Post No. 14,766
Date uploaded in London – 16 July 2025
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GHOTI= FISH
English spelling as has been frequently pointed out by G B Shaw ,Senator Robert Owen and others, is a monument to traditionalism so weird as to be practically incredible. We have only five written vowels, but at least thirteen vowel sounds, plus some thirty vowel combinations, or diphthongs, many of which are represented by simple vowels in writing—our so called long vowels, a, I, o and u , –are all phonetically combinations of two vowed sounds.
A group like ou appears with a different phonetic value in each of these words,
House, cough, cousin, through, furlough, could.
Words like Polish, and polish are distinguished in writing only by the capital.
Shaw is said to be responsible for the statement that fish could be spelled ghoti by using the
Gh of enough,
The o of women, and the
Ti of nation.
Gh=f
O=i
Ti=sh
****
AMERICAN ENGLISH
Vocabulary and semantic differences between American and British are numerous to have warranted the compilation of many lengthy glossaries, some of book length.
G B Shaw claims that England and America are two countries separated by the same language, while a contemporary America writer says interpreters are far more needed between ourselves and the British than between either and the French or German, but such statements are humorously and paradoxically advanced, even if they are aided and abetted by continental Europeans who hang out such signs as
English spoken here- American understood or
Who offer to teach English in three months and American in two months.
That the British themselves are not above such low humour is evidenced by the following sign recently noted on a London theatre marquee,
New, sensational American Western film- English subtitles.
****
What English can do to foreigners who try to use it is indicated by such phrases as correctly English in 100 days ( the title of an English handbook for Orientals); I was suddenly disemployed and May I have an interview facial to facial? (two of the phrases listed therein); as well as Soldiers are refused to eat and drink here (sign over a Shanghai shop) and We are boys in the age of 17 years, full from spirit of enterprise (letter to a New York daily from Germany).
The story, authentic or not, is told of an American technician employed in a Russian plant, during the war, received a distressing wire from home about his only daughter:
Harriet hung for juvenile crimes. The telegram had been translated into Russian, then retranslated into English; the original version was Harriet suspended for minor offences.
***
MILLIONS LOST DUE TO LINGUISTIC IGNORANCE
One of the oldest words in the Germanic languages is corn. But semantically corn has become specialised to mean wheat to the English, oats to the Scottish and maize to the Americans. Not knowing this fact, a government agency during the war bought corn for European famine relief at the request of British government, and this bit of linguistic ignorance cost a few million dollars to repair.
Source book- THE STORY OF LANGUAGE by Mario Pei, 1952.
–subham—
Tags- G B Shaw, English language, American English, Ghoti, fish, Corn, million dollar, linguistic ignorance
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