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A Dictionary of Modern English Usage

Book by Henry Watson Fowler · 1 quotes · Cranks, English Language, Fowler

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All Cranks English Language Fowler Mesembryanthemum Pretension Quotations Roads Spelling Spelling Reform Tedium

A Dictionary of Modern English Usage Quotes

“mesembrianthemum should be so spelt. In a cumbrous word whose length can only be excused if it is at least significant to the learned, it is absurd not to correct the misspelling y for i; the y at once puts the Greek scholar off the track by suggesting embryo or bryony (Greek βρύω swell, burgeon), and forbids him to think of μεσημβρία noon, which is what he ought to be thinking of. When a word like rhyme that is familiar to everyone has settled itself into our hearts and minds with a wrong spelling, there is much to be said for refraining from correction; but with the y of m. no one has tender associations.”

English Language Spelling Cranks Spelling Reform Fowler Mesembryanthemum

Book:A Dictionary of Modern English Usage

Source: A Dictionary of Modern English Usage