Not to mention the Francophiles who added the U to words like honour and harbour to add to the confusion. They Yanks actually have that right with honor and harbor etc.

National spelling may reflect enunciation: 'har-bore', 'har-ber', ' 'ar-ba' or 'har-brr' (America, Queens english, slang or Scots?)

pgk

The basic structure of the language may be non-Latin, but it's comprehensively riddled with Latin-based vocabulary. It'd be practically useless without it.

I realise that I'm off topic here but the above post reminded me of a book which I have. In my previous life, I performed as a magician and collected some old magic books. One of which is 'The Boy's Book of Conjuring' It describes how to make a bowl of fire appear. Are you ready?

Solder a flat plate over half a metal bowl to form a pocket. Half fill this with petrol and slip it into the waistband of your trousers. When you are ready to produce the fire, take out the bowl and drop a small pellet of sodium into it.

David

...

and you lived to tell the tale

THAT’S MAGIC !

MichaelG.

Have you noticed that pgk pgk's puzzle sentence can be extended by 4 more hads to read

James, while John had had "had had", had had "had had had had"; "had had had had" had had a better effect on the teacher.

OMG it sure is!

Don't do this at home, kids.

(Even in the 1950s, what chemist would've had metallic sodium to sell, never mind to a schoolboy?)

But actually, it doesn't work unless you add water to the petrol: -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-cBTfwlzE

Edited By Mick B1 on 15/11/2020 14:29:52

Nigel's book from the 1950's is positively wet compared with my copy of 'The Handy Boy's Book'. Undated, but an advert at the back and pictures of aircraft reveal it's circa 1910.

The book describes how to make an X-ray machine, including the high-voltages needed to work it, and pictures a boy viewing his hand through a home-made fluoroscope. X-ray tube to eyes distance about 12 inches.

The model steamboat chapter recommends running the home-made boiler at 85psi. (Real men don't need boiler inspectors!)

'To Set Fire to a Newspaper By Merely Breathing On It' involves two chemicals, both independently responsible for a long list of accidents, and now banned because they're ideal for mad-bombing and terrorism.

As a normal boyhood activity the section on Wireless Telegraphy describes how to set off an explosive charge and recommends earthing the transmitter to a gas pipe. It doesn't mention the high-voltage dangers of spark-transmitters, or that the coherer used to fire the fuse reacts to thunderstorms and electric trams as well as home-made transmitters!

An influence machine and experiments with Leyden Jars are described without mentioning that wiring several jars together can be fatal.

The Book's not totally blind to health and safety: it suggests boys should never use Potassium or Ammonium Cyanide in their Butterfly Killing Bottles.

There were no Brylcreemed wuss-boys making toffee in 1910!

Dave

I came across it at school in the early sixties, with different wording to the top and tail. One difference was that John wasn't called John but Galahad.

On the topic of hyphens, when I was writing Army Support Publications in the 1980s we were officially discouraged from using them except to avoid ambiguity. For example, there is a difference between a man eating tiger and a man-eating tiger, though I don't remember that particular instance cropping up in my own writing.

George B.

There might be a few Latin based words, but the majority of English vocabulary is anglo-saxon. Even when we pinch words from other languages we don't use the grammar that goes with them, when did you last use 'omnibi' as the plural of 'omnibus'.

It wouldn't be right to do so except in pretend Latin - 'omnibus' is a plural dative, meaning 'for all', with copy-variants in other languages.

(I've italicised the words above I recognise as of Latin origin, possibly via Norman French/Middle English)

Edited By Mick B1 on 15/11/2020 17:31:54

S Duncan says. I'm no student of Latin grammar but it's utterly distinct to English grammar.

Difference the main to be seems word order not important, is. Eh Yoda?

Neil

'Crossslide' is of course a true bastard word, with the first half of Latin-derived origin and the other of Old English/ Anglo-Saxon. Nowt wrong with that AFAICS!

Yes Dave, I have that book too and marvel at the thought. I have another similar book showing how to make an aqualung using a gas pressure reducing valve as a regulator. I think both are attempts to capture a Darwin Award (for ensuring the foolhardy do not get to breed!).

How times change but I cannot help feeling that we miss something as todays youngsters appear not to be as extended in science and engineering.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh?
Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

**LINK**

AND!!!

I should have noticed that I'd loaded it twice.

Cud try betta.

Sorry Neil but I cannot agree with that. Despite arguably falling educational standards, most English people still can put a sentence together, in a logical word order!

Different order to Latin, but the order of a Latin sentence could be argued to be more logical. A bit like the difference between Reverse Polish versus Algebraic notataion for computer./calculator operation: introduce the numbers / nouns in the correct order, then state the operator.

The latin words have endings added (remembering school recitations of declensions and conjugations which indicate the nominative, accusative, future present or past, singular or plural etc) which further make the make the sentence unambiguous, and render words such as 'the' defunct.

Martin

On the analogy of "crossword", "crossbreed", and [one for us ornithologists] "crossbill", quite a strong one, I'd say, Neil. The hyphen improves clarity, but there isn't really any possibility of confusion without it, I don't think, assuming the reader knows what a crossslide is in the first place.

Then it should be used. Clarity is paramount in writing.