7 Comments
Aug 20Liked by Caitlin Barrett

Whew, this one was terrific! Was out of the mix for a while but bowing back in, and glad to be katching up with you. I'm up for ANY talk about thesauruses at any time - have a "few" here myself and now the OEDHT to dive into. Do have one old OED Complete (with the 1-point font type and mag lenses), which is an etymological garden. (But I can't find "internet" in there anywhere!) Anyway thanks for keeping this up and glad to back in it. Guessed one of the two faKes! :)

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Thank you for listening, Richard! I love knowing people play along at home ;)

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Aug 1Liked by Caitlin Barrett

Thanks for sharing the very interesting history on the letter K. All of them drive me Kwazy

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It's therapeutic to learn so many of us feel this way!

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Great episode! I LOLed at "virtue signaling in the wrong direction." ("Kontractify" is a double whammy: the -ify suffix needs to be permanently dislodged from brand names.)

K-substitution goes way back in U.S. name trends. It was hugely popular in the early 1900s, an era that gave us Rice Krispies and Tastykakes. Krispy Kreme is almost as old (1937). A paper on "simplified spelling" published in the first issue of the journal American Speech, in 1925, cited Konkrete-Bilt, Klever Klippers, and Kiddie Kars. We just kan't kwit K.

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Aug 20Liked by Caitlin Barrett

Nancy, thanks for mentioning Taskykakes and Krispy Kremes in the same sentence, causing it to overflow with pleasure. :)

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Nancy, you’ve mentioned on your blog that “Sometimes there are good reasons to alter the spelling of a name, but trademark protection is never one of them” have you written about what those good reasons are, I would like to learn more about the do’s and don’ts of this practice.

Caitlin & Tyler, Please share any resources you know of as well on that topic, or is it a trend that just needs to fall off a cliff?

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