Why is the "P" in corp silent?

[Mangosteen]

Poor Obama mispronounced "corp" 3 times in his speech. Don't they prep him?

Why is the P in "corp" silent? Are there any other words that have a silent P at the end?

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by Mangosteen

Poor Obama mispronounced "corp" 3 times in his speech. Don't they prep him?

Why is the P in "corp" silent? Are there any other words that have a silent P at the end?

As in Army Corps? Or an in corporation?

[panache45]

The "p" is pronounced if it's short for corporation . . . as in "Citicorp."

[Beware of Doug]

Many military members prefer to spell it without the s for some reason.

[Punoqllads]

The p in corp is not silent. The p in corps is silent. I blame the French.

[Polycarp]

The P in "corps" is silent, as is the S. It's "Mah-reen Core" or "Army Core of Engineers" as far as what's heard goes. The "P" in "Corp." is pronounced, along with the "-oration" that the period stands for. (In other words, you may write "3M Corp." but what you'll say is "Three-Em Corporation".

[Mangosteen]

I was referring to corps like in the Marine Corps or the Army Corps of Engineers, not a corporation.

[kittenblue]

Originally Posted by Mangosteen

Poor Obama mispronounced "corp" 3 times in his speech. Don't they prep him?

Why is the P in "corp" silent? Are there any other words that have a silent P at the end?

Which speech, when? Link?

[Mangosteen]

Originally Posted by kittenblue

Which speech, when? Link?

Sorry, I don't have a link to the speech, but Obama was giving a speech just the other day to what might have been a military crowd and he pronounced the "ps" in corpsman (or similar) 3 times.

They played a clip of it on the news.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by Mangosteen

I was referring to corps like in the Marine Corps or the Army Corps of Engineers, not a corporation.

Then why did you misspell "corps" three times in your OP?

[Mangosteen]

Originally Posted by Colibri

Then why did you misspell "corps" three times in your OP?

Carelessness.

[njtt]

Originally Posted by Punoqllads

The p in corp is not silent. The p in corps is silent. I blame the French.

OK, so I guess the question becomes what is it with the French that they can't be bothered to pronounce the last few consonants of most of their words?

[Indistinguishable]

Perhaps it's "What is it with the French that they can't be bothered to bring the spelling of most of their words closer in line with their actual pronunciations?" instead...

[panache45]

Originally Posted by njtt

OK, so I guess the question becomes what is it with the French that they can't be bothered to pronounce the last few consonants of most of their words?

And what is it with us, that we can't be bothered making up our own words, rather than stealing them from other languages?

[Giles]

Originally Posted by panache45

And what is it with us, that we can't be bothered making up our own words, rather than stealing them from other languages?

So, why do you use a foreign word like "languages"? And might I suggest that you request a change in your handle, to something a bit more Anglo-Saxon.

[Polycarp]

Originally Posted by panache45

And what is it with us, that we can't be bothered making up our own words, rather than stealing them from other languages?

Soothly, thou ought'st read Uncleftish Beholding (what the Grecian and Romish wights term "atomic theory").

[Bear_Nenno]

Originally Posted by Beware of Doug

Many military members prefer to spell it without the s for some reason.

Ignorance. Like why they say "cah-shay" for cache. Or why they think there is an iron ore deposit in Hudson Bay that throws off all their compasses.

[Alessan]

The word "corps" is written and pronounced in French manner because the concept was first conceived and implemented by Napoleon.

[ivan astikov]

Kinda highlights the pressure Obama is living with that he could make such a mistake.

[panache45]

Originally Posted by Giles

So, why do you use a foreign word like "languages"? And might I suggest that you request a change in your handle, to something a bit more Anglo-Saxon.

My post was a response to njtt, nothing more.

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by ivan astikov

Kinda highlights the pressure Obama is living with that he could make such a mistake.

Or maybe he's just getting in early referring to them as "corpses" before they're shipped off to the 'stan?

[njtt]

Originally Posted by ivan astikov

Kinda highlights the pressure Obama is living with that he could make such a mistake.

No, it is just him perpetuating yet another discredited Bush policy.

[njtt]

Originally Posted by panache45

My post was a response to njtt, nothing more.

May I point out that my post was still relevant to the original thread topic.

[Wendell Wagner]

As other people have already said, the pronunciation comes from French:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_French

Between about 1500 and the present, French pronunciation changed to drop the last sound in many words. Because they continue to spell the words the same way as they used to, this means that French spelling is quite a bit different from French pronunciation. People complain that it's hard to learn to spell in English because there are so many words spelled differently from the way that they are pronounced, but it's actually worse in French.

[Peanuthead]

Originally Posted by Mangosteen

Are there any other words that have a silent P at the end?

Toiletp?

[rowrrbazzle]

Originally Posted by ivan astikov

Kinda highlights the pressure Obama is living with that he could make such a mistake.

Kinda highlights the possibility that Obama is just a teeny weeny bit less eloquent and knowledgeable than his supporters have claimed.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by rowrrbazzle

kinda highlights the possibility that obama is just a teeny weeny bit less eloquent and knowledgeable than his supporters have claimed.

American political debate would improve enormously if those spouting gibberish had to accept the logical consequences of their gibberish. Mr. rowrrbazzle, what's your take on the following quotes?

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

It is white.
--- after being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 1 , 2001

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.
--- Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

we spent a lot of time talking about africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.
--- gothenburg, sweden, june 14, 2001

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

Do you have blacks, too?
--- to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.
--- Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

Originally Posted by George W. Bush

This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins.
--- Gediscussing Iraq invasion with President Jacques Chirac in 2003, as reported by Chirac himself

And one could quote on and on and on from this man once chosen (on the Internet!) by his countryman to be "the greatest living American" ....

[Rhythmdvl]

I wonder what Steven Colpbert's take on this is.

[elfkin477]

Originally Posted by septimus

American political debate would improve enormously if those spouting gibberish had to accept the logical consequences of their gibberish. Mr. rowrrbazzle, what's your take on the following quotes?

I don't know about rowrrbazzle, but I've never heard Bush be accused of being a good public speaker, nevermind an eloquent one as Obama often has.

Wendell Wagner, that's interesting, if that's true French must have gotten standardized spelling put into play long before English did. Not speaking French, I was frustrated while playing Fact Or Crap last night because there were so many French words in the questions that I had no idea how to pronounce...

[Wendell Wagner]

I believe that the spelling in both French and English was standardized at about the same time (perhaps around 1500). There have been changes in the spelling since that time, but not as many changes as there should have been to keep up with the changes in pronunciation. Thus both languages have a fair amount of words that are hard to spell because their spelling hasn't kept up with their pronunciation.

[Sunspace]

Originally Posted by Giles

So, why do you use a foreign word like "languages"? And might I suggest that you request a change in your handle, to something a bit more Anglo-Saxon.

"Pan Ache" isn't Anglo-Saxon?

[ExTank]

Originally Posted by Punoqllads

The p in corp is not silent. The p in corps is silent. I blame the French.

That's what I weas going to say.

"Because it's French, and the French dearly love to annoy the English, even if we steal half their vocabulary, mispronounce it, and call it English."

[Canadjun]

Originally Posted by njtt

OK, so I guess the question becomes what is it with the French that they can't be bothered to pronounce the last few consonants of most of their words?

What is it with the English that they can't be bothered to pronounce the "e" at the end of many of their words?

[anson2995]

Originally Posted by kittenblue

Which speech, when? Link?

Here you go.

[ExTank]

Originally Posted by Canadjun

What is it with the English that they can't be bothered to pronounce the "e" at the end of many of their words?

Because it annoys everyone else.