Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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The "i" in Linux and Linus have different pronunciations even when they shouldn't. (leminal.space)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm Italian and I pronounce both "i"s in the same way. Why is English so strange?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Blame the French.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hey, we pronounce both the same, too. Sorry English, that's on you and you alone.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Uh huh

And how would you pronounce it compared to a German?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

The I as in "free", but shorter (not drawn out) and the u as in "urban", maybe? It's hard to find English words where they make the french U sound, but it's pronounced the same pretty much all the time.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

In this particular instance, the Great Vowel Shift is to blame. What caused that is up for debate.

In general, English is so strange because it's a mongrel language, incorporating words from a variety of other different languages.