What do we call the “rd” in “3ʳᵈ” and the “th” in “9ᵗʰ”?
Aug 23, 2014 · @WS2 In speech, very nearly always. In writing, much less so. I think what may be going on is that one just assumes that “June 1” is pronounced “June First”, or “4 July” as …
How did the letter Z come to be associated with sleeping/snoring?
May 26, 2011 · See also Why Does ZZZ mean sleep? for another theory: The reason zzz came into being is that the comic strip artists just couldn’t represent sleeping with much. ... As the …
"Why ...?" vs. "Why is it that ... ?" - English Language & Usage Stack ...
Why not: I don't know why, but it seems to me Bob would sound a bit strange if he said, "Why is it that you have to get going?" Eliminating 'that' before 'Bob' would seem to be more in context …
Usage and etymology of "a pair of ..."
Nov 21, 2022 · So why was "a pair" still being used over 1000 years later. Even Old English was not in use until the mid 5th century. Maybe it was a carry over from the language's …
How do you handle "that that"? The double "that" problem
Sep 25, 2010 · The rules of English grammar are the very reason why such "strange things" happen in the first place. Now, whether or not you actually end up using a double "that" or …
grammaticality - Is it incorrect to say, "Why cannot....?" - English ...
Feb 15, 2012 · There are also many examples of "Why we cannot", but they are not interrogatives. JForrest explains that 'cannot' is the negative form of 'can', and so 'cannot' …
What's the history of the English letter "Y" as a "sometimes vowel"?
Nov 6, 2017 · Wondering when and why historically the Anglo-Saxon letter "Y" became a (part-time) vowel substitute for the letter "I", leading to "gymnasium" instead of "gimnasium" or …
history - If the letter J is only 400–500 years old, was there a J ...
Jan 29, 2014 · Why that happens is a little complicated, and requires unpacking some assumptions in your question. In the original languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew) which provide …
How does "pussy" come to mean "coward"?
Why is Vivado connecting this reset to the CE pin when the R pin is available? Classic Chinese movie featuring a male lead with a superpower and a female lead who is a ghost that is …
etymology - What is the origin of the '7 8 9' joke? - English …
Jan 8, 2021 · @JEL Why don't you ask the other 4 people who agreed that 'This isn't really a question about English [within the scope intended for ELU] or indeed Hot Licks in person to …