Does anyone understand the lyrics of American Pie?
The Questions not worth their own thread thread VII
- Thread starter Flying Pig
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nonconformist
Miserable
Guy sad that Buddy Holly died.
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
How long do I have to wait until kinetic orbital bombardment is a viable foreign policy option?
people have written a great deal on it. http://www.wilstar.com/midi/americanpie.htm
http://www.explainthelyrics.com/AmericanPie-DonMcLean.cfm
http://www.whrc-wi.org/americanpie.htm
It's because I had a friend called Moran whom we all called Moron.
salmon and cream cheese are a very common combination. Presumably people want the flavour without paying a lot for salmon.
The cheese might be used with biscuits, on bread (bagels perhaps) and so on.
People who can't understand British spelling need to spend more time improving their brains.
Some Americanisms are older, but in general the differences are because of one man who couldn't cope with spelling and deliberately put the wrong spellings in his dictionary.
Gaol comes (according to the OED) from Middle English gayhole and Norman French gayolle. I think that the background of the word is far better conveyed by gaol than jail.
jessiecat
Divine Monarch
Thanks for explaining that. Webster has a lot to answer for. Though I really couldn't be bothered answering the arrogant rant about why I'm somehow "thick" because I don't appreciate deliberate meme mispellings.
kulade
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This may be a new concept to you, but spelling is meant to portray not a word's etymology, but its pronunciation.
There's no sense in refusing to reflect phonological changes in English in writing.
SG-17
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Actually the HMS Thunderchild did manage to destroy one tripod but then it was surrounded and demolished by 3 others.
Ulyaoth
Emperor
Hmm, in wikipedia it says the thunderchild rammed one to destruction, then shot at another and exploded underneath it destroying it as well, and then 3 more battleships came to fight the third, although they didn't say what happens. I could have sworn that the battleships blew open the capsule of one of them with cannons but apparently not.
(bolding mine)
What a fitting description of a prison.
And how exactly does 'gaol' NOT portray the pronunciation of the word?
And more accurately than 'jail,' I might add.
I'd have to read it again, and I don't want to right now. I was sure it rammed one. Meh, sweet anyway.
SG-17
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It rammed two tripods, once fully functional destroying it, then while on fire it rammed another in a kamikaze-esq move and destroyed it when its powder stores exploded.
Ulyaoth is correct about the three other battleships coming to fight the third tripod. I got mixed up on that one.
Also it depends on who the publisher was of the copy you were reading. I distinctly remember that the Scholastic copy had the Thunderchild blast one apart with its main batteries, however when I got my hands on an original publication (Heinemann) it had the Thunderchild ramming the tripods.
Ulyaoth is correct about the three other battleships coming to fight the third tripod. I got mixed up on that one.
Also it depends on who the publisher was of the copy you were reading. I distinctly remember that the Scholastic copy had the Thunderchild blast one apart with its main batteries, however when I got my hands on an original publication (Heinemann) it had the Thunderchild ramming the tripods.
kulade
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Well in America, we don't pronounce the word /gɑoʊl/. In the UK, do you pound naols into wood? Do you communicate by E-maol? I think it's about time to baol on archaic spelling; it totally faols. If you wanted an old spelling why even change it from gayhole? Sounds like a good word to me. "Jail" is a far more descriptive of the sound than "gaol."And how exactly does 'gaol' NOT portray the pronunciation of the word?
(although I'd prefer something like "jeil" being a bit closer to phoneticyness)
only because that's really actually a better way to write the pronunciation in a way that's clear to everyone. At least, I don't think the British are rhyming "gaol" with "Mao" (as in the Chinese leader).
Huayna Capac357
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kulade
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That particular link of yours seems a little suspect and I don't know angle you're after. However, other searches of mine seemd to verify that "gayhol" credited to the 13th century actually was an original spelling of the term. Any other etymologists here with some input?
kulade
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I said "gayhole" because that was what Brighteye posted.
There was a tendency in old English scholasticism to add or subtract final e's when deemed necessary. Firstly, they didn't have the conformed spelling as we do know and secondly a short e may have eased pronunciation in some places.
I also heard a rumor (don't know if it's true) that scholars would sometimes be payed by the letter or line, so they would try to expand words to get the most money for their work. eg: inne for in
edit: or were you even talking about the final e?
There was a tendency in old English scholasticism to add or subtract final e's when deemed necessary. Firstly, they didn't have the conformed spelling as we do know and secondly a short e may have eased pronunciation in some places.
I also heard a rumor (don't know if it's true) that scholars would sometimes be payed by the letter or line, so they would try to expand words to get the most money for their work. eg: inne for in
edit: or were you even talking about the final e?
Huayna Capac357
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Jail used to be gayhole?
No, sorry kulade, my response was along the lines of Huayna's. No offense to Brighteye, but I must've missed that part of his post - I'd thought you were the first person to bring up "gayhole" as just a joke about certain problems in prison systems. I didn't realize and was surprised to find this as an actual root of the word.
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