How can I get more people to spell the word "Knome" with a K instead of a G?
Asked by
omg_dung (
150
)
January 23rd, 2010
I always spell knome with a k instead of a g because I personally think that k is a way more awesome letter than g… But how do I convince other people to spell it that way as well?
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23 Answers
you do know there are historical reasons for english spelling?
Go start your own language and don’t change ours?
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You won’t. The proper spelling begins with the letter “g.” Trying to change it only make you appear unintelligent.
Kan wee pleese knot chainge the speling ov any englis werds beecawse of ourr own preferenses? It’s sowe confoosing that way!
Before Webster came out with his first dictionary, everyone spelled as he (or she) saw fit. You might say American English was a mess because of the lack of standardization. In this modern day, where so many people don’t bother (or don’t have the brains) to spell correctly, giving them a license to change spelling based on personal preference would be disastrous. Changing the word gnome to knome is only the beginning….the beginning of cycle where we say bye bye to education and literature of good reputation.
Also. Elves, gnomes and dwarfs are not the same thing.
Nice try, though.
Oh, easy. Just convince anyone you meet about the advantages of spelling anarchy.
… or knash your teeth and send the knats and the knus to knaw on them.
And the aknostics.
dwarf, n. and a.(dwɔːf) Pl. -fs; Forms: α. 1 duerᴁ, dweorᴁ, dweorh, 2 dwæruh, 4….
—OED
@ratboy, you are correct: it is not in the OED. I just checked both editions of the OED that I have in the house and am very surprised to see that neither of them shows “dwarves” at all.
However, my American Heritage IV, my big Webster’s Third (not collegiate), and Dictionary.com all list “dwarves” as an alternate plural, after “dwarfs.” Various online explanations, including this handy one on Wikipedia, give the etymology and attribute the popularization of the “v” plural (analogous to elves, wives, knives, wharves, etc.) to the writings of Tolkien, who was first of all a language guy.
So, @rangerr, I withdraw my comment as a correction, with apologies. Please regard it as an alternative.
Dear @CyanoticWasp, those who care care. Those who don’t needn’t.
The same way you can get people to spell “awesome” as “interesting.”
@Jeruba:—You gnow-it all, you.
Nah, @gailcalled. That’s just the virtue of having enough dictionaries around so that you can usually find one that agrees with you. (I annotate them only when absolutely necessary.) I have 5 dictionaries in my living room alone, never mind the others in my office and my husband’s and another room we call the library. I keep dictionaries in numerous languages, including Canadian. Looking things up in real books is much more fun than online.
@Jeruba Between looking things up and doing laundry (and stealing socks), how do you get anything else done? :-)
@janbb, who says I get anything else done?
Twitter. “Tweet” a sentence using the newly spelled word each day.
Note: This is the first time I’ve ever used the word “Tweet” as a verb in a sentence. lol
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