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actually . . . yes, it does <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Kai, no ill will was meant. I just received my new telescope (I have to tell LeslieRae) about it. Some of those words are fun and their meaning does change. English is a living language and meanings do change. Right now I am excited about the new "scope" and can't wait to take it outside for a test run.

Bob,

My western sky is cloudy, but aren't there supposed to be two planets out there very close together for the next few evenings?

Also Mars is the closest it may be for the next 60,000 years?

I don't have much for telscopes, a poor 30x spotting scope and excellent 1-x binoculars. My cousin has an 8" telescope he was considering selling rather than carying into retirement across the country, but I am not so interested that I am willing to spend $1000 to $3000 that he may have asked for it - with the price fully justified, as I understand it. I did see saturn's rings for the first time through it! That was quite a kick.

Yea, I like our living language as well. It gives us a nice advantage over people trying to keep their language as it was in the stone age.
Kai

For me one of the funniest words was: QUEUE spelled as Q. So why bother to add this UEUE?

Greets
Yanc

Greetings Yanc from Stone Age England! You will soon realise I am a bit of a pedant! 'Q' is the letter 'Q' that starts such words as 'queer', 'queen' 'quiet' and so on, and in line with the posting, the WORD 'queue'! {[;-))
Leslie

But still wouldn't it be easier to write just "q"? Or is it a long vs short vowel issue?

BTW, Yanc, welcome, from global perspective we are definitely meighbours.

Zooba
I hate to disagree with our Polish friends, but if I wrote just 'Q' you would have to read carefully the rest of the text to identify the context and then whether I meant queue, queen, quite or whatever. Or do you still just prefer 'Q'? BTW, how often do you use the word 'queue'? I can't remember the last time I used it!!!
Pozdrawiam
Leslie

Q? 2 Q or not 2 Q, that is the question? In the Stone Age, I suppose they did, but after writing moved from chiseling in stone to writing on paper, the spelling changed so that by the time the writer finished writing queue, the reader was triply assured that the writer REALLY did mean Q or queue and did not have a slip of the pen, O?

Or should that be the Canadian E, as in Eh?

Kai One of those Americans happy to test the patience of the English with their language and make them wonder how these Americans may bollix it up next!

They can bollix it up more???!!! {[:--))

OK, Leslie,

I will admit we have a tough time bollixing it up more than you Island people, you do quite well on your own!

:-)

To repeat a comment I made earlier, I am amazed at the number of dialects the Britts have been able to generate in a few small islands.

Kai
PS On the serious side, a brother in law who speaks only American had business in both England and Germany, and upon his return he said the Germans in most cases were easier to understand than the English! That is one opinion.