Prewarning!

My sources in the business world tell me that it is now common to get a "pre-warning", for example of things on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. This rather reminds me of other redundancies or tautologies that are now appearing in more formal settings. It used to be that "return back" was the sort of thing said by foreigners. I might even have pointed out that "back" wasn't really needed as "re-" contained that idea. They probably nodded politely, even expressed some interest - and carried on. Now it's common enough with L1 speakers too. And why not? Redundancy, or overkill, you might call it, is common enough in language and there ain't nothing wrong with it.

Just Google Eltse ( if you think I'm silly)

Googling "eltse" reveals a lot of talk about it. Mostly in the US, and mostly saying it's wrong because there's no t in the spelling, which I would never do, of course. Spelling pronunciation is increasing but I can't see it going the whole way and I don't think we can insist on it. Interestingly, one of the first sites to mention it references Labov's research and "intrusive t". I've heard it for years out on the tough streets, of course.

Although / Think of That Too

I sometimes leave a deliberate mistake for my follower to pick up on. Sometimes I just make mistakes and sometimes the software, Spellcheck, and even hardware make them for me eg their /there or it's /its. But with Think of That, I meant, of course, that maybe the association of "though" with "although" may not be remembered in these cases. Or on the other hand, maybe it is remembered and contrasted in some way?

Withany Clan

Is it a myth that there are clans of people called, for example, Clarke-Withany, because they were asked on the phone "Is that Clarke with an e?" I ask because I just checked on Anne from strongest link post.

Stron(g)est Link?

Is it just Anne Robinson on "The Weakest Link" that says "the stron(g)est link? Or is it a trend / is it trending? Is it hyper-correction by northerners or a country-wide trend? When will we hear the first German style "fin(g)er"?

Think of That

I think there are more words with "th-" that begin with the sound of "think" ( unvoiced, lighter-sounding? ), rather than the sound of "that" ( voiced, heavier-sounding?). Is that right? I always stand to be corrected ( don't even think about that expression.) I've noticed several people pronouncing "though" with the lighter sound lately. Peter Gibbs, BBC weatherman) usually does, for example. Listen out, go on, or is it just me? Is it an unconscious idiosyncrasy or perhaps some lurking feeling about "although", maybe the dropping of the first syllable and the l sound? I know most people don't think that much about pronunciation but maybe you do if you are a weatherman - people are always criticising things they say, like "organised rain", or even "bits and pieces" of it.

Rhymes for Else - or Eltse!

Can anyone suggest any one-syllable rhymes for 'else'? Plenty for 'eltse'. See what I mean?