from the Latin ridere, to laugh. We’d also have to change derision and deride.
Wood eye wont two right “rediculous”? Know!
Wood eye?
Wood eye?
Hook nose, hook nose!
I hereby redicule the OP’s premise.
It may seem nonsensical, but there’s a reason why a word is spelled the way it is. It’s just that the reason is centuries old. Pronunciation changed over the centuries, but the spelling didn’t. When you consider that English has over 20 vowels, but only 5 vowel letters, you can understand why spelling seems nonsensical. In this case, it’s just an unstressed syllable with a schwa sound. The word’s Latin roots assign the syllable the roman letter “i,” but any vowel letter can represent the schwa sound. There’s no good reason to single out the first syllable of ridiculous.
I think a lot, if not most, North Americans don’t pronounce the first syllable of ridiculous with the same vowel as in a word such as rim. The schwa is lax, as is /I/, but it’s lower. Some people might switch between the two, depending on emphasis desired.
If they do that, it’s probably just hyper-correction. Don’t hate English. Hate message boards and chat rooms.
Redicule is nothing to be scared of.
You have to dicule it first.
I think ree-diculous could be a non-insulting emphasis. Ri-DICK-ulous should be accompanied by pointing a finger and saying, “That’s right, I just called you a dick.”
If Microsoft had added spell checking to IE7, the internet would be a slightly better place.