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Don't be agast!
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Kalleh
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted January 30, 2012 20:55
I bet you thought I misspelled agast, right? Well, not for this article. I can't believe that the Chicago Tribune used "simplified spelling" from 1934 to 1975. Besides the publisher who supported it, apparently Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, Andrew Carnegie and President Theodore Roosevelt all backed "reformed spelling." Here are a few of the words the Tribune used:
quote:
Advertisment (for advertisement)
Agast (for aghast)
Aile (for aisle)
Bailif, sherif, staf, tarif (for bailiff, sheriff, staff, tariff)
Bazar (for bazaar)
Controled (for controlled)
Controler (for controller)
Criscross (for crisscross)
Distaf (for distaff)
Extoled (for extolled)
Fantom (for phantom)
Frate (for freight)
Frater (for freighter)
Gally (for galley)
Genuinly (for genuinely)
Hammoc (for hammock)
Hassoc (for hassock)
Hefer (for heifer)
Hemloc (for hemlock)
Indefinitly (for indefinitely)
Instalment (for installment)
Lacrimal (for lachrymal)
Lacrimose (for lachrymose)
Missil (for missile)
 
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Geoff
Member
posted January 31, 2012 04:42Hide Post
Just carrying on in the Webster tradition, I suppose.


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
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goofy
Member
posted January 31, 2012 06:51Hide Post
I just got this awesome book: The History of English Spelling by Christopher Upward and George Davidson. They say that the possibly up to 25% of English vocabulary has accepted alternative spellings.
 
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Geoff
Member
posted January 31, 2012 07:01Hide Post
That's obvious with regard to given names. My own name is a good example. Jesus is another. Family names change too, as in Loughead morphing into Lockheed. Damned Yankees couldn't understand it the proper Scottish way! Wink


It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
 
Posts: 6187 | Location: Muncie, IndianaReply With QuoteReport This Post
<Proofreader>
posted January 31, 2012 20:16
R u kidng me?
 
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Kalleh
Member
Picture of Kalleh
posted January 31, 2012 21:12Hide Post
quote:
They say that the possibly up to 25% of English vocabulary has accepted alternative spellings.
Well, I wonder what they mean by "acceptable." Acceptable by them?
 
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arnie
Member
Picture of arnie
posted February 01, 2012 01:48Hide Post
They say "accepted", not "acceptable". Therefore they are accepted by someone. I expect authors mean dictionaries in practice.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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goofy
Member
posted February 17, 2012 18:18Hide Post
They're talking about dictionaries. They say the number changes depending on the dictionary one consults.
 
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