Wednesday, January 16

Words We Should Spell Differently: English Place Names

As most of us here speak English, this could be a very long list, but it'll be short today.
And since I actually took a "Development of the English Language" course last year, I'm sort of an authority on this.
Sort of.
And it goes without saying that this is by no means scholarly.
So don't be citing this in your English papers at 3 AM, mmk?

English is really weird.
I'm an English major; I know this for a fact.
I'm not going to go into why things are spelled so strangely, but part of it has to do with the Great Vowel Shift.
Please. Don't. Ask.
Anyhoo, I got to thinking today about Worcester, Massachusetts  Sir Leicester Dedlock, and Richard of Gloucester.
Now you know how you pronounce those?
Wooster, Layster, and Gloster, respectively.
Ummm . . .
People (usually) hate it when others are redundant.
Isn't extra letters kind of redundant if they make the same sound?

Only you can stop redundancy.
Let the letters raise their voices, and speak for themselves.

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