# Winnie 'ther' Pooh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864 "2010-09-24T11:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/1 "2010-09-24T11:56:49Z")
Does anybody know what ‘ther’ is supposed to mean? Is it a device used by the author to avoid having to explain things clearly or is there a known answer to this? My Google-fu is failing me on this one. > [@](#): > > When I first heard his name, I said, just as you are going to say, “But I thought he was a boy?” > > “So did I,” said Christopher Robin. > > “Then you can’t call him Winnie?” > > “I don’t.” > > “But you said—” > > “He’s Winnie-ther-Pooh. Don’t you know what ‘ther’ means?” > > “Ah, yes, now I do,” I said quickly; and I hope you do too, because it is all the explanation you are going to get. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/2 "2010-09-24T12:59:45Z")
It’s how a child explains things. “Ther” is just a nonce word, but it’s the type of conversation a child would have if an adult brought up something logical in his fantasy world. From context, if you really need an explanation :rolleyes:, it’s a word that indicates a female name is really the name of a male. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/3 "2010-09-24T13:26:24Z")
To the OP, I’m still waiting to find out what “ **14 k of g in a f p d** ” means. > **[14 k of g in a f p d](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398132)** > > What is the answer to this? It is one of those questions along the same lines of: 7 D in a W = 7 days in a week. but I can’t figure it out, any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/4 "2010-09-24T13:36:44Z")
This wonderfully weird article claims that the “ther” is evidence that the original language of Winnie the Pooh is not English, and it was translated from Gallo-Romance or Old French, although the stories themselves are much, much older 😃 : > **[SpecGram--The Original Language of Winnie-the-Pooh--Aureliano Buendía](https://www.specgram.com/CXLVIII.4/04.buendia.pooh.html)** Although I suspect that this comment is for real: > [@](#): > > Readers unfamiliar with British English may need to be informed that _ther_ is intended to be a representation of a stressed form of the English definite article. Orthographic word-final r is silent in British English but frequently indicates lengthening and stress on the preceding vowel. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/5 "2010-09-24T13:43:58Z")
I always just figured it was the masculine equivalent of adding “ette” to the end of a name. Like Bernardette or Charlette. Made up, of course, by Chrstopher Robin in order to spackle the gap between Winnie’s name and gender. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/6 "2010-09-24T14:01:26Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I always just figured it was the masculine equivalent of adding “ette” to the end of a name. Like Bernardette or Charlette. Made up, of course, by Chrstopher Robin in order to spackle the gap between Winnie’s name and gender. When speaking of differences in gender, “spackle the gap” may not be the best choice of terminology… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/7 "2010-09-24T14:16:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Ther” is just a nonce word… Since we’re talking about a British English context, you should be aware that “nonce” means “pedophile” over here… **CalMeacham** ’s final quote has it: to me as a British reader, the spelling emphasizes that Christopher Robin is over-enunciating the word “the”, as children do. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/8 "2010-09-24T14:27:36Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > To the OP, I’m still waiting to find out what “ **14 k of g in a f p d** ” means. > > [14 k of g in a f p d - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398132) Not sure what that has to do with this thread, although I’m sure the answer ends in “gry”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/9 "2010-09-24T14:30:40Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > > [@Crotalus](#): > > > > To the OP, I’m still waiting to find out what “ **14 k of g in a f p d** ” means. > > > > [14 k of g in a f p d - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398132) > > Not sure what that has to do with this thread, although I’m sure the answer ends in “gry”. 😉 **mittu** started that infamous thread, and then disappeared for a while. I was surprised to learn a few days ago that he has become a regular poster again. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/10 "2010-09-24T15:06:24Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > To the OP, I’m still waiting to find out what “ **14 k of g in a f p d** ” means. > > [14 k of g in a f p d - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=398132) Since it seems like the OP’s question has been answered factually by some real life British folks I would also like to know if the OP ever got an answer to **14 k of g in a f p d** from his friend. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/11 "2010-09-24T16:03:24Z")
Fuck, didn’t notice it was **mittu** posting. Dude, you have some answers a lot of people are wanting to find out. Well, one in particular… ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/12 "2010-09-24T16:08:49Z")
I thought it was just an emphasized form of _the_, with that British way of adding Rs that aren’t really Rs anyway. Like, in one of the E. Nesbit books, she has a girl named Anthea whose nickname is Panther, which she explains makes sense if you say it out loud. Well, it makes sense if you’re British and do that R thing–to an American kid it’s total nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/13 "2010-09-24T16:23:54Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I thought it was just an emphasized form of _the_, with that British way of adding Rs that aren’t really Rs anyway. Like, in one of the E. Nesbit books, she has a girl named Anthea whose nickname is Panther, which she explains makes sense if you say it out loud. Well, it makes sense if you’re British and do that R thing–to an American kid it’s total nonsense. “We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle angrily: “really you are very dull!” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/14 "2010-09-24T16:29:02Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Fuck, didn’t notice it was **mittu** posting. > > Dude, you have some answers a lot of people are wanting to find out. > > Well, one in particular… I’m going on record to suggest that the last we hear of **mittu** in this thread was the OP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/15 "2010-09-24T16:36:07Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > “Ther” is just a nonce word… > > Since we’re talking about a British English context, you should be aware that “nonce” means “pedophile” over here… That implies that British English does not also use nonce to mean “a word apparently used only ‘for the nonce’, i.e. on one specific occasion or in one specific text or writer’s works”, which of course it does. (Definition from OED and in fact the term nonce-word was coined by James Murray, the first editor, although the word nonce itself, meaning for the particular occasion, for that one time, is much older) Nonce meaning sexual deviant, specifically a pedophile, is peculiar to British English. The origin is unknown, the earliest cite in OED being 1971 in a manual of prison slang. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/16 "2010-09-24T17:02:50Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > That implies that British English does not also use nonce to mean “a word apparently used only ‘for the nonce’, i.e. on one specific occasion or in one specific text or writer’s works”, which of course it does. While I admire your precision on the extent of its use, I would strongly recommend that you don’t actually use it in conversation with anyone in England. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/17 "2010-09-24T17:47:31Z")
Surely most English people are as familiar (possibly more familiar) with the “nonsense” meaning than the other meaning. What’s more, one’s an adjective and the other’s a noun. Should be pretty clear from context which meaning is intended. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/18 "2010-09-24T18:13:43Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Surely most English people are as familiar (possibly more familiar) with the “nonsense” meaning than the other meaning. What’s more, one’s an adjective and the other’s a noun. Should be pretty clear from context which meaning is intended. As far as I know, nonce doesn’t have any relation to nonsense. It means a word coined for a single purpose, based on the definition of nonce meaning “now” or “at present”. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/19 "2010-09-24T18:27:49Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I thought it was just an emphasized form of _the_, with that British way of adding Rs that aren’t really Rs anyway. Like, in one of the E. Nesbit books, she has a girl named Anthea whose nickname is Panther, which she explains makes sense if you say it out loud. Well, it makes sense if you’re British and do that R thing–to an American kid it’s total nonsense. Depends what part of America. [Here](http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/10/you-have-no-idear.html)’s how it works for some people. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864/20 "2010-09-24T20:36:27Z")
Maybe Tigger introduced them first. I can see him saying “Winnie ther Pooh.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winnie-ther-pooh/554864.md?page=2)