gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett) (02/23/86)
I posted here awhile ago saying that I spelled 'through' as
'thru', I don't care to correct it, and in fact I *want* the
standard spelling to be 'thru'. I admitted that I had one
exception: I still use 'through' for formal papers and (outgoing)
business business mail.
I noticed that I have yet another exception: use 'through' in
informal mail to Europeans whose first language is not English,
and who are not otherwise masterful as a native American/English
speaker.
I wonder if that is really necessary. I am being more formal
with them only because they might not know what 'thru' was
homophonicly (by how it sounded); they might try to look
it up in a dictionary and, of course, not find it.
Am I being too cautious with non-native speakers? More generally
speaking, are homophonic spellings of common words easily
understood by non-native speakers?
PS -- I couldn't find a better word here than 'homophonic',
and wasn't sure if that was really want I wanted.
--
Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,seismo,hplabs}!amdahl!gam
~ And each day I learn just a little bit more ~
~ I don't know why but I do know what for... ~kludge@gitpyr.UUCP (Scott Dorsey) (02/23/86)
In article <2827@amdahl.UUCP> gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett) writes: >I posted here awhile ago saying that I spelled 'through' as >'thru', I don't care to correct it, and in fact I *want* the >standard spelling to be 'thru'. I admitted that I had one >exception: I still use 'through' for formal papers and (outgoing) >business business mail. Theodore Roosevelt, I belive, was a great advocate of curtation, in fact he made government spellings of 'through' as 'thru', mandatory, as well as many other shortened forms. The idea did not catch on, but the story is told of him laughing out loud when a launch labelled 'Pres Bot' floated by. ------- Disclaimer: Everything I say is probably a trademark of someone. But don't worry, I probably don't know what I'm talking about. Scott Dorsey ICS Programming Lab, Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!kludge
tjsmedley@watmum.UUCP (Trevor J. Smedley) (02/25/86)
In article <2827@amdahl.UUCP> gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett) writes: >I posted here awhile ago saying that I spelled 'through' (ahhh) as >'thru' (gag), I don't care to correct it, and in fact I *want* the >standard spelling to be 'thru' (gag). I admitted that I had one >exception: I still use 'through' (ahhhh) for formal papers and (outgoing) >business mail. > >I noticed that I have yet another exception: use 'through' (ahhh) in >informal mail to Europeans whose first language is not English, >and who are not otherwise masterful as a native American/English >speaker. > Another reason for using through; I usually gag when I read the word "thru" (gag gag gag :-{ ). If you write to me please have some concern for my health, and use through. But seriously, it is probably a good idea to use through, as it is easier for foreigners to understand. (also, a lot of *them* gag when they read the word ... you know ... :-) Trevor J. Smedley University of Waterloo {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,utzoo}!watmum!tjsmedley
mmar@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Mitchell Marks) (02/28/86)
For many years the Chicago Tribune dropped the -gh from through and though,
and from derived forms like altho.
--
-- Mitch Marks @ UChicago
...ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!mmar