Article View: alt.usage.english
Article #4154Re: Double Zed Top - Not "Zee Zee Top"
From: Alan Pollock
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 00:00
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 00:00
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2576 bytes
Beth Wise (inky@spamless.net) wrote: :On 31-Dec-97 06:26:16, Terry Heath said in soc.culture.new-zealand: :> My American friends can't see how we get lef-ten-ant out of Lieutenant, :> it's just the way it is. You say tomayto and I say tomahto : :Ok, I'm curious. What do you tell them when they ask? 'Cause I must admit :I'm a bit baffled too. : Probably not the actual reason, but I've always thought it had something to do with the old s looking similar to the f in the script of several hundred years ago. If lieu (place, location) was in the plural, spelt as lieus, instead of lieux (back then), we have a comer. Lieus-tenant - keeper of territory/places. Lieu, being impossible to pronounce by your average English-speaking lieutenant, would then become leftenant. At the very least, mildly creative. Nex __________________________________________________________________________ "Ah, if in this world there were no such thing as cherry blossoms, perhaps then in springtime our hearts would be at peace." Ariwara no Narihira __________________________________________________________________________
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X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f7e6c,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gidf7e6c,public X-Google-Thread: 10bbc3,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gid10bbc3,public X-Google-Thread: 111b28,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gid111b28,public X-Google-Thread: f693b,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gidf693b,public X-Google-Thread: 1046d3,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gid1046d3,public X-Google-Thread: 113b16,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gid113b16,public X-Google-Thread: 102ffd,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gid102ffd,public X-Google-Thread: 1042ac,1f2ac50c4b5eaf31 X-Google-Attributes: gid1042ac,public From: nexus@king.cts.com (Alan Pollock) Subject: Re: Double Zed Top - Not "Zee Zee Top" Date: 1997/12/31 Message-ID: <883594277.756685@wagasa.cts.com> X-Deja-AN: 311702997 References: <01bd15de$a408b900$962470c3@terryh> <631.304T257T7660733@spamless.net> Followup-To: alt.fan.cecil-adams,alt.usage.english,aus.flame.usa,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.canada,soc.culture.australian,soc.culture.new-zealand,soc.culture.irish,alt.nuke.the.USA Cache-Post-Path: wagasa.cts.com!nexus@king.cts.com Organization: CTS Network Services Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,alt.fan.cecil-adams,aus.flame.usa,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.canada,soc.culture.australian,soc.culture.new-zealand,soc.culture.irish,alt.nuke.the.USA