Pearls Before Swine: The English
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
-a-a-a https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the comic strip says).-a :-p
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says). :-p
On 1/9/2026 5:22 PM, Your Name wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
aaa https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says).a :-p
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/economize
Lynn
In article <10js2j4$2p1ce$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says). :-p
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital"
and other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or
Irish immigrants anyway.
On 1/9/2026 9:28 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <10js2j4$2p1ce$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says). :-p
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital"
and other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or
Irish immigrants anyway.
I have a unresearched notion that the distinction in the US is
whether the location referred to has an abstract meaning
independent of a particular physical structure, or whether
you're trying to talk about a particular instance.
I'm going to church.
vs
Get me to the church on time.
In article <10jses5$2s9v3$1@dont-email.me>,
Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
On 1/9/2026 9:28 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <10js2j4$2p1ce$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says). :-p
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital"
and other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or
Irish immigrants anyway.
I have a unresearched notion that the distinction in the US is
whether the location referred to has an abstract meaning
independent of a particular physical structure, or whether
you're trying to talk about a particular instance.
I'm going to church.
vs
Get me to the church on time.
Puts my trust in God & man
On 2026-01-10 02:04:44 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
On 1/9/2026 5:22 PM, Your Name wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
-a-a-a https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says).-a :-p
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/economize
Lynn
'z' is an Americanism. Real English uses 's'.-a :-)
On 1/9/2026 9:28 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <10js2j4$2p1ce$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Name-a <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
-a-a-a-a https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says).-a :-p
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital"
and other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or
Irish immigrants anyway.
I have a unresearched notion that the distinction in the US is
whether the location referred to has an abstract meaning
independent of a particular physical structure, or whether
you're trying to talk about a particular instance.
I'm going to church.
vs
Get me to the church on time.
Pearls Before Swine: The EnglishAnd yet we use "in jail" and "in prison" the same way. And, as others
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
On 1/9/2026 9:51 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
On 1/9/2026 9:28 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
In article <10js2j4$2p1ce$1@dont-email.me>,
Your Namea <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
aaaa https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says).a :-p
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital" and
other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or Irish
immigrants anyway.
I have a unresearched notion that the distinction in the US is whether
the location referred to has an abstract meaning independent of a
particular physical structure, or whether you're trying to talk about a
particular instance.
I'm going to church.
vs
Get me to the church on time.
And then there's the difference between "I'm going to church" (now, or
soon) and "I go to church" (a claim of habitual practice). I was asked
to clarify this by a lab technician in France who was just learning
English.
On 1/9/2026 9:45 PM, Your Name wrote:
On 2026-01-10 02:04:44 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
On 1/9/2026 5:22 PM, Your Name wrote:
On 2026-01-09 21:07:12 +0000, Lynn McGuire said:
Pearls Before Swine: The English
aaa https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/09
Rat is right, the Brits economize too much in their language.
Lynn
You mean "economise" ... and English *is* "their" language (as the
comic strip says).a :-p
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/economize
Lynn
'z' is an Americanism. Real English uses 's'.a :-)
It goes back a lot further than that. Its one of those things were
there was uncertainty, with both forms in use in England and America,
and England settled on one variant, and America another.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/economize
pt
On 1/9/2026 9:28 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital"
and other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or
Irish immigrants anyway.
I have a unresearched notion that the distinction in the US is
whether the location referred to has an abstract meaning
independent of a particular physical structure, or whether
you're trying to talk about a particular instance.
Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:I suggest that "were in surgery" /could/ be interpreted as "being
On 1/9/2026 9:28 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
I read somewhere that we get the THE in "he's in the hospital"
and other inclusions of the definite article by way of the Irish, or
Irish immigrants anyway.
I have a unresearched notion that the distinction in the US is
whether the location referred to has an abstract meaning
independent of a particular physical structure, or whether
you're trying to talk about a particular instance.
It gets weirder in the case of surgery. It used to be that a person
"was in the surgery" when they were having an operation there. Then
they "were in surgery" through the same kind of transformation of the >article.
But now, THAT has been transformed into "he's having a surgery" in which >"surgery" has come to mean the procedure instead of the facility. I
don't know how the hell that one came about.
You mean "economise" ...
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 12:22:12 +1300, Your Name wrote:
You mean "economise" ...
There are words which get rCL-izerCY via French, e.g. rCLeconomizerCY, rCLrealizerCY, rCLutilizerCY, and there are ones which donrCOt, e.g. rCLadvertiserCY, rCLteleviserCY, rCLmerchandiserCY.
Some of us can tell the difference, even in the UK ...
On 2026-01-15 06:22:15 +0000, Lawrence D-|Oliveiro said:
Some of us can tell the difference, even in the UK ...
The US uses 'z' ("economise") for some words and not others, the UK
uses 's' ("economise") for all such words.
On Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:14:46 +1300, Your Name wrote:
On 2026-01-15 06:22:15 +0000, Lawrence D-|Oliveiro said:
Some of us can tell the difference, even in the UK ...
The US uses 'z' ("economise") for some words and not others, the UK
uses 's' ("economise") for all such words.
From <https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/spelling-spotlight-when-to-use-ize-and-ise/> (note that is a UK-based site):
It is a common belief that -ize is an Americanism and the British
is -ise: recognize rather than recognise. That if you spell with a
-ize, that this is an American spelling. But for most verbs,
either way is correct in British English and the -ize ending has
been in use in English since the 16th century. If the word came
into English with its origin in the Greek root -izo, then it can
be spelt -ize.
As I said (as was snipped), ...
... "z" is ye olde English ...
... but has been replaced by "s" in the UK and other proper
*English* speaking countries.
On Fri, 16 Jan 2026 18:42:03 +1300, Your Name wrote:
As I said (as was snipped), ...
You said no such thing.
... "z" is ye olde English ...
ThatrCOs not what the article said.
... but has been replaced by "s" in the UK and other proper
*English* speaking countries.
Ah, I see. So who is the arbiter of this thing wotrCOs rCLproperrCY, eh?
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