Tuesday, July 24, 2007

If Only It Were True

Headline on my recent Spam:
You've received an ecard from a Worshipper!
Sadly, I'm fresh out of starry-eyed devotees these days. Life sure is tough.

(And why doesn't "worshiper" correctly have two p's? It should be pronounced "wer-SHY-per.")
Edit: UK spelling is with double p's; US with just one. What gives?

4 comments:

Eric Riback said...

Didn't say it came from someone who worships YOU, just a worshipper. Might've been GWB.

Anonymous said...

Actually, either one or two p's is correct.

Anonymous said...

In American English, the doubled letter before verb suffixes depends on the syllable stress. If the last syllable of the verb is stressed, double it. (This only applies if the word ends in a single consonant.) If the last syllable is unstressed, don't double it. It's different in British English; when I see British writers use "travelled" I always feel like it should rhyme with "compelled."

Bella Stander said...

Not true. We don't say "ship-PING." I was taught in 2nd grade that a single consonant means a long vowel (as in "biting"); double consonant means a short vowel (as in "fitting"). So by that logic, "worshiping" would be pronounced "wor-SHY-ping" and "traveling" would be "tra-VEEL-ing." But then, no one said that the English language is always logical.