TWO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRIVIA FOR MY UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN FRIENDS. 1) “Subtile” l

TWO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRIVIA FOR MY UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN FRIENDS.

1) “Subtile” looks like it should be pronounced SUB-tile. The origin is a latin word “subtilis”, meaning ‘delicate’. However, the anglicization of the latin ‘Soob-teel-ees’ dropped the “B” sound, and in modern english it’s pronounced ‘SUH-TUL’. Like “settle”, or “suttle”.

Why do we keep these spellings? English consists of Anglo Saxon, Latin, and French words. The spellings help us identify the origin of the words, how it is pronounced, and many other subtle clues, and help clarify words that have similar sounds but different meanings. (and it’s an anglo thing to be fascinated by minuscule bits of history. Which is why so many historians are british.)

2) The show will be aired at 10PM – 9 Central. Or 10-9c. Or some equivalent like 9 Eastern, 12 pacific time. The USA is divided into four time zones: Pacific, mountain, central, and eastern. There are very few people in the mountain areas in the middle of the country, so when networks broadcast television shows, they save money by only showing a film or episode three times, instead of four, by combining the mountain and central time zones into a single broadcast. This means that you have to stay up later in the mountains to see your favorite shows. 🙂