@[email protected] to Ask LemmyEnglish • 20 days agoWhat is the (subjectively) weirdest word in the English language?message-square228fedilinkarrow-up1153arrow-down12
arrow-up1151arrow-down1message-squareWhat is the (subjectively) weirdest word in the English language?@[email protected] to Ask LemmyEnglish • 20 days agomessage-square228fedilink
minus-square@chiliedogglink4•20 days agoIt would be half-true if we hadn’t gotten rid of a letter (the thorn, which made the"th" sound) For a long time, they used the letter “Y” instead of “th”. That’s how we have weird relationships with old English words like “You/Thou,” and “The/Ye.”
minus-square@CoggyMcFeelink5•edit-219 days ago“You” and “thou” come from different roots. They are not simply different orthographies like “ye” and “the”. https://www.etymonline.com/word/thou https://www.etymonline.com/word/you
It would be half-true if we hadn’t gotten rid of a letter (the thorn, which made the"th" sound)
For a long time, they used the letter “Y” instead of “th”.
That’s how we have weird relationships with old English words like “You/Thou,” and “The/Ye.”
“You” and “thou” come from different roots. They are not simply different orthographies like “ye” and “the”.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/thou
https://www.etymonline.com/word/you