Give it a try
In primary school it took me a good deal of time to learn to pronounce No Doubt properly, then they came dumb and numb and still I know people who pronounce it [knaif] (rolleyes).
Here we have a nice collection of silent, or, in other words – useless letters in our beloved English.
A as in BREAD [bred]
B as in DEBT [det]
C as in INDICTMENT [in’daitmənt]
D as in HANDKERCHIEF [‘hæŋkətʃif]
E as in GIVE [giv]
F as in HALFPENNY [‘heipni]
G as in GNAW [nɔ:]
H as in HOUR [аuə]
I as in FRIEND [frend]
J as in MARIJUANA [,mæri’jwa:nə]
K as in KNOW [nоu]
L as in CALM [ka:m]
M as the first M in MNEMONIC [ni:’mɔnik]
N as in AUTUMN [‘ɔ:təm]
O as in PEOPLE [pi:pl]
P as in PSALM [sa:m]
Q as in COLQUHOUN (a Scottish surname) [dunno, sorreh]
R as in FORECASTLE [‘fouksl]
S as in ISLAND [‘ailənd]
T as in CASTLE [‘ka:sl]
U as in GUARD [ga:d]
V as in MILNGAVIE (a Scottish place name) [dunno (again)]
W as in WRONG [rɔŋ]
X as in SIOUX [su:]
Y as in PEPYS [piːps]
Z as in RENDEZVOUS [‘rɔndivu:] (yes, the-french-one)
Via: Silent English
Yet even taking into account all of the examples (and all the other words not mentioned here) we could barely compare to the French, e.g.:
beaucoup [bo-koo]
On the other hand there are the Americans who tend to simplify everything and write the through – thru (a bit too much for my liking).
I’ll stick to the British (even silent) English, thank you very much,
Create music with words
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen.
I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
Gary Provost, quoted in Roy Peter Clark’s Writing Tools
TBC…
Commencing my Monday with (more than) five words,
Sir Winston and his quotes
I deeply admire this man, his brains, sense of humour and self-mockery, and of course – his stiff neck 🙂
Help yourselves to 10 of his quotes on life and everything else. Just a tasting:
- “Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.”
- “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”
- “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
Those native speakers
I attended a meeting these past few days and got the chance to learn a pinch to a bunch (depends on your hand size) new things:
The interesting word/phrase for today is BOILERPLATE.
But what does it mean?
The term “boilerplate” has been adopted by lawyers to describe those parts of a contract that are considered “standard language”.
The word has also come into use for pre-created form letters on the Internet for things such as issues to be broached by a politician based on an issue ad, requesting a cable network be added to a system by a cable or satellite operator, or a pre-written complaint about something such as a program, book, or video game opposed by a group which created the letter, along with online petitions. Usually the greeting and the body of the letter have been pre-written, requiring the person requesting the action to only type or sign his name at the end.
AWARDS
Just English 