'Read' and its past tense are spelled the same. How should they be spelled?
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)It's because the people who set the rules for the English language, could barely speak it.
The first guy to popularize the printing press was Dutch, so the guy who bought England's first one didn't know how it worked and neither did any English speaker
So he hired a bunch of Dutch who knew how to operate it.
And they got a bunch of handwritten books and were told to mass reproduce them.
Sometimes it was a mistake in the original, sometimes the typesetter made a mistake. Sometimes the writer just disagreed with how it should be written, and sometimes even the typesetters who couldn't speak English made choices to change it
No one gave a fuck about accuracy, it was about pumping out as many books as possible. Because just owning a book was a huge status symbol still from when they were handwritten and crazy expensive.
But all those books eventually got read, and the people who learned to read them were very proud that they could read. So they insisted that all the random bullshit was intentional and had to be followed to a T by everyone forever.
Most other languages had a noble class who kept it sensical, but for a long ass time only peasants spoke English, the wealthy in England all spoke French, cuz they were French.
Anyways, that's why English doesn't make any sense. There was also a natural thing happening where vowel pronunciation was changing. So when the typecasters solidified everything, it was already in a state of flux. That's why pronunciation doesn't line up with spelling.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)wrote last edited by [email protected]Present: read
Past: red (in the fediverse), redd (on the old site)
Obvious.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)"Read" is spelled s-a-m-e? English is a weird language.
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Present: read
Past: red (in the fediverse), redd (on the old site)
Obvious.
“It has been red”.
So was the text red or has the text been read?
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“It has been red”.
So was the text red or has the text been read?
Both. How do you know it was red when you have not red it? Someone must have red it to state it's red.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)wrote last edited by [email protected]My wife and I had a good snicker one time when I brought home edamame peas in the shell.
They were shelled, but she wanted them shelled.
Flammable/imflammable is another one that comes to mind.
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As carved into history by Dr. Nick:
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"Read" is spelled s-a-m-e? English is a weird language.
Wait until you hear about how we pronounce colonel!
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Both. How do you know it was red when you have not red it? Someone must have red it to state it's red.
I can't reed
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It's because the people who set the rules for the English language, could barely speak it.
The first guy to popularize the printing press was Dutch, so the guy who bought England's first one didn't know how it worked and neither did any English speaker
So he hired a bunch of Dutch who knew how to operate it.
And they got a bunch of handwritten books and were told to mass reproduce them.
Sometimes it was a mistake in the original, sometimes the typesetter made a mistake. Sometimes the writer just disagreed with how it should be written, and sometimes even the typesetters who couldn't speak English made choices to change it
No one gave a fuck about accuracy, it was about pumping out as many books as possible. Because just owning a book was a huge status symbol still from when they were handwritten and crazy expensive.
But all those books eventually got read, and the people who learned to read them were very proud that they could read. So they insisted that all the random bullshit was intentional and had to be followed to a T by everyone forever.
Most other languages had a noble class who kept it sensical, but for a long ass time only peasants spoke English, the wealthy in England all spoke French, cuz they were French.
Anyways, that's why English doesn't make any sense. There was also a natural thing happening where vowel pronunciation was changing. So when the typecasters solidified everything, it was already in a state of flux. That's why pronunciation doesn't line up with spelling.
It certainly doesn't help that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)Just remember
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Just remember
wrote last edited by [email protected]Pretty sure the past tense of "lead" is actually "led."
Unless of course you're referring to the type of metal, lead, which I guess the meme isn't clear on.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)Read and readed
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Pretty sure the past tense of "lead" is actually "led."
Unless of course you're referring to the type of metal, lead, which I guess the meme isn't clear on.
Pretty sure there’s a chemical element named “lead”
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It's because the people who set the rules for the English language, could barely speak it.
The first guy to popularize the printing press was Dutch, so the guy who bought England's first one didn't know how it worked and neither did any English speaker
So he hired a bunch of Dutch who knew how to operate it.
And they got a bunch of handwritten books and were told to mass reproduce them.
Sometimes it was a mistake in the original, sometimes the typesetter made a mistake. Sometimes the writer just disagreed with how it should be written, and sometimes even the typesetters who couldn't speak English made choices to change it
No one gave a fuck about accuracy, it was about pumping out as many books as possible. Because just owning a book was a huge status symbol still from when they were handwritten and crazy expensive.
But all those books eventually got read, and the people who learned to read them were very proud that they could read. So they insisted that all the random bullshit was intentional and had to be followed to a T by everyone forever.
Most other languages had a noble class who kept it sensical, but for a long ass time only peasants spoke English, the wealthy in England all spoke French, cuz they were French.
Anyways, that's why English doesn't make any sense. There was also a natural thing happening where vowel pronunciation was changing. So when the typecasters solidified everything, it was already in a state of flux. That's why pronunciation doesn't line up with spelling.
A French. The language where you have 5 wovels, use 3 for the word goose and the other 2 to pronounce it.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)Are reed and red taken?
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Pretty sure there’s a chemical element named “lead”
I heard lead leads in weight.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)Bought, caught, taught, fought, thought, sought, and wrought are all past tense verbs and all rhyme. The present tense forms are buy, catch, teach, fight, think, seek, and work, none of which rhyme.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)You should wrede a book they wrote, and after you've wred the book, write your own.
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What about similar oddities in English?
(This question is inspired by this comic by https://www.exocomics.com/) (I couldn't find the link to the actual comic)wrote last edited by [email protected]Words in which I can never remember h and g order:
- length thought tough through
Inconsistent pronunciation of "ae"
- steak read bear bleak
And many more...
