conundrums

[ali_alic]

Not sure if conundrums is the correct word to use but there are certain facts that puzzle me : Why is dyslexia difficult to spell, is there really one one monopolies commission, why is phonetic not spelt fenetic, why is extraordinary not extra ordinary? Any that bug you?

[WaldoMcFroog]

Not sure if conundrums is the correct word to use but there are certain facts that puzzle me : Why is dyslexia difficult to spell, is there really one one monopolies commission, why is phonetic not spelt fenetic, why is extraordinary not extra ordinary? Any that bug you? Well, now, let's see; a little etymology will clear most of your misunderstandings.

Dyslexia derives from the New Latin prefix 'dys' meaning 'abnormal', 'Impaired', 'Difficult' or 'Bad' and the Greek 'lexis' meaning speech. It is not difficult to spell. I am dyslexic and I can manage it fine.

Many coutries have a monopolies comission, so technically there is more than one.

Phonetic is derived from the Greek work 'phone' meaning sound. Even if phonetic were spelled the way it's pronounced, it still wouldn't be spelt the way you wrote it, since your spelling's not how you should pronounce it.

Extraordinary is a combination of the words 'Extra' and 'Ordinary'. 'Extra' has latterly come to have connotations of 'more than' but this is not the original meaning, which derives from the Latin for 'Outside'. The word originally therefore means 'outside of the ordinary'.

[tomd]

Why does lisp have an "s" in it? Why isn't onomatopoeia spelt like it sounds? Why isn't palindrome the same backwards? Why isn't monosyllabic monosyllabic? Why does inflammable mean flammable? Why is traffic slowest at rush hour? Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets? Why is there only one word for Thesaurus? Why is abbreviated so long?

[handicap-1]

Why does Sesquipedalian mean the overuse of long words?

[bernardo]

Because "sesqui-" is the Latin for "one-and-a-half", so it means that the word is 1½ times as long as it should be.

[bernardo]

Why is "long" so short?

Why do we write "red" and "blue" and "bold" and "italic" and "underlined" instead of "red" and "blue" and "bold" and "italic" and "underlined"?

[bernardo]

Oh pifflebunk! What happened to my colours?

[Quizmonster]

Colours went long ago, B. The 'here' in my 'click here' link-messages was originally red to make it stand out the better. One day, it just wasn't any more. Boo-hoo!

[jenstar]

There isn't a monopolies commission in the UK anymore. It's now the Competition Commission. Hey, that rhymes!

[Marsh]

Sesquipedalian words are " a foot and a half" long. Latin pes, pedis a foot.

[Marsh]

Barnado, how do you get bold and italic to work. I'm getting the favourites menus with Ctrl + i or b.

[Ewood27]

tomd, there is a reason for kamikaze pilots to wear helmets, but I won't bore everyone with it here.

Marsh, you have to use HTML codes. to get bold, use the code < b > without the spaces inside the angled brackets, then close bold with < /b >. Italics requires < i > and < /i >, and underline < u > and < /u >, all without the spaces inside the brackets. To force a fresh line use the "break" code < br >.

There's a whole lot more to HTML. This website may be useful.

[fountalnpen]

dunno where you come from, but: dyslexia is not difficult to spell; no idea about the monopoly idea; phonetic is not spelled fenetic 'cos it isn't 'sounded' like that; and extraordinary IS spelled Extra-Ordinary - that is how it is Meant to sound (but no-one ever gives it that emphasis) In fact it became a 'loose word' in the 20's or thereabouts - people played with it and slewed it on purpose.

[stoo_pid]

Several years ago I met someone who claimed to volunteer for the National Association of Stutterers and Stammerers - doesn't bug me but it does strike me as a little cruel

[Marsh]

Testing, testing, testing.

[Marsh]

thank you very much. I'm off to look at the website you've suggested. P.S. The slow response was because I was away on holiday

[Marsh]

Sorry, Ewood27, I did your name wrong in the last posting and it disappeared

[wvaleriechas]

The pronunciation Disoriented annoys me . the word is Disorientated meaning confused or not (with it). Is it too difficult to pronounce or is it just laziness.