The route to good routing Warning: [RANT]

[Nick W]

Does it get any else's goat when they see route (pronounced root) printed where the person obviously meant rout (pronounced rowt)? :evil:

Its creeping into our magazines (UK produced ones, though laudably FWW gets it right consistently), the Rutlands catalogue, and what stirred me to write this this morning was the arrival of a glossy from Festool (until now synonymous with quality) advertising their new Domino jointing system which routes (oo) all over the place.

The confusion stems, I think, from our American cousins, who do not pronounce route properly making it homophonic with rout. This confusion is probably further aggravated by the computer industry where a router (rooter) does indeed route (root), but again both get pronounced as if they were woodworking tools in the US (ow :twisted: ).

The situation is worsened by many spelling checkers' refusal to recognise the verb rout, so add it to your dictionaries now!

To make it easier to remember which is which, remember that an army will rout (ow) the opposition or a pig will rout (ow) for truffles (both digging out sort of ideas) so a router (ow) will rout (ow) slots etc.

On the other hand a router (oo) will route (oo) signals in a computer network.

Or am I just being fuddy-duddy, conservative etc...?

OK [/RANT] but I needed to get it off my chest. Thank you for listening. :roll:

 

[MikeW]

Snip
The confusion stems, I think, from our American cousins, who do not pronounce route properly making it homophonic with rout...

Sometimes these types of statements can almost provoke me to a rant <g>.

Look, we're generally smart enough to understand context, homophonic associations aside.

Further, are you saying that so called professional UK people are actually stupid enough to be influenced by the stupid, confused Americans and their backwards, illiterate ways with words?

Mike
confused in America

 

[aldel]

I cannot explain why certain words incorrectly used also get my blood pressure up. I consider myself tolerant and in general not too badly affected by spelling in posts as I am far from perfect. I do try to spell correctly but there are four words that for some reason set me off.

Course when the person means coarse.
There when their should be used.
Draw replacing drawer.
To used when it should be too.

Is it some deep-rooted psychological problem that stems from school where poor spelling was considered to be inexcusable and lazy or do I have an age problem where I mumble and grumble about modern youngsters?

Aldel :?

 

[Alf]

No, all those annoy me too, Aldel, and I'm, like, younger, like, kinda, ya know?

Of coarse we could look at it as a lively and vibrant language undergoing continual adaption, which is a Good Thing.

Mike, I think it's more 'Murricanisms are nice on 'Murricans, but naturally other nationalities get a little worried if they feel the 'Murricanisms are in danger of taking over there own language foibles. We've already got the grey squirrel ousting the red; do we want this to?

But now I'll drawer a line and get some lunch. :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[ike]

Does it get any else's goat when they see route (pronounced root) printed where the person obviously meant rout (pronounced rowt)?

I'm fully with Mike on this. Sorry to be blunt but I think your statement is pointless, unless you deliberately wanted to make insult.

Ike

 

[Nick W]

Does it get any else's goat when they see route (pronounced root) printed where the person obviously meant rout (pronounced rowt)?

I'm fully with Mike on this. Sorry to be blunt but I think your statement is pointless, unless you deliberately wanted to make insult.

Ike

Sorry to all I have given offence to (to whom I have given offence?), that was not my intention.

Lets just say that a read mist descended.

 

[stewart]

Lets just say that a read mist descended

or.. Let's...
Guys, you got it easy if you only come across the odd typo in a catalogue. Opening myself up for attack now, but I'm an English teacher in the real world and have to read the same mistakes over and over again - often from seemingly intelligent pupils!
Here are some to add to the list:
alot/allot instead of a lot
women instead of woman
effect/affect.....aagh!
weather/whether/wether...the last is a castrated ram if you weren't sure it was a correct spelling!

For it's amusement value:

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a work
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
It's rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew!

 

[martyn2]

[
For it's amusement value:

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a work
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
It's rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew!

so whats wrong with it :?: :lol: :lol: :lol:

martyn

member of DNA

 

[SammyQ]

DNA????


You mean deoxyribonucleic acid or..........?

Sam

 

[gidon]

<snip>... but I'm an English teacher in the real world ...
<snip> For it's amusement value: ...

tut, tut

Cheers

Gidon

 

[martyn2]

DNA????


You mean deoxyribonucleic acid or..........?

Sam

National dyslexics Association

think about :lol: :lol:

martyn

 

[Devils Advocate]

Does it get any else's goat when they see route (pronounced root) printed where the person obviously meant rout (pronounced rowt)?

