# General irregularities in the english language
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 19, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923 "2009-08-19T04:34:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JeremyInIdaho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeremyInIdaho)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/1 "2009-08-19T04:34:57Z")
1: Why is abbreviated such a long word. And why is the abbreviation for abbreviated longer than other abbreviations?
2: Why is phonetic spelled the way it is? I thought that it meant to sound out words the way they sound? Why the “ph” at the beginning then? Shouldn’t it be spelled funetic (or even funetik if you wanna be teknikal about it?)?
3: Why does the word lisp have an “s” in it? Why use a letter someone can’t pronounce easily in the word describing their condition?
4: Why does hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (I’ll admit, I had to copy/paste that one) mean fear of long words? Once again, using something that someone can’t really say to describe their condition, seems cruel to me.
I have others but I can’t think of them right now. Please answer oh great one who makes fun of others in a freakishly smart way.
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### Author:  [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/2 "2009-08-19T05:07:06Z")
Because the gods of English delight in irony. Which is, ironically, an oft-misused term.
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/3 "2009-08-19T05:16:15Z")
> [@JeremyInIdaho](#):
>
> 2: Why is phonetic spelled the way it is? I thought that it meant to sound out words the way they sound? Why the “ph” at the beginning then? Shouldn’t it be spelled funetic (or even funetik if you wanna be teknikal about it?)?
Buy a copy of hooked on Fonics and it will all be explained. English is a fonetic language\*
Not
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/4 "2009-08-19T05:27:53Z")
Why is the word “gorilla” a collection of three syllables and not a large, simian creature native to Africa?
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/5 "2009-08-19T05:30:53Z")
Also, the factoid that “hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia” means “fear of long words” is essentially a joke; nobody ever uses this contrived word except to make that joke, or to compile lists of similarly spurious names for phobias. Look: it’s got “hippopotamus” stuffed in there for no reason.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/6 "2009-08-19T05:33:02Z")
_English does not borrow from other languages. English follows other languages into dark alleys, coshes them over the head, and rifles through their pockets for loose vocabulary._
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/7 "2009-08-19T05:35:47Z")
Just like every other language which has not been isolated from outside contact.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/8 "2009-08-19T05:39:55Z")
To take this seriously:
1: “Abbreviated” is a long word because it’s not needed very much. All the short words got used for things like “man” and “house” that get used a lot.
2: “Phonetic” is pronounced exactly how it’s spelled. “ph” is always pronounced with an “f” sound in English. And it’s spelled that way because its origins are from Greek, and the English letters “ph” are the standard way to transliterate the Greek letter φ.
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/9 "2009-08-19T05:41:34Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> Just like every other language which has not been isolated from outside contact.
Having read\*\* Empire of the Word\*\* recently: not remotely to the extent of English. Chinese, for instance has shown remarkable resistance to change, despite invasions by speakers of unrelated languages. As did Egyptian, until Arabic came along.
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/10 "2009-08-19T05:43:05Z")
And “lisp” is the way it is because _of course_ one of the most natural ways in which words which describe aural phenomena are formulated is by use of an imitative or related sound.
**Askance** : And what kind of objective evidence supports such a conclusion?
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### Author:  [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/11 "2009-08-19T05:45:52Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> Look: it’s got “hippopotamus” stuffed in there for no reason.
Not no reason; hippopotamuseseses are well-known for their fear of medium to long words. Also, their hunger.
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/12 "2009-08-19T05:49:57Z")
And yet, ironically, for their emphatic reduplication in expressing that hunger (and their own pluralization, apparently).
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/13 "2009-08-19T06:12:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> “ph” is always pronounced with an “f” sound in English.
There’s a haphazard selection of exceptions, possibly found somewhere in the upholstery.
> [@](#):
>
> And it’s spelled that way because its origins are from Greek, and the English letters “ph” are the standard way to transliterate the Greek letter φ.
In Greek, phi was used for an aspirated P sound. That is, a P with a puff of air after it. Unaspirated P in Greek was represented by pi. In Classical Greek, that is. In modern Greek, phi represents an F sound.
I recently ran across a word that had a ph-spelling/f-sound, but which was (I’m fairly sure) of Germanic origin. Unfortunately, I failed to write it down, and have forgotten what it was.
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/14 "2009-08-19T06:15:04Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> There’s a haphazard selection of exceptions, possibly found somewhere in the upholstery.
Sure, that’s where the \ is separated from the \ by a syllable boundary, in which case, it will of course be a /p/ sound followed by an /h/ sound, just as if there had been a space between them. But the digraph \ is, as far as I know, always pronounced /f/ (or at least pronounceable /f/; you have cases like the word “diphthong” where variant pronunciations also exist, but this is always the way in a system where spellings are frozen, even as pronunciations will, always, inevitably, drift and evolve over time).
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/15 "2009-08-19T07:48:24Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> Sure, that’s where the \ is separated from the \ by a syllable boundary, in which case, it will of course be a /p/ sound followed by an /h/ sound, just as if there had been a space between them. But the digraph \ is, as far as I know, always pronounced /f/ (or at least pronounceable /f/; you have cases like the word “diphthong” where variant pronunciations also exist, but this is always the way in a system where spellings are frozen, even as pronunciations will, always, inevitably, drift and evolve over time).
You’ve just given the reason why there are exceptions, not a proof that there are none. If you tell someone learning English that PH is always pronounced /f/, then they’ll eventually run across, for example, shepherd and say “sheferd”. If you try to qualify the rule as you do above, you’ll most likely confuse them. Or make them think that English spelling rules are overly intricate.
Here’s another curiosity: **aphelion**. This is a word of Greek origin, but comes from two words where the P is from of them and the H from the other. So there’s no phi in the source and it should be pronounced as if there were a space between the letters. Yet many, perhaps most, people (not me, though) pronounce the PH as /f/. Go figure.
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/16 "2009-08-19T08:06:06Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> You’ve just given the reason why there are exceptions, not a proof that there are none.
Fair enough.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/17 "2009-08-19T09:50:07Z")
Why can’t you make up your own questions instead of stealing them from other people?:
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### Author:  [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/18 "2009-08-19T10:50:52Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> And “lisp” is the way it is because _of course_ one of the most natural ways in which words which describe aural phenomena are formulated is by use of an imitative or related sound.
So why isn’t it “lithp”? 😛
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/19 "2009-08-19T13:22:27Z")
He missed off the one about “dyslexia” supposedly being difficult to spell.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-irregularities-in-the-english-language/506923/20 "2009-08-19T14:16:05Z")
“I could care less” and “I couldn’t care less” mean the same thing.
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