English, the Language.
- Thread starter iBender
- Start date
Of course, the only acceptable way to answer the phone is 'pronto' ('ready') which was used by Antonio Meucci, the real inventor of the telephone.
Moshi moshi?
Ahoy-hoy.
Is it wrong that I kinda want to stroke Bell's beard? It looks like it's gonna purr if you do it...
The man clearly spent a lot of time on that beard. That's probably why his patent on the telephone came five years later.
Totally worth it.
Meter and metre aren’t homphones; they’re variant spellings of the same word. Like curb and kerb.
Actually it’s the other way around.
Although that does bring up the interesting subject of back-formed verbs in English, e.g. edit from editor, diagnose from diagnosis, destruct from destruction, enthuse from enthusiasm (the last being accepted as standard English only within the last thirty years or so).
People in some Spanish-speaking countries answer the phone with “¡Diga!” (“Tell!” or “Speak!”) which sounds even ruder.I always wondered why Italians did that because it sounded kind of rude to me, like how Klingons answer comm signals with “What do you want?”. This board is so educational.Of course, the only acceptable way to answer the phone is 'pronto' ('ready') which was used by Antonio Meucci, the real inventor of the telephone.
I ... Japanese ... is ... my name is ibender?
Yeah, I don't actually speak Japanese. But I did once stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
I have like six friends that speak Japanese, I really should know a bit more.
It's not a Metri, though 
ETA: Or the Metrec system.
ETA: Or the Metrec system.
Yeah, I know. Personally, I would just go with the argument that metre was first, since it was French, but it doesn't really matter. Given all of English's quirks, it's nonsense to argue that Meter could not turn into Metric.
Plus, as I said "metre" has a particular meaning here. 
In that context, "metre" and "meter" have different usage/meaning.
I can meter water usage, but I can't really metre it (unless it's some strange new sportspeak). I can meter the number of metres/kilometres I drive on my odometer.
In that context, "metre" and "meter" have different usage/meaning.I can meter water usage, but I can't really metre it (unless it's some strange new sportspeak). I can meter the number of metres/kilometres I drive on my odometer.
Why is it calorie yet calorific (not that we use calories/kilo calories here anymore- we use joules & kilojoules)
We've used the Metric system here since the mid 1970s. You'll find it's mainly people over 55yo who still "think" in imperial and have to convert in their heads. I think in both. I was in high school when we changed over so learned both systems. I have fond memories in Home Science class, having to go through stacks of "The Commonsense Cookbook" and converting all imperial measurements into metric.
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I heard, when we went Metric, over here, the UK or Great Britain or England, or what ever you want to call this place (Or what ever it was called back then) 1971, we lost out. Coca Cola was smaller... Everything, the whole shabang, smaller, less for our Guineas and Shillings!
I'm kidding.
But from what I hear, (I wasn't alive in 1971), when we converted, we really lost out.
I'm kidding.
But from what I hear, (I wasn't alive in 1971), when we converted, we really lost out.
As opposed to the gas METER (which is about 1 metre off the ground) and electricity METER (about 1.5metres off the ground) on the side of my house.
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