altho...

[Chicklet]

i was reading a story, and rather enjoy it, when i came across "tho"

tho? THO? wtf is "Tho?!"

I was totally frazzled and unhappy, but I kept reading. then I came across "altho..."

"Altho?" All the tho? huh? I clicked back after staring at the word for a while.

Does this drive anyone else NUTS?

 

[DarlingNikki]

Is it worse than "thru?"

 

[jfinn]

i was reading a story, and rather enjoy it, when i came across "tho"

tho? THO? wtf is "Tho?!"

I was totally frazzled and unhappy, but I kept reading. then I came across "altho..."

"Altho?" All the tho? huh? I clicked back after staring at the word for a while.

Does this drive anyone else NUTS?

U r so rite.

Jayne

 

[MathGirl]

i
Does this drive anyone else NUTS?

Well, of coure it does. But in my case, it just adds to the usual mental mayhem and nobody notices.

 

[MathGirl]

.

 

[English Lady]

Well i am guilty of using "tho" when i am writing posts, PM's or chatting but i'd never use it in a story, eeek!

 

[flawed_ethics]

Gross. If I saw that in a story, I would dock it a full point. I likely wouldn't dock it twice if it occured twice since it's the same inconsitency. It's a blatent error that should have been corrected none the less.

The exception is in dialouge. If it was in quotations ("He had a long schlong, tho,"), I would let it go.

 

[Chicklet]

The exception is in dialouge. If it was in quotations ("He had a long schlong, tho,"), I would let it go.

I don't know that I would be as forgiving - I don't like slang in dialogue, personally...ugh.

private messages and chat I understand, tho.

grin

 

[gauchecritic]

Speel chucker

I just checked on Microsoft Word and it catches tho and altho (but only initialises Thru (?)) so it seems it must be deliberate or unspeel-chucked.

and I thought I was

Gauche

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

wotz da probo? i wuz diggin tru sum ole files on me puter an foun jus da same ting. dere's nuttin rong wid it, shirley?

ax

KNG OF TH TXT MSG

(Do you have SMS in the states?)

 

[hiddenself]

We need an editor?

The exception is in dialouge. If it was in quotations ("He had a long schlong, tho,"), I would let it go.

I would think it's not acceptable there either. Spoken word can be written down using non-standard spelling if that is necessary to convey some word or expression that is idiomatic or "not real" (such as "yeah"). But for words that are in the dictionary, I think you're supposed to use the right spelling. No? Where's an editor when we need one?

hs

 

[MathGirl]

Re: We need an editor?

But for words that are in the dictionary, I think you're supposed to use the right spelling.

Dear HS,
I beg to differ. In quotations containing dialect, drawls, accents, etc., the spelling must fit the pronunciation. To wit":


As Rosie once remarked, "Shoot, em ole fahts gimme a twenny up front and bout all I does is hold they limp dick til they start asnorin. Inna moanin I tellsem what dandy boners theys had the naight befo an whut studs they is, an sometime they slips me twenny mo.

"Em ol muffugas'll surprise ya, though. Onest this ol man ha me face down on the baid wit ma pannies down afore Ah knowed whattus hapnin'. Gimme a twenny later en compulmenned me on havin sech a taight pussy. Sheeiiiit, thet ole bassar hed it up the wrong hole, an' I'us jist bin aclenchin' fer all I'us wuth."


If that had been written with standard spelling, I feel it would lose some of the intended ....... puissance. Pissants? Whatever.

 

[pop_54]

Re: Re: We need an editor?

Dear HS,
I beg to differ. In quotations containing dialect, drawls, accents, etc., the spelling must fit the pronunciation. To wit":


As Rosie once remarked, "Shoot, em ole fahts gimme a twenny up front and bout all I does is hold they limp dick til they start asnorin. Inna moanin I tellsem what dandy boners theys had the naight befo an whut studs they is, an sometime they slips me twenny mo.

"Em ol muffugas'll surprise ya, though. Onest this ol man ha me face down on the baid wit ma pannies down afore Ah knowed whattus hapnin'. Gimme a twenny later en compulmenned me on havin sech a taight pussy. Sheeiiiit, thet ole bassar hed it up the wrong hole, an' I'us jist bin aclenchin' fer all I'us wuth."


If that had been written with standard spelling, I feel it would lose some of the intended ....... puissance. Pissants? Whatever.

Couldn't agree more MG, I find dialogue written in perfect Oxford English boring and unrealistic, no excuse for tho, tho.

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Re: Re: We need an editor?

no excuse for tho, tho.

It's just for convenience and plain old laziness. Mostly the latter, I think.

 

[hiddenself]

Dear HS,
I beg to differ. In quotations containing dialect, drawls, accents, etc., the spelling must fit the pronunciation. To wit":

Sure. I agree. My post wasn't clear about it. That's what I meant by idiomatic speech. If it conveys a different sound, then it's fine. But "thru" does not covey any different accent than "through," so what's the justification?
hs

 

[gauchecritic]

We had a similar conversation in a different thread concerning spelling, dialect and legibility.

