I'm only starting to go through the archive after subscribing. This episode got me thinking about something, so I'll comment here.
As you say here, English has many more synonyms for words than most other languages. I've noticed that if you repeat a word frequently in English it looks lazy. Style encourages the use of synonyms, and tools like Grammarly do this as well (which gets annoying in technical text).
In other languages, Spanish for instance, does it sound wrong when you use the same word many times in a paragraph?
Catching up belatedly with this episode. Poland also has a tradition of "dyktando/ pl. dyktanda)", which is used to torture school kids, and there is a big national competition every two years in which participants are not kids but actual grownups! The texts for these are written by leading linguists and there are hundreds of participants, so we take our spelling extremely seriously. Polish is a fairly easy language to read once you learn the rules (although my non-native friends love to point out the words like "jabłko" or "czosnkowy", where some written consonants get squeezed out in normal speech), but there are some sounds which can be represented in different ways. "Dyktando" is like the French dictée, but most of the time you can't figure out the proper spelling by using grammar, unless you mean historical grammar and going back all the way to the Middle Ages to find out why /u/ can be written either as "u" or "ó", and /x/ can be written either as "h" or "ch". (The former used to be voiced, but the pronunciation difference is lost in modern Polish.) This being said, when I read the texts of the national dyktando, the words that usually trip me up are compound words (hyphenated or not?)
it was really interesting learn that "mirth" and "aftermath" are in the same category of -th-takers as "length" and "warmth". But, John, are you really not aware of "coolth"? The word has an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary! They attest the first of the three senses they list back to 1547, though they annotate it "Now chiefly literary, archaic, or humorous." But it was revived for the slang sense of "cool" in the mid-20th century; I'm aware of it in association with jazz culture. Harlan Ellison even wrote a short story titled "Have Coolth", which can be found in the collection "Gentleman Junkie and Other Stories of the Hung-Up Generation".
I enjoyed the episode very much! I was certain, when you said you had a favorite '-th' word, that it was actually going to be _truth_. I wonder if native English speakers (I am not one) think of "truth" as a th-suffixed word. It's less obvious than warmth, strength etc.
Good podcast. Hey, producers: the volume was so low I had to turn this podcast way up, compared to other podcasts.
Is there an rss feed? My podcast app doesn't list the show
Transcript please! Many of us prefer reading to listening.
I'd have thought girth and girdle were related to whatever 'gir' was.
Alright! Here we go!
I'm only starting to go through the archive after subscribing. This episode got me thinking about something, so I'll comment here.
As you say here, English has many more synonyms for words than most other languages. I've noticed that if you repeat a word frequently in English it looks lazy. Style encourages the use of synonyms, and tools like Grammarly do this as well (which gets annoying in technical text).
In other languages, Spanish for instance, does it sound wrong when you use the same word many times in a paragraph?
John, where in the HELL did you come upon "The Husking Bee"
Catching up belatedly with this episode. Poland also has a tradition of "dyktando/ pl. dyktanda)", which is used to torture school kids, and there is a big national competition every two years in which participants are not kids but actual grownups! The texts for these are written by leading linguists and there are hundreds of participants, so we take our spelling extremely seriously. Polish is a fairly easy language to read once you learn the rules (although my non-native friends love to point out the words like "jabłko" or "czosnkowy", where some written consonants get squeezed out in normal speech), but there are some sounds which can be represented in different ways. "Dyktando" is like the French dictée, but most of the time you can't figure out the proper spelling by using grammar, unless you mean historical grammar and going back all the way to the Middle Ages to find out why /u/ can be written either as "u" or "ó", and /x/ can be written either as "h" or "ch". (The former used to be voiced, but the pronunciation difference is lost in modern Polish.) This being said, when I read the texts of the national dyktando, the words that usually trip me up are compound words (hyphenated or not?)
I can’t get RSS address to play on Google Podcast ☹️ Love learning about the -th suffix!
Now I'm hunting other -th words to see if it's that suffix. Dearth: yep, "dear" + -th. "Wealth", yes. "Worth": no. "Wealth", yes. "Stealth", yes.
it was really interesting learn that "mirth" and "aftermath" are in the same category of -th-takers as "length" and "warmth". But, John, are you really not aware of "coolth"? The word has an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary! They attest the first of the three senses they list back to 1547, though they annotate it "Now chiefly literary, archaic, or humorous." But it was revived for the slang sense of "cool" in the mid-20th century; I'm aware of it in association with jazz culture. Harlan Ellison even wrote a short story titled "Have Coolth", which can be found in the collection "Gentleman Junkie and Other Stories of the Hung-Up Generation".
Late to the party, but how about breadth? After a few days thought I’m guessing the adjective is broad.
Also, what about height. Was it originally heighth and the H got dropped? By the way, I’ve heard people pronounce it with the terminal h.
How do I get this in a podcast app? I usually use stitcher and can’t find this
I enjoyed the episode very much! I was certain, when you said you had a favorite '-th' word, that it was actually going to be _truth_. I wonder if native English speakers (I am not one) think of "truth" as a th-suffixed word. It's less obvious than warmth, strength etc.