CLOates
Definitely!
Attention, under-thirty folks!
I usually don't grouse much about
spelling, but there's one that's gnawing on me.
"Definitely" comes from
the same root words as "define," "finite," and
"infinite," and, for once in the English language, the spelling is
actually pretty consistent: de-finite-ly.
There's no "a" in it, folks.
On the other hand, English
spelling messes like "precede," "proceed," and
"supersede" (yes, those are the correct spellings) usually bring to
mind the comedian Gallagher's often-used phrase, "How can I respect a
language that doesn't respect me* ?"
"But it doesn't make any
difference," I hear you say. Other than making old people and
PARTICULARLY business people** think you're
an ignoramus, that's sometimes true. There are some cases, though, where
small spelling variations make all the difference. Try
"insure," "ensure," and "assure" in your friendly
on-line dictionary. Don't read The Norman (
'Nuf
said.***
____________________________
*Well, the second "s" in "supersede" actually makes some
sense if you look at its etymology. Try it at http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supersede.
**Business people: the folks
who have the gold and make the rules. Remember them?
***(But
don't start sentences with conjunctions, over-parenthesize, over-exclaim, or
use footnotes in blog postings either!!!!!) :^) Now about
those emoticons ... http://www.windweaver.com/emoticon.htm