Word trivia: remove letters and it's still pronounced the same 1

[SantaMufasa]

From what English word can you remove the last four letters and it is still pronounced the same?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

@ 00:02 (30Nov04) UTC (aka "GMT" and "Zulu"),
@ 17:02 (29Nov04) Mountain Time

 

[kalistoh]

queue -> q

 

[SantaMufasa]

Waytago, Killer !

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

@ 18:00 (30Nov04) UTC (aka "GMT" and "Zulu"),
@ 11:00 (30Nov04) Mountain Time

 

[kalistoh]

cheers musafa,

there was another one i read somewhere but i don't think it's an actual word

haitch -> h

it al depends on how you pronounce the letter 'h' & so far i can't find a proper meaining for 'haitch'

 

[ESquared]

It's aitch, not haitch.

-------------------------------------
It is better to have honor than a good reputation.
(Reputation is what other people think about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.)

 

[SantaMufasa]

ESquared,

Ah, but in the British Commonwealth, "H" is pronounced "haitch", just as "Z" is "zed".

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

@ 18:48 (01Dec04) UTC (aka "GMT" and "Zulu"),
@ 11:48 (01Dec04) Mountain Time

 

[ESquared]

Does that mean they actually put the breath-sound of H on the front, like in the word hatch?

-------------------------------------
It is better to have honor than a good reputation.
(Reputation is what other people think about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.)

 

[SantaMufasa]

Yessiree, when they do their "abc's", they say "haitch" (same as actress Anne Heche pronounces her name), and then the last letter of their alphabet is "zed"! ...As Mark Twain summed it up, "two people separated by a common language."

And the British correctly pronounce that foil stuff "Al-you-min-ee-um" instead of our incorrect (American) method: "Uh-loo-min-um". The American mispronunciation started back in the early 1900's when the Reynolds Corporation started marketing their new foil and commissioned billboards all over American to "Try Aluminum...It's great!". The problem was that the idiot marketing manager goofed the spelling (by one letter) from the correct "Alumini um" ! Thus we have four generations of Americans looking stupid to the rest of the world because of one marketing idiot's mistake.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

@ 21:55 (01Dec04) UTC (aka "GMT" and "Zulu"),
@ 14:55 (01Dec04) Mountain Time

 

[CajunCenturion]

There is a little more to the story then simply a marketing error. In fact, it was first named aluminum by the famous British chemist Sir Humphrey Davy. Not long after that, due to popular demand, the element was renamed aluminium to be consistent with other elements with the -ium ending. Aluminium was recogonized in the USA until 1925 when, for reasons unknown to me, the American Chemical Society reverted back to the original name - aluminum.

Good Luck
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[CajunCenturion]

Apparently there is even more. This short article Alum something offers an explanation.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[BillyRayPreachersSon]

Yessiree, when they do their "abc's", they say "haitch"

I don't know anyone (British or otherwise) that pronounces "aitch" as "haitch". Maybe it is a class thing?

Dan

 

[SantaMufasa]

Dunno, Dan,

During the years that I lived in the British Midlands (North of London, South of Liverpool/Manchester) I never heard anyone pronounce "H" any way other than "haitch". I'll leave it up to our British friends to help us solve this question. Anyone?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

@ 05:52 (03Dec04) UTC (aka "GMT" and "Zulu"),
@ 22:52 (02Dec04) Mountain Time

 

[BillyRayPreachersSon]

Although originally from East Anglia, I've lived in London for 10+ years... so maybe it's Northern dialect?

What a shame that The Dialectizer (

http://rinkworks.com/dialect/)

has no "Northern England" option ;o)

Dan

 

[kalistoh]

I live just south of Glasgow [in Scotland] & i've said 'haitch' all my life. None of my family say it like that so i don't know where i picked it up...

..one of life's little mysteries

 

[Callan101]

By coincidence, I'm also in the Glasgow area (what an International forum this is!), and have to say that while "haitch" is not unknown, it should still be "aitch", even on this side of the pond. Pronouncing it haitch is regarded as being a bit common, (sorry, killerthoughts!), although it's not strictly a class thing.

On a completely different track, one thing I'd like to know is why we Brits abbreviate mathematics to "maths", but in America it is abbreviated to the singular "math". Anyone know?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I'm from Newhaven in Sussex ... due south from London, stop when your feet get wet. The aitch sound is (was) always used. When at school, the only kids I knew who used the haitch sound were Scots.

I have always heard & used Math! Probably another regional thing.

 

[strongm]

It's a regional/class thing in the UK

 

[mscallisto]

I don't know anyone (British or otherwise) that pronounces "aitch" as "haitch". Maybe it is a class thing?


Everyone I've ever meet from "Down Under" says Haitch

 

[Callan101]

Interesting - that's the only time I've heard of math being used in the UK. That's not just talking to people, it's newspapers, textbooks, magazines etc.

If you type "math or maths" (with quotes) into Google you get a large number of entries quoting "....math, or maths in Britain,....". But I found enough pedantic debate not to take this any further!