I seem to recall Alex Dekok (sp) wrote a story in dialect which got a lot of different views from 'couldn't finish it' to 'bloody great'. But I have to agree with Hidden, if the dialect doesn't alter the sound of the word then there is no excuse for not spelling it properly.

Speaking of which...

We of the original English language still have trouble, and I mean niggling, uncomfortable trouble when reading words such as 'center' or 'color' and I have actually seen 'missle' (I couldn't believe that one).

I believe there is also another thread concerning malapropisms such as 'two' for 'too' or 'threw' for 'through' (or is that thro?).

Anyway when you yankees go moaning about poor spelling just think how much worse it is for us when you insist that you don't spell incorrectly.

Still being

Gauche

 

[daisie]

The exception is in dialouge. If it was in quotations ("He had a long schlong, tho,"), I would let it go.

It's only okay to misspell in dialogue if that would make the word sound different, the way a character would say it. (Rainy today, innit?)

Text messaging and l33t speak may just separate the wheat from the chaff pretty quick. "Tho" and "Thru" bug me, but not as much as "u r 2 sw33t," or the misuse of their/there/they're, etc.

But the one that makes me pull out my hair is when someone types "know" when they meant "no." They put 100% more effort into doing it wrong.

D

 

[DVS]

What about OK versus okay? They sound the same, but some say you should use okay instead of the shorter slangish OK.

 

[Octavian]

dialogue in dialect

Originally posted by MathGirl

As Rosie once remarked, "Shoot, em ole fahts gimme a twenny up front and bout all I does is hold they limp dick til they start asnorin. Inna moanin I tellsem what dandy boners theys had the naight befo an whut studs they is, an sometime they slips me twenny mo.

As Rosie might have remarked had she been educated at an English boarding school.

Crikey, these elderly gentlemen offer me a twenty pounds note in advance and all they seem to require for the aforementioned sum is that I hold their male appendages until they begin to slumber. I remark on the impressive girth of their male members, how adept they were the night before when engaged in sexual intercourse and comment most favourably on their sexual prowess. As a consequence of this on some occasions they reward me with another note of the same denomination.


Octavian
Bearer of the Silver Rose

 

[Hyndeline]

What about OK versus okay? They sound the same, but some say you should use okay instead of the shorter slangish OK.

Actually it's the other way around. OK is more correct than okay, since that expression is an acronym of oll korrect. Okay is a widely used variation, but some purists might object to it (of course they might object to OK too...)

 

[MathGirl]

Re: dialogue in dialect

As Rosie might have remarked had she been educated at an English boarding school.
Octavian

Sheeesh ........ Compared with the Brit, Rosie was almost succinct.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

In 1934 Colonel Robert McCormack, the right wing maniac publisher of the Chicago Tribune decided it was time to apply his lofty genius to the cleanup of American orthography. His newspaper thus began using spellings like "thru", "tho", "fantom", "nite", "trafic", "frate", "thoro", etc in its articles. They persisted in this execrable practice for some time, though the spellings never seemed to catch on, outside of ads and snappy headlines. They finally gave it up in the '50's.

During this time the Trib expended a lot of effort in popularizing this simple-minded spelling, and reputedly the first spelling bees were organized specifically to promote Tribune spelling. Soon other newspapers jumped on the Bee bandwagon, and the ridiculous spectacle of the spelling bee was born.

For those who think that the rules of spelling and grammar are etched in stone, this is a good example of how we really decide how to spell our words, by bullying people. The rules of grammar are made the same way.

Now, aren't you glad you asked?

---dr.M.

 

[wildsweetone]

Actually it's the other way around. OK is more correct than okay, since that expression is an acronym of oll korrect. Okay is a widely used variation, but some purists might object to it (of course they might object to OK too...)

I would have thought that 'okay' is preferable to 'OK' when writing, as OK is an abbreviation and generally speaking we don't use abbreviations in our work.

and everyone knows that OK is a joke anyway

 

[MathGirl]

For those who think that the rules of spelling and grammar are etched in stone, this is a good example of how we really decide how to spell our words, by bullying people. The rules of grammar are made the same way. ---dr.M.

It seems to me that there weren't any spelling rules until early in the nineteenth century. There are some outlandish spellings in old documents and letters.

Wasn't Noah Webster the first to try to bring some sort of order to the whole thing? E.g. bullying by getting his dictionary accepted?

Diane the Lexicographically Impaired

 

[gauchecritic]

18th v. 19th

It seems to me that there weren't any spelling rules until early in the nineteenth century. There are some outlandish spellings in old documents and letters.

Wasn't Noah Webster the first to try to bring some sort of order to the whole thing? E.g. bullying by getting his dictionary accepted?

Diane the Lexicographically Impaired

Oh dear oh dear, my oh my and lawks-a-lawdy. It's only a couple of clicks Diane.

Noah Webster published "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language" in 1806. Samuel Johnson however published "The New English Dictionary" (now the Oxford English Dictionary) in 1755.

Admittedly Websters was the more substantial of the two but Johnson was the first. (and obviously Webster's contained loads of spelling mistakes)

Here are a couple of links if you're interested; http:http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/20.html http://www.m-w.com/about/noah.htm

Now more than ever I am

Gauche