58008@lemmy.world to Showerthoughts@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 year agoSince the invention of the printing press and mass-produced books in the 15th century, silent letters/syllables in written texts have unnecessarily hastened deforestationmessage-squaremessage-square19fedilinkarrow-up1147arrow-down118
arrow-up1129arrow-down1message-squareSince the invention of the printing press and mass-produced books in the 15th century, silent letters/syllables in written texts have unnecessarily hastened deforestation58008@lemmy.world to Showerthoughts@lemmy.worldEnglish · 1 year agomessage-square19fedilink
minus-squareKelly@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up23arrow-down1·1 year agoThey might be silent when spoken but still offer disambiguation between words/meanings when written e.g. “dam” vs “damn”.
minus-squareEheran@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkarrow-up8arrow-down3·1 year agoMany words are written the same way. In both cases, context is what does the actual trick. If you read “the damn was 10 meters high” it goes as far as assuming a typo.
minus-squareKelly@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up6·1 year agoTrue context helps - but I wouldn’t want to consciously smurfify the language.
minus-squareWarmSoda@lemm.eelinkfedilinkarrow-up6·edit-21 year agoIf it was written out as “God damn that damn is 10 meters tall” People would complain that they’re spelled the same way.
minus-squareKelly@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up10·1 year agoAnother example: “Dam that river!” vs. “Damn that river!” could be confused.
They might be silent when spoken but still offer disambiguation between words/meanings when written e.g. “dam” vs “damn”.
Many words are written the same way. In both cases, context is what does the actual trick. If you read “the damn was 10 meters high” it goes as far as assuming a typo.
True context helps - but I wouldn’t want to consciously smurfify the language.
If it was written out as “God damn that damn is 10 meters tall” People would complain that they’re spelled the same way.
Another example: “Dam that river!” vs. “Damn that river!” could be confused.