Why does a "fat chance" and a "slim chance" mean the same th

Page 3 of 3 [ 43 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3

Previous topic | Next topic

OhkaBaka
Snowy Owl

Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 151
Location: Seattle

26 Jan 2018, 12:05 pm

Joe90 wrote:

Why do Americans always say the month before the date, but still say 'the 4th of July'?

Drama!

"The sixth of March, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and eighty-five" ... more words == FANCY!

auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 115,245
Location: the island of defective toy santas

26 Jan 2018, 7:03 pm

I wonder why so many words have silent letters, why does modern English still include them?

CloudClimber
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Jan 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,614
Location: anywhere but here

26 Jan 2018, 7:05 pm

To be difficult

auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 115,245
Location: the island of defective toy santas

26 Jan 2018, 7:34 pm

yeh that does seem the amuuurican way now, doesn't it? :scratch:

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

28 Jan 2018, 4:42 am

auntblabby wrote:

Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

The real question is: why is there a letter "Q" in the alphabet for the English language at all?

First off: you cant have a word in English with Q unless the Q has a U after it.

Second Q doesn't do anything that the letter K doesn't also do. Its redundant.

The word "quick" is really "kwik". But since they elected to spell it with a Q instead of a K, then they hafta put that U there right after it. So...in "Buick" you pronounce the U as a separate sound. B-you-ick. But the K sound and the U sound are sorta merged in "quick". So that's why the two words are pronounced differently.

If I were making the rules: Q would be eliminated.

Its tempting to get rid of the letter "C" as well because it also redundant (it either does what K does, OR it does what "S" does). But instead of getting rid of "C" I would repurpose "C" to stand for the "ch" sound in words like church and charge etc. That's how they use the letter "c" in Italian.

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

28 Jan 2018, 4:51 am

auntblabby wrote:

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

ing about "humanitarian".

Thanks for making me think about that difference between teachers and preachers.

I never thought about that before.

auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 115,245
Location: the island of defective toy santas

28 Jan 2018, 5:01 am

IIRC somebody back in the day invented a revised English language that did away with all the "unnecessary" letters, mighta been the same guy who wrote a unique kinda dictionary that had his revised English language words in. wish I could remember his name. anyways... if they make tin whistles out of tin, what do they make foghorns out of?

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

28 Jan 2018, 5:09 am

NewTime wrote:

Why does a "fat chance" and a "slim chance" mean the same thing and why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?

"Fat chance" is obviously sarcasm. It means "slim to no chance".

"Wise man" and "wise guy" are not "opposites". Just hugely different.

"Wise guy" is derived from "smart ass".

OhkaBaka
Snowy Owl

Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 151
Location: Seattle

29 Jan 2018, 1:41 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

Its tempting to get rid of the letter "C" as well because it also redundant (it either does what K does, OR it does what "S" does). But instead of getting rid of "C" I would repurpose "C" to stand for the "ch" sound in words like church and charge etc. That's how they use the letter "c" in Italian.

I've thought that most of my life. C as used in english is completely pointless. Annoyingly prevalent thoughts actually... right up there with "pennies are stupid"

auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 115,245
Location: the island of defective toy santas

29 Jan 2018, 4:21 pm

how could something from heaven be stupid? :scratch:

OhkaBaka
Snowy Owl

Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Gender: Male
Posts: 151
Location: Seattle

07 Feb 2018, 6:17 pm

auntblabby wrote:

how could something from heaven be stupid? :scratch:

Fair point.

Page 3 of 3 [ 43 posts ] Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3

Jump to:

Why does a "fat chance" and a "slim chance" mean the same th Post Reply New Topic

Why does a "fat chance" and a "slim chance" mean the same th