Etymology (Word Origins)
- Thread starter Dingleberry
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The first 3 letters of 'Sweden' and 'Denmark' spell out
'Sweden.' The remaining letters spell out 'Denmark.'
'Sweden.' The remaining letters spell out 'Denmark.'
HSanders
Well-known member
Sang along and knew the words .love those. they were great for teaching.
If you ever think English is not a weird language just remember that read and lead rhyme and read and lead rhyme.
But read and lead don't rhyme, and neither do read and lead.
But read and lead don't rhyme, and neither do read and lead.
FELINETROVERT - a person who prefers spending time with cats rather than people.
HSanders
Well-known member
A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget's Thesaurus crashed yesterday losing its entire load. Witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplussed, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, speechless, and perplexed.
HSanders
Well-known member
From my "interesting facts" email today.
Funny thing is that "J" is a letter that doesn't occur in Italian along with X,W,Y, and K.
interestingfacts.com
“J” was the last letter added to the alphabet.
We know and love it as the 10th letter of the alphabet, but good old “j” was actually late to the ABCs party — every other letter was added first. Its placement between “i” and “k” is explained by the fact that it began as a swash, or typographical flourish used to embellish “i,” usually at the end of a Roman numeral. Take “XIIJ,” or 13, for instance: In this case, the “J” is used in place of a third “I” to signify that a series of ones has reached its end. And for many years, “i” and “j” were used interchangeably to write both the vowel and consonant sounds, in words like “ice” or “January.”
We have the Italian writer and scholar Gian Giorgio Trissino (1478–1550) to thank for giving “j” its much-deserved place at the table. He did so in a 1524 text called Epistola del Trissino de le lettere nuωvamente aggiunte ne la lingua italiana (“Trissino’s epistle about the letters recently added in the Italian language”), which marked the first time “i” and “j” were distinguished as separate letters. As with much else in European history, this ultimately relates to Jesus: Distinguishing the soft “j” sound helped Trissino decide that the Greek word Iesus, a translation of the Hebrew Yeshua, should be spelled — and pronounced — the way it is today. Yet it would take centuries for the letters “i” and “j” to fully differentiate; as late as 1755, the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson still referred to “j” as a variant of “i.”
Funny thing is that "J" is a letter that doesn't occur in Italian along with X,W,Y, and K.
“J” was the last letter added to the alphabet.
We know and love it as the 10th letter of the alphabet, but good old “j” was actually late to the ABCs party — every other letter was added first. Its placement between “i” and “k” is explained by the fact that it began as a swash, or typographical flourish used to embellish “i,” usually […]
interestingfacts.com
We know and love it as the 10th letter of the alphabet, but good old “j” was actually late to the ABCs party — every other letter was added first. Its placement between “i” and “k” is explained by the fact that it began as a swash, or typographical flourish used to embellish “i,” usually at the end of a Roman numeral. Take “XIIJ,” or 13, for instance: In this case, the “J” is used in place of a third “I” to signify that a series of ones has reached its end. And for many years, “i” and “j” were used interchangeably to write both the vowel and consonant sounds, in words like “ice” or “January.”
We have the Italian writer and scholar Gian Giorgio Trissino (1478–1550) to thank for giving “j” its much-deserved place at the table. He did so in a 1524 text called Epistola del Trissino de le lettere nuωvamente aggiunte ne la lingua italiana (“Trissino’s epistle about the letters recently added in the Italian language”), which marked the first time “i” and “j” were distinguished as separate letters. As with much else in European history, this ultimately relates to Jesus: Distinguishing the soft “j” sound helped Trissino decide that the Greek word Iesus, a translation of the Hebrew Yeshua, should be spelled — and pronounced — the way it is today. Yet it would take centuries for the letters “i” and “j” to fully differentiate; as late as 1755, the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson still referred to “j” as a variant of “i.”
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