how threads go bad

[Tobus]

My trouble is that I can't put myself in that type of mindset, to predict what might set it off.

If you ever could predict what will set people off on chat boards, you will have officially solved the internet.

[AFS1970]

...as a former Navy man I have been known to drink the occasional Rum...

Yes but that is a military thing and this is a discussion on traditional civilian drinking, oh wait no it isn't it was about pickup trucks I think.

[James Hood]

Folks around this large city cannot even agree on how to pronunce the name thereof.

Quite common are:

shuh-caw-go

shuh-caaah-go

chuh-caaah-guh

chuh-caw-go

shek-ah-go

shek-ah-guh

Are other big metros "as bad" with their names (urban anthropologists' delights?).

'Wonder how the locals pronunced it 250 years ago?

"It is therefore likely that “Shikaakwa” was the word for a stream
near Chicago because of the leeks or “smelly onions” that grew in the watershed.

'Ain't gonna even touch the fifty shades of Gaelic of this thread. Uh-uh.

[The Q]

I won't even go into what you Americans have done to spelling and pronouciation of your copies of British village and town names. Plus what Noah Webster did.

[ThistleDown]

For a good and humorous read on the subject of the English language, read Bill Bryson's 'Mother Tongue'.

[The Q]

For a good and humorous read on the subject of the English language, read Bill Bryson's 'Mother Tongue'.

I'd agree with that, I've got most of his books and have enjoyed them, he is after all a local lad (now)

[Riverkilt]

I'm with Tobus!

I seem doomed to have my very well intentioned posts taken as having evil intentions....ain't nothing more stupid than one person telling another person they know what they "really" meant or what they're "trying to do." Would be funny if it usually wasn't so sad.

Folks that think they're clairvoyant and can tell what other people are thinking have a HUGE ego problem. Sadly, they seem to enjoy Internet forums of all sorts.

[Father Bill]

You know... I find one way to avoid being misinterpreted (international linguistic variations aside) is that if I wonder for even a moment if something is a good idea... then it probably isn't.

[MacGumerait]

I won't even go into what you Americans have done to spelling and pronouciation of your copies of British village and town names. Plus what Noah Webster did.

Thank you for your input about " us Americans " . Seems a bit unnecessary . Although , aside from all of that , we do appreciate our friendship with the British Isles .

By the way , you may wish to check your wording .... " pronounciation " is actually spelled " pronunciation " . Sorry , I know that I'm not supposed to know these things .

[The Q]

You're correct but then I never said I could Spell, perhaps I should have said what the US post office did to the spelling of towns and Villages