the American scientific community because the rule is that the first spelling is what is used; the UK scientific community decided to make it "match" some (though not all) of the other names of chemical elements, so they added the "i". This is a genuine difference in official languages and is not likely to evolve.
=Tamar
Lester is the town /county/ whatever name, but maybe the name of the breed of sheep (and therefore of the wool) is changing. Or it might be local dialect.
=Tamar
I think you missed the post where she said there is the extra "i" in their spelling. ALUMINIUM. ;>)
Shelagh
heh, heh - for some Canadians maybe - but not this one. ;>)
Shelagh
Tee hee - I love the Scots - I have Scottish ancestors - but hey - even I have a hard time understanding the speech patterns sometimes. ;>)
Shelagh
Yeah, I saw that later. Just like the English to put extra vowels in words.... :)
sue
Or Canadians/Americans to remove one - "neighbour/neighbor". I spell it with the "u".
Katherine
AH, well, it is our uniqueness which makes us special, isn't it?
Katherine
"Carey N." spun a FINE 'yarn' n news:RDA2f.2323$C62.1651@trndny05:
OMGosh! I actually WAS thinking ten ants, but then tenant flew into my head and I just HAD to go there, LOL! Noreen the ants are marching one by one harrah, harrah, the ants are marching one by one, harrah, harrah,....
extra vowels would be quite preferable to extra bowels, don't we think????? running and ducking.... Noreen
Since I have trouble pronouncing it, I actually say foil wrap.
OH GWEN all this wasted not pronounced letters :>:>:>
English is sometimes quite Enigmatic , to may of us ... mirjam laugh>Shelagh, I agree with that - I admit we say Lef- ten -ant though.
To enhance the fun
When you say in English Me it is the Hebrew word for who , When you say in English Who it is the Hebrew word for HE, when you say in English HE it is the Hebrew word for She real translation for Me =Oty , Who =Me , He =HOO [who] She =He now work that one out hahahhah mirjam
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