- Why was Spook a slur used to refer to African Americans?
I understand that the word spook is a racial slur that rose in usage during WWII; I also know Germans called black gunners Spookwaffe What I don't understand is why Spook seems to also mean 'ghos
- Why is c*nt so much more derogatory in the US than the UK?
Why is 'c*nt' so much more derogatory in the US than the UK? Ask Question Asked 14 years, 7 months ago Modified 8 years, 11 months ago
- etymology - Why is “number” abbreviated as “No. ”? - English Language . . .
The spelling of number is number, but the abbreviation is No (№) There is no letter o in number, so where does this spelling come from?
- indefinite articles - Is it a usual or an usual? Why? - English . . .
As Jimi Oke points out, it doesn't matter what letter the word starts with, but what sound it starts with Since "usual" starts with a 'y' sound, it should take 'a' instead of 'an' Also, If you say "today was an usual day", unless your pronunciation is extremely clear, you risk being misunderstood as "today was unusual day", which will only confuse your listeners
- Why do North Americans pronounce caramel as carmel?
Americans don't all use "carmel" Many of them think it's more correct to say "carr-a-mel", so you can find a number of examples of this pronunciation being used, especially in formal contexts Go through some of the Youglish US pronunciations of "caramel" There is a word where a similar syncopated pronunciation is, as far as I know, universal for American English speakers: squirrel
- punctuation - Why is there a slash within n a? - English Language . . .
jsq29: It provides a justification for why the standard has changed, even if Merriam Webster hasn't caught up Ultimately, language is fluid even though some consider it sacred Thus, slash was once used in place of dot for abbreviations, the letter s was once written as f, just some examples
- etymology - Why shrink (of a psychiatrist)? - English Language . . .
I know it originates from "head shrinking", but it doesn't help me a lot to understand the etymology Why are psychiatrists called that? Is it like "my head is swollen [from anguish, misery, stress
- meaning - Why do people say over- and underwhelmed but never just . . .
Why do people say "over-" and "underwhelmed" but never just "whelmed"? Ask Question Asked 14 years, 4 months ago Modified 4 years, 4 months ago
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