Written English vowels differ from other Latin-based orthographies. Consider what the written vowels in the romance languages represent. Also, for example, consider this simple comparison between a few German and English vowels: German English a = [a] a = [e] e = [e] e = [i] i = [i] i = [aj] Has this always … Read more
The following question is motivated by another question, now removed by the OP, and that I feel it didn’t received enough attention. More than a decade later, about the time that our feudalism was in the last throes of existence, Carl Marx, writing his Capital, called the attention of his readers to the peculiar advantage … Read more
Sometimes especially when I am reading books or quotes, I encounter verbs ending in -th. Is that an arcaic form? How should I properly translate them? Answer Verbs ending in -eth are an archaic way of forming the 3rd person singular present, so for example: sayeth => says goeth => goes Beyond that, I can’t … Read more
From time to time I hear the phrase rain check. For instance I have to take a rain check on that. I would say that means I have to get back to you on that issue. How do I use that phrase? What does it mean? Where does it come from? I always think while … Read more
Why is the phrase here be dragons not here are dragons? Is this a special grammatical form? If so, what is it? I found a related ELU question on the topic. Answer I thought I’d add this as well, just for those who are inferring that "Here Be Dragons" is an inference on the illiteracy … Read more
