Re: Opinions on English

On Sun, 17 Sep 2000, Nik wrote:

> Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
> > I *like* them.  They're fun.  :-)
>
> Yeah, irregularities give languages character, I think.  :-)  Of course,
I'm of the same opinion, though since to my knowledge I haven't tried to
learn a *really* irregular language (English, Korean, French, German and
now Turkish), who knows how I'd feel if confronted with a "very
irregular" language.

> I also like the lunisolar basis of Easter.  A fixed date would be so
> dull.  I think Christmas should be tied to Easter, say, exactly 9 months
> after Easter, or exactly 3 months before Easter.  Not that that would
> ever happen, of course.  :-)
I've never cared.  Not having grown up in a Christian family, I always
get all the religious holidays mixed up.  Possibly this makes me a lousy
Christian by some standard.  Oh well.

Obconlang: how are units of time handled in conlangs?  And I've been
wondering how many natlangs have 7-day "weeks," and what other
day-groupings are common.

> > I like these because they're useful in humor, puns, poetry.  I can see
> > where others would find them annoying.
>
> The things like "read/read" /rid/-/rEd/ are irritating.  For instance,
> does the phrase "read as" mean /rEd &z/ or /rid &z/.  That is, does it
> say "this is read as" or "you should read this as"?  I read it with
> /rEd/.
Oh, *those* are irritating.  You're right; I wasn't thinking.  (Sorry,
I always confuse all the <fill-in-the-blank>-phones.)

> However, I feel that the ability to distinguish homophones like know/no,
> write/right/rite/-wright, night/knight, etc., useful.
Agreed.