Category:
Puns and Other Wordplay
Puns and Other Wordplay
Ghoti pronounced fish
For decades newspapers repeated the claim that George Bernard Shaw used the word 'ghoti' as an example of the often bizarre disconnect between the spelling of English words and their pronunciation. He argued that 'ghoti' could be pronounced 'fish'.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Aug 7, 1955
But according to the Language Log blog, there's no evidence that Shaw ever used the Ghoti example. Plus, the Ghoti anecdote was being passed around before Shaw was even born.
Another example: 'Loeyephtheau!' could be pronounced 'Righto!'
Indianapolis Star - Mar 24, 1946
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 08, 2024 -
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Category: Languages, Puns and Other Wordplay
The Cockney Alphabet
The "Cockney alphabet" is usually attributed to the comedians Clapham and Dwyer. From wikipedia:As part of their act in 1929, they originated the Cockney Alphabet, a humorous alphabet that replaces the letters of the alphabet with supposed "Cockney" phonetics, such as "A for ‘Orses" (Hay for Horses) and ending with "Z for Effect" (Said for Effect). They recorded the routine, as "A Surrealist Alphabet", in 1936.
But some believe that the alphabet predates Clapham and Dwyer, and that the duo just happened to popularize a version of it. And there are multiple variations of the alphabet in circulation. The version below comes from Walrus Talk (1954) by Douglas Woodruff.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a guide that decodes most of the phrases in the above version of the alphabet. Though a few of them remain totally cryptic to me.
| A - Hay for Horses B - Beef or Mutton C - Seaforth Highlanders D - Deferential E - Eve or Adam F - Effervescence G - Chief of Police H - Age before beauty I - Ivor Novello J - Jaffa oranges K - Cafe for coffee?? L - Hell for leather M - Emphasis | N - ??? O - O for the wings of a dove P - Pee for a penny Q - Queue for a picture R - Half a mo' S - ??? T - Tea for two U - UFA films?? V - Viva La France W - I'll double you for a shilling X - Eggs for breakfast Y - Wife or sweetheart Z - See you |
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 29, 2023 -
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Category: Puns and Other Wordplay
An eccentric spelling of height
I came across the following anecdote in Coronet magazine (Sep 1955):John H. Holliday, peppery founder and editor of The Indianapolis (Indiana) News, stormed into the composing room one day, determined to find the culprit who had spelled height—"hight." A check of the original copy showed that it was spelled "hight" and that, furthermore, the copy had been written by Mr. Holliday.
"If that's the way I spelled it, that's correct," he said—and the word was spelled "hight" in The Indianapolis News for the next 30 years.
"If that's the way I spelled it, that's correct," he said—and the word was spelled "hight" in The Indianapolis News for the next 30 years.
I thought this sounded like an urban legend of journalism, but a check of The Indianapolis News archive confirmed that the newspaper did indeed consistently substitute 'hight' for 'height' — and not just for 30 years. They did it from 1887 until 1947 when, as reported by Time magazine, they finally updated their style guide.
The misspelling occasionally attracted the attention of readers:
The Indianapolis News - Aug 10, 1934
But as far as I can tell the paper never told their readers why they were misspelling the word. It was a long-running, private joke kept going for sixty years (long after Holliday had died) by the editors.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 18, 2023 -
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Category: Journalism, Puns and Other Wordplay
240 different ways to spell the word Scissors
The author of this pamphlet, published in England in 1829, noted that he could expand the list to 480 variant spellings if he were to substitute 'z' for 's' at the end of the word. On this basis, he claimed that "The word Scissars appears capable of more variations in the spelling than any other."He seemed to prefer the spelling 'scissars' to 'scissors'.
He also seemed to think that the publication of this list offered some kind of moral lesson. But, despite his explanation, I still can't figure out what that lesson might be:
If any person should feel a longing desire to be an author; instead of lighting the fire of contention, and abusing his neighbours to his own detriment, let him try his hand at Scissars.
If engaged in writing for the amusement of the Public and cannot refrain from introducing subjects which may be prejudicial to the morals of the rising generation, had he not much better write nothing but Scissers...
If any other subject engage his attention, it will always be a very safe and adviseable plan to consider if at any future more serious moment he might not be inclined to wish he had written nothing but Scissurs.
If engaged in writing for the amusement of the Public and cannot refrain from introducing subjects which may be prejudicial to the morals of the rising generation, had he not much better write nothing but Scissers...
If any other subject engage his attention, it will always be a very safe and adviseable plan to consider if at any future more serious moment he might not be inclined to wish he had written nothing but Scissurs.
Click to enlarge. Source: The Picture Magazine - 1895
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 26, 2021 -
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Category: Languages, Puns and Other Wordplay, Nineteenth Century
Youth and Aging
In 1991, the Pennsylvania legislature's Youth and Aging Committee changed its name to the Aging and Youth Committee. Why?Some suggested that the change was made because people got confused about the panel’s name. "When you say ‘youth and aging’ repeatedly and quickly, some people hear the word euthanasia,” said Kevin Murphy, press secretary for the state Department of Aging.
Philadelphia Inquirer - Jan 23, 1991
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 15, 2020 -
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Category: 1990s, Puns and Other Wordplay
Small Addendum to the Case of Cardinal Sin
More at Wikipedia.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 15, 2018 -
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Category: Languages, Puns and Other Wordplay, Alex
Follies of the Madmen #290
Worst. Pun. Ever.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 05, 2016 -
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Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Music, 1980s, Puns and Other Wordplay
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