Colonel

[Rantz]

Draught!

[I Took the Red Pill]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti

[Shauna]

Wh is pronounced "hw(a)", so "hwy" is it spelt wh?

Uhh, I definitely do not pronounce "wh" like it starts with an "h". You obviously just talk weird. x}

[Miss Mae]

What's up with the u in colour. It literally adds nothing except one more letter to write out.

'Murica.

The 'our' spelling is caused by the French derivations of words. It wasn't added - it was removed. Webster removed the Us to simplify the language for the Americans. He also changed words like theatre/theater, defence/defense (there are a few like this), travelled/traveled (also a bunch of other double Ls that he adjusted) and added a lot of Zs to words that he felt had more of a 'z' sound. It was to make the language less about its derivations about more about its pronunciation.

[Mirage]

Aluminium turning into alu-minum is the single worst thing in the entire world.

What's next, uranum, plutonum? Changing xenon to xon? Helum? Idiots!

[Miss Mae]

Aluminium turning into alu-minum is the single worst thing in the entire world.

What's next, uranum, plutonum? Changing xenon to xon? Helum? Idiots!

We Australians are supposed to be really lazy with our punctuation, but even we can manage the extra 'i' in aluminium.

[Bubba]

I am fine with just about all the differences in pronunciation as language is a complicated thing at the best of times. The American pronunciation of aluminium is the only one that I can't abide. For some reason it really grates on me.

By the same token, the English pronunciation of lieutenant is smurfing stupid... perhaps more so.

[Miss Mae]

By the same token, the English pronunciation of lieutenant is smurfing stupid... perhaps more so.

Thankfully this is one that the Australians chose not to continue with.

[Slothy]

february
asthma

If you're not pronouncing those two the way they're spelled then you're doing it wrong.

And Aluminum and Aluminium aren't a case of the word being pronounced completely different from the way it's spelled. It's a case of there being two slightly different words for the same damn element. Aluminium does sound cooler though.

[Old Manus]

Sometimes American pronunciations are just cooler. Case in point: Bucking-HAM and Birming-HAM. Calling Swansea 'swan-sea' rather than 'swanzee' irritates me no end though.

[Bubba]

And Aluminum and Aluminium aren't a case of the word being pronounced completely different from the way it's spelled. It's a case of there being two slightly different words for the same damn element. Aluminium does sound cooler though.

Ah right, I thought they were spelled exactly the same on both sides of the pond. I guess this is OK then!

[Jiro]

And Aluminum and Aluminium aren't a case of the word being pronounced completely different from the way it's spelled. It's a case of there being two slightly different words for the same damn element. Aluminium does sound cooler though.

Ah right, I thought they were spelled exactly the same on both sides of the pond. I guess this is OK then!

Is it really okay to just delete letters whenever we feel like it, Bubb?

[Sephex]

Words with "ph" pronouncing the letter 'F'! I mean, who does that?

[Miss Mae]

Words with "ph" pronouncing the letter 'F'! I mean, who does that?

Phteven.

[Quindiana Jones]

Fugue.

It clearly says fuh-goo.