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On 10/12/2012 11:52, tom wrote:
Or 'We reduced three to two too' becomes 'we reduced three to to to'.. *head->desk*On 10/12/12 11:41, paul sutton wrote:We could just start again and develop a new set of characters so there is no confusion with existing ones. But how about there and their: logically they should be reduce to ther so you wont know if its ther ther or ther ther or someone else's all together or just an expression of sympathy for the whole idea?On 10/12/12 11:28, tom wrote:On 10/12/12 11:06, paul sutton wrote:On 10/12/12 10:22, tom wrote:On 10/12/12 09:22, Philip Hudson wrote:On 10 Dec, 2012, at 8:55 am, tom wrote:Using mercan spelling makes as much sense as using 3 for pi. It might be 'easier' but achieves nothing of use to anyone.Go on, just take a deep breath and let go of those silly UK spellings. You can do it. Accept that American spellings arephonetically truer, truer to Latin and Greek originals, shorter, moreconsistent, easier to learn and remember, and altogether utterly and completely superior. You're a logical, reasoning, rational sort of chap, a global cybernaut, way beyond petty prejudice and chauvinism.compare Sulphur (uk) to Sulfur, the latter is now the acceptedinternational spelling. It makes more sense, This was a decision madeby the international chemistry people not us simply adopting American spellings. Oddly employers or potential employers here seem to think its ok to write Dear Paul on official correspondence, despite the fact I useproper salutations. Such as Dear Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss. To me what I use is more professional, and if I write to you like that you should write back (just because I am using e-mail does not mean that e-mail can't bemade formal / informal. I have had letters from the US that use the salutation / surnameformat, so we are not getting this casual unprofessional attitude fromthe USA. You can't tell me times are changing as if you get officialcorrespondence from the tax office, NHS et al, they do it properly. Ifyou expect this from school leavers it may help if the teachers did it properly. PaulThe trouble is probably the teaching is too hard. Sulfur doesnt not really make more sense than sulfur - say that in devon and its mistaken for silver - the ph emphasises the f! Thats just an international agreement where getting it wrong can blow people up. But accents change - no-one was esturine when I was younger now half the country seems to be. To change spelling to adapt to the latest fashion just makes it harder for everyone in the long run. Its very short sighted to think that making spelling easier will somehow make language easier. When was the last time you spelt out a familiar word when writing? It was, like most of your language skills, learned by rote and not phonetically. If you are serious about doing things phonetically then lets do it properly - teach everyone the phonetic alphabet - that 44 speech sounds (and more now things that beep at us are becoming part of speech). You'll be 10 before you can write your name! Tom te tom te tomWe are teaching phonics in schools, By the phonetic alphabet do you mean letter sounds, digraphs and split digraphs, as in the o sound and oo sound etc. or do you mean words for letters as in A - Alpha B - Bravo C - Charlie etc used by the police and emergency services and very useful when giving people your post code as it helps bridge accent barriers even in the Uk. I guess you mean the former. PaulTom te tom te tom
Julian -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq