You know that word, don’t you? Ghoti? It’s a word construction (does it even have a proper term?) used to highlight, and to some degree hyperbolize, the irregularities of the English language. It’s pronounced “Fish.” For those unfamiliar, it is constructed like so:
The “F” sound from the end of “enough”
The “I” sound from the first syllable of “women”
The “SH” sound from the middle of “nation”
The rules are simple: Using language irregularities such as exemplified above, figure out what word the previous poster is spelling, then construct and post your own. Be as wild and creative as you want – as long as they follow the rules, if not the spirit, of the English language.
[ol]
[li]“gh” at the beginning of a word is always pronounced like in “ghost.”[/li][li]“o” is pronounced as “i” in only one word in the language. Why choose “i” when there are many more, more common options?[/li][li]“ti” is only pronounced “sh” if immediately followed by “on.” Without that, it’s pronounced like the final sound in “spaghetti.”[/li][/ol]
Yes, I know – hence “the rules, if not the spirit” missive. However flawed the concept may be when proper rules of pronunciation are followed, we’re conveniently ignoring that in favour of playing along. Don’t be such a cheollgeoi.