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  3. 'Read' and its past tense are spelled the same. How should they be spelled?

'Read' and its past tense are spelled the same. How should they be spelled?

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  • _ [email protected]

    Present: read

    Past: red (in the fediverse), redd (on the old site)

    Obvious.

    H This user is from outside of this forum
    H This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #8

    “It has been red”.

    So was the text red or has the text been read?

    _ 1 Reply Last reply
    3
    • H [email protected]

      “It has been red”.

      So was the text red or has the text been read?

      _ This user is from outside of this forum
      _ This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #9

      Both. How do you know it was red when you have not red it? Someone must have red it to state it's red.

      W 1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • I [email protected]

        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)

        W This user is from outside of this forum
        W This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by [email protected]
        #10

        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.

        1 Reply Last reply
        28
        • reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR This user is from outside of this forum
          reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #11

          As carved into history by Dr. Nick:

          1 Reply Last reply
          24
          • _ [email protected]

            "Read" is spelled s-a-m-e? English is a weird language.

            W This user is from outside of this forum
            W This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by
            #12

            Wait until you hear about how we pronounce colonel!

            Q 1 Reply Last reply
            4
            • _ [email protected]

              Both. How do you know it was red when you have not red it? Someone must have red it to state it's red.

              W This user is from outside of this forum
              W This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #13

              I can't reed

              1 Reply Last reply
              2
              • G [email protected]

                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 This user is from outside of this forum
                A This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #14

                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.

                1 Reply Last reply
                2
                • I [email protected]

                  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)

                  E This user is from outside of this forum
                  E This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #15

                  Just remember

                  snotflickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneS 1 Reply Last reply
                  35
                  • E [email protected]

                    Just remember

                    snotflickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneS This user is from outside of this forum
                    snotflickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneS This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                    #16

                    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.

                    moondoggie@lemmy.worldM C leadore@lemmy.worldL I anunusualrelic@lemmy.worldA 5 Replies Last reply
                    8
                    • I [email protected]

                      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)

                      Z This user is from outside of this forum
                      Z This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #17

                      Read and readed

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      2
                      • snotflickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zoneS [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.

                        moondoggie@lemmy.worldM This user is from outside of this forum
                        moondoggie@lemmy.worldM This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #18

                        Pretty sure there’s a chemical element named “lead”

                        _ L 2 Replies Last reply
                        19
                        • G [email protected]

                          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.

                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #19

                          A French. The language where you have 5 wovels, use 3 for the word goose and the other 2 to pronounce it.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • I [email protected]

                            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)

                            radix@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                            radix@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #20

                            Are reed and red taken?

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • moondoggie@lemmy.worldM [email protected]

                              Pretty sure there’s a chemical element named “lead”

                              _ This user is from outside of this forum
                              _ This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #21

                              I heard lead leads in weight.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              2
                              • I [email protected]

                                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)

                                pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.deP This user is from outside of this forum
                                pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.deP This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #22

                                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.

                                capuccino@lemmy.worldC R 2 Replies Last reply
                                12
                                • I [email protected]

                                  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)

                                  jeffool@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                  jeffool@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #23

                                  You should wrede a book they wrote, and after you've wred the book, write your own.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  1
                                  • I [email protected]

                                    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)

                                    lgsp@feddit.itL This user is from outside of this forum
                                    lgsp@feddit.itL This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                    #24

                                    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...

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • G [email protected]

                                      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.

                                      kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                                      kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #25

                                      This also occurred in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift, a period when spoken English pronunciation was changing significantly.

                                      G 1 Reply Last reply
                                      1
                                      • I [email protected]

                                        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)

                                        A This user is from outside of this forum
                                        A This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #26

                                        Fast can mean moving with great speed or fixed securely in place (among other things).

                                        Z 1 Reply Last reply
                                        10
                                        • A [email protected]

                                          Fast can mean moving with great speed or fixed securely in place (among other things).

                                          Z This user is from outside of this forum
                                          Z This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #27

                                          The alarm went off so i turned it off.

                                          O 1 Reply Last reply
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