"Thru"--grrr

[Nava]

@TheLoadedDog

We, in certain other parts of the world, get a double dose of ‘grrr’ when we see “from - thru”, because not only does the spelling grate on our nerves, but we don’t even use “from - through”. We use “from - to” or “from - until”.

“From Monday through Wednesday”, sounds to my ears like it hits Wednesday running, and by the time whatever it is can stop, it’s already the following Saturday.

This foreigner has the same problem

[Dr.Rieux]

@annanate

The one that drives me batshit crazy is “prolly.” I hate, hate, hate that word! Grrr.

Yes–the correct spelling is “probly.”

[Diceman]

I imagine that most of the people in this thread hate using the drive-thru at fast-food joints

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a “drive-through.”

[Gukumatz]

I’m with Eddie Izzard on this one, really. Thru is the way to go. (Pun belatedly intended)

What? Now, um, I just want to talk quickly about language and then we can all… Cause yeah, language. They do say that Britain and America are two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean. And uh, and it’s true. No, they – they – say two languages separated by – two countries separated b – by common language, that’s the line. I think it’s an Oscar Wilde line, I think.

And we do pronounce things in a different way! Like you say ‘caterpillar’ and we say ‘caterpillar.’ And, uh… No, you say ‘a-loo-min-um,’ we say ‘a-loo-min-yum. You say ‘cen-tri-fugal,’ we say ‘centri-fu-gal.” You say ‘leisure!’ We say ‘lie-sur-eye-ay.’ Uhh, uh, you say ‘bay-sil’, we say ‘bah-sil,’ and you say ‘erbs,’ and we say ‘herbs!’…because there’s a fucking ‘h’ in it.

But you spell ‘through’ ‘T-H-R-U,’ and I’m with you on that. Cause we spell it ‘thruff!’ And that’s trying to cheat at Scrabble. “How can we get that “ooo” sound?” “Well, a ‘U’ will work.” “What about an ‘O’ as well?” “No, we don’t need it, we’re fine.” “No, I think an ‘O’ in.” “Well, all right.” “And a ‘G’ as well.” “What?” “Yes, a ‘G’ would be good.” “…‘guh’ sound?” “Yes, we need a – a silent ‘guh,’ just in the background, in case of any accidents or something.” “Well, all right.” “And an ‘H’ as well!” “Fuckinell, ‘ang on!” “An ‘H!’ In case some herbs come along!” “All right.” “And a ‘Q,’ and a ‘P,’ and a ‘zed.’ Look! It’s a word in Scrabble that’s 480 points!” So yes. And uh…w – we do have s – you know, s – slight differences in that arena.

[Beware_of_Doug]

@Larry Mudd

I would have thought that the Hearst papers were more notable for their egregious offenses in this area.

OK, I just remembered the Trib.

Don’t like “thru?”

I like it fine. I just wouldn’t use it on a board like SDMB where good English is viewed as a priority. I do it on special interest boards, though I don’t entirely cleanse my typing of ughs.

[gigi]

@tomndebb

but I will cut the programmer slack if you are talking about column headings or field names. Since the shorter spelling is widely recognized and has the same number of characters as “from,” it simplifies many aspects of design layout to use the shorter version.

Unfortunately it wasn’t “behind the scenes” but as labels to boxes where the end user will enter parameter information. Grrr. I won’t get started about their misuse and mispunctuation of e.g.

[Paintcharge]

I remember when I first noticed "Drive-Thru"s. And asking my Mon what a thruh was. I still say it taht way in my head.

[InappropriateHumor]

One of my least favorites is “nite”. No, dammit, it’s “night”!

My high school English teacher had the class grade each other’s papers one day, counting spelling, punctuation, etc. I counted my classmate’s spelling of the word “nite” as incorrect. The teacher sided with my classmate and claimed that “nite” is an accepted alternate spelling of “night”.

Cripes, even as I type this, “nite” has the red-dotted line o’ death under it. “Nite” doesn’t appear in the American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition. There is no listing between the words “nit” and “niter”. So suck on that, ironically illiterate English teacher!

That little incident appears to have stayed with me longer (by about 20 years) than is strictly warranted. Hmmm…

[Mbossa]

Just remembered: one of our valued clients has the habit of writing “please” as “pse”. Why the hell would anyone do this?! :mad: Gah, I don’t know why I find it so incredibly annoying but I do.

This is an example of a typical email she sends me (quoted verbatim):

Dear Ben,

Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. Bla bla bla. Bla bla bla bla bla bla.

Bla bla bla bla bla. Bla. Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. Bla bla bla bla.

Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla. Pse advise.

Regards,
[name withheld for obvious reasons]