Quote:
Originally Posted by CathalMagus
Back to the original post, I actually quite like 'nother', but only when it's used tongue-in-cheek. It probably originated as a joke to begin with (I was reminded of the very elegant turn of phrase which was common, historically, in the Southern states of America when I watched "Ride with the Devil").
The only real problem with substantial changes in idiom, grammar and spelling across the whole English language, is that it will make the majority of recent literature inaccessible to future readers. (And I've studied Old and Middle English in University, so I know how far a language can drift...)
And as for American spelling without the 'u'... I personally used to find it perplexing: I would always read 'labor' and hear lah-borr rather than lay-burr in my mind... I'm used to it now, of course.
|
actually i like "nother" used tongue in cheek as well.
and it reminds me of a story i read somewhere explaining that for instance the english word "
apron" used to be "napron" (from french "napperon", small table cloth), and somehow "a napron" became "an apron" (sorry, i don't remember the exact details). perhaps the same thing happened to "nother".
(my tongue is in my cheek for the last bit.)