I'm fully with Mike on this. Sorry to be blunt but I think your statement is pointless, unless you deliberately wanted to make insult.

Ike

Even if the second half of this did make sense (okay, I know what Ike meant to say and the grammar thing has been done to death elsewhere) I didn't find the original posting insulting or offensive. Unfortunately, Ike's is.
Prefacing a statement with 'sorry to be blunt' usually means 'I'm going to be rude now' and this is no exception.

 

[Good Surname or what ?]

Stewart,

My personal favourites passed on by an English teacher some 30 years ago, yet fresh in my memory.

The car is a "state asymble".

This book contains an "underlying topsoil of metaphor"

 

[MikeW]

Sorry to all I have given offence to (to whom I have given offence?), that was not my intention.

Lets just say that a read mist descended.

Hi Nick,

I really didn't take offense--just responding in the same vein, just not with the same sense of outrage at the situation.

We Americans do get blamed often for dumbing down the English language. Tis a pity. It's a pity because that very sentiment attributes much more influence upon your decision makers--those who teach, those who publish, those who advertise--than we deserve.

I personally believe bad grammar and spelling is attributable to TV. And computers. TV you say? I haven't read the book for many years, but Neil Postman's book, Amusing ourselves to Death, makes a good argument.

Here's more heresy. I also believe the sign of the end was MTV...

Take care, Mike

 

[Alf]

DNA????

You mean deoxyribonucleic acid or..........?

National dyslexics Association

think about :lol: :lol:

Like it. :lol:

Sheesh, this is reminding me of when I was proofreading. It's a nightmare; you can't read anything without looking for mistakes. Give over, the lot of you. :roll: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[MikeW]

...
Mike, I think it's more 'Murricanisms are nice on 'Murricans, but naturally other nationalities get a little worried if they feel the 'Murricanisms are in danger of taking over there own language foibles.

We've already got the grey squirrel ousting the red; do we want this to?

About the only way to stop this from occurring is to stop UK people from being educated in the US, or watching American TV, or? Who knows. Nah, that won't work. We have plenty of Americans being educated in Britain and it doesn't seem to influence us when they return.

The above was tongue-in-cheek in case someone gets the wrong impression of my real opinions.

I do think, however, the above statement is a defeatist position. It abdicates your own destiny as a distinct people--which in itself is becoming more difficult for all Western nations in this age we live.

I don't have the answer, only an observation. It seems there is a general dumbing down in most of Western society. I bear no resemblance to the little boy who had a ruler slapped across his hands for purposely misspelling a word in a spelling bee early in my school life. But at least in this country, teachers no longer have the authority they once had, no longer have control over the dribble they teach, and little influence upon the children they "teach."

Oh, and wasn't it the British who took deer to New Zealand? Consider the grey squirrel a kind of cosmic payback <g>. That was just a joke...

Mike
Living where squirrels of all flavors live together in perfect harmony <g>.

 

[Alf]

I only mentioned the squirrels 'cos I was trying to get the to/too thing in. :lol:

 

[Newbie_Neil]

On the subject of animals, who took the rabbits to Australia?

Cheers
Neil

 

[ike]

I didn't find the original posting insulting or offensive. Unfortunately, Ike's is.
Prefacing a statement with 'sorry to be blunt' usually means 'I'm going to be rude now' and this is no exception.

I was just offering my support to Mikes point of view. Nick, I'm sorry if my post appeared rude to you.

Ike

 

[MikeW]

I only mentioned the squirrels 'cos I was trying to get the to/too thing in. :lol:

And a fine job you did. :lol:

On a side note, I taught English as a Second Language at a local college for a couple years and was a student teacher for the English professor. By and large, the students taking ESL classes were more educated school level for school level than their American counterparts. Many wrote better term papers. Most could construct better, tighter sentences.

Sheesh, this is reminding me of when I was proofreading. It's a nightmare; you can't read anything without looking for mistakes.

For quite some time afterwards, it was incredibly difficult not to pick apart everything I read.

This thread is related to Steve's earlier thread wherein he laments over the lack of correct grammar in some postings in the forum.

I sometimes have difficulties as well--but I'll read the posts that interest me, all of them, as opposed to letting what I deem a little thing bother me.

It is the same with this topic. Though I desire that Western society would believe something so simple as teaching and learning proper grammar, spelling, and math--even the sciences and trades--is a necessary task, my own feelings of defeatism predisposes me to ignoring such things that do not directly affect me. How is that for a run-on sentence. :lol:

Take care, Mike
who now has had sufficient coffee to face his day...