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What hills are you dying on?
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 24 May 2025
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Question about the first one. Do you consider English a living language that evolves over time?
To that point, do you ever phonetically say boatswain instead of bosun? Which way do you spell it? How do you (personally) pronounce Worcestershire sauce? How do you feel about onomatopoeias in general?
I would argue that words evolve with vernacular and sometimes the spellings become antiquated. In the case of Worcestershire sauce, pronunciation can vary greatly from spelling. If ketchup bothers you, are onomatopoeias even words to you?
Eventually, insisting on the old spelling becomes more ridiculous than going with the newer. Since you spell it catsup, can you bring yourself to use a squeeze bottle for it or are you still tapping that 57 hoping to get it to ooze?
Seriously though, since this is the hill you'll die on, convince me otherwise about vernacular and spelling.
Yes
I never have occasion to say either.
Wursht-uh-shur
Love 'em. My current favorite is "shakshuka".
yeah, by definition
Given the choice between looking ridiculous to others and feeling ridiculous to myself, I will always choose the former.
They're not mutually exclusive. I also use packets and those giant pump containers.
I'm not interested in convincing you away from a position with which I agree almost completely. Words change, language evolves, slang becomes informal speech becomes recognized usage. Some changes are improvements, some are not, but neither you or I have much hope of shifting the tide either way. While my time lasts, though, I'll keep spelling the vinegary condiment as "catsup" and the pastry as "doughnut" and the cultured dairy as "yoghurt".