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Issue 10
May 2008
While The Awkward Adverb condemns the vandalism of public and private property, we wish to express our solidarity with the graffiti scribbler who helpfully corrected this sign at a McDonald's:
Yes! The correct spelling of the word is "through," not "thru." In Lewis Carroll's book, Alice did not venture "thru" the looking glass, and in Robert Redford's film, a river did not run "thru" it.
At the same time, The Awkward Adverb concedes that English spellings are quirky and inconsistent to say the least. One reason for our odd orthography is that, because of the printing press, English spellings solidified at a time when pronunciation was in flux. The "gh" combination that pops in words from daughter to right used to represent a clearly articulated sound—a guttural "h" still found in sister Germanic languages—which English obviously dropped.
Languages change, and some dictionaries even list "drive-thru" as an acceptable variation. We at The Awkward Adverb, however, remain fiercely devoted to standardized spellings. We boycott "drive-thrus" (but not "drive-throughs") and would refuse to drink "Lite" beer if it were at all drinkable in the first place.
About this E-mail
The Awkward Adverb, an e-mail newsletter sent out once a month, highlights English-language flaws that have appeared on a sign, in print, on the Web, or anywhere in the public sphere. It may address grammatical errors, careless usage, bothersome buzzwords, punctuation problems, misspellings, or confusing writing in general.
Subscribers are encouraged to submit their findings for future editions of The Awkward Adverb by responding to this e-mail. Archived past issues of the newsletter are located here.
Henry Alpert, editor of The Awkward Adverb, is a New Orleans-based copywriter and business writer who works with businesses, ad agencies, and graphic design firms on a wide array of writing projects. For more information about his services, visit action-copy.com.
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