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Posted by NDJoan on June 29, 2009, 12:38 pm
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> I've heard lots of US folk say 'scone' to rhyme with 'stone' instead of
> 'shone' (which ought to rhyme with 'john' but often doesn't).
Butbutbut.....words that end with e make the previous vowel a long
sound! If it were to rhyme with john, it would be spelled scon!
Take *that*, Trish! :)
Joan (not john! -- two vowels make the first one long: moan, mean,
jean, boar, receipt, etc. )
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Posted by Trish Brown on June 29, 2009, 6:10 pm
NDJoan wrote:
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>
>> I've heard lots of US folk say 'scone' to rhyme with 'stone' instead of
>> 'shone' (which ought to rhyme with 'john' but often doesn't).
>
> Butbutbut.....words that end with e make the previous vowel a long
> sound! If it were to rhyme with john, it would be spelled scon!
>
> Take *that*, Trish! :)
>
> Joan (not john! -- two vowels make the first one long: moan, mean,
> jean, boar, receipt, etc. )
Pbblllfffttt! *Nothing* is regular in the English language and it's the
exceptions to the rules that make it interesting. Hence, we have one
mouse, two mice; one house, two houses. And so on. (You'll be pleased to
know that our Eglantine is still kicking on, even after all this time. I
have to give her a hot water bottle at night, since she's alone, but
other than that, she's as spry as a phly. Isn't that great?)
A propos of two vowels, what about 'gaol', then? Hm? And 'cough' (koffkoff)?
Getting back to scones, did you ever see a film by the name 'The Stone
of Destiny'? It has Robert Carlyle ('Hamish MacBeth' and 'The Full
Monty') in it and is about the kidnapping of the Stone of Scone from
beneath the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey and its subsequent
return to Scotland. We enjoyed it enormously!
FWIW, I cannot make decent scones to save my life! When I make 'em, they
weigh a ton and would qualify as decent ammunition rounds rather than
light, fluffy treats. Snif! I have scone dyslexia!
Getting back to the subject at hand, another peeve of mine is the almost
universal use of an apostrophe to form plurals. Where on earth did that
come from? I mean, it's not that hard to remember apostrophes are used
for contractions and for ownership. Is it? I nearly fainted when DD's
principal did it *three times* on the front page of the school
newsletter! Urgh!
--
Trish Brown
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Posted by Parrotfish on June 29, 2009, 6:35 pm
"Trish Brown" wrote ...
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<snipperty>
> Getting back to the subject at hand, another peeve of mine is the almost
> universal use of an apostrophe to form plurals. Where on earth did that
> come from? I mean, it's not that hard to remember apostrophes are used for
> contractions and for ownership. Is it? I nearly fainted when DD's
> principal did it *three times* on the front page of the school newsletter!
> Urgh!
> --
A sign outside our local farm shop announced.......
'100 Real Ale's'
I said to my husband that we should pop in.
'For the beer?' he said.
'Nooooo...... so that I can ask them to correct the sign'.
And another thing!
We went to the school Summer Fete yesterday, and noted in the programme were
the raffle prizes. I wonder if I've won a *Neckless* ?
--
Regards..............P-f
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Posted by m&m on June 29, 2009, 8:46 pm
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> "Trish Brown" =A0wrote ...
> > Getting back to the subject at hand, another peeve of mine is the almos=
t
show/hide quoted text
> > universal use of an apostrophe to form plurals. Where on earth did that
> > come from? I mean, it's not that hard to remember apostrophes are used =
for
show/hide quoted text
> > contractions and for ownership. Is it? I nearly fainted when DD's
> > principal did it *three times* on the front page of the school newslett=
er!
show/hide quoted text
> > Urgh!
> > --
> A sign outside our local farm shop announced.......
> '100 Real Ale's'
> I said to my husband that we should pop in.
> 'For the beer?' he said.
> 'Nooooo...... so that I can ask them to correct the sign'.
> And another thing!
> We went to the school Summer Fete yesterday, and noted in the programme w=
ere
show/hide quoted text
> the raffle prizes. I wonder if I've won a *Neckless* ?
> --
> Regards..............P-f
I have been seeing "loose" instead of "lose" more and more often as in
"I'd hate to loose my current WIP on the train." Has something been
updated in Webster's and I've not been notified?
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Posted by Dawne Peterson on June 30, 2009, 12:49 am
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> "Trish Brown" wrote ...
>> Getting back to the subject at hand, another peeve of mine is the almost
>> universal use of an apostrophe to form plurals. Where on earth did that
>> come from?
I particularly loved driving along the streets of the cottage community
where not-quite-ex-H resides, and seeing all the signs. The Brown's. The
Kwiatkowski's. The Prendergast's. I like to imagine it is like the
Highland chieftains--The MacDonald, or whatever. And in each of the little
cabins is a head of a far flung clan--I am The Prendergast! Amazed I have
gone out at night and wrecked the signs with a baseball bat as is commonly
done with roadside mailboxes.
Dawne
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> 'shone' (which ought to rhyme with 'john' but often doesn't).