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It is a little cargo cultish. The architecture looks good, though, and that's what counts, and why it continues to be influential. I'm rather more annoyed with
by gcv 16y ago
It is a little cargo cultish. The architecture looks good, though, and that's what counts, and why it continues to be influential. I'm rather more annoyed with idiotic signs on buildings which say "PVBLIC BVILDING" or "COVRT HOVSE". Just because Latin does not need to distinguish between "u" and "v" in writing (they're unambiguous in context as either a vowel or a consonant), does not justify torturing English.
- wallflower 16y agoJust in case anyone did not know: 'V' was a lot easier to chisel than 'U' (why they are interchangeable)
- samatman 16y agoIncorrect. The letter U was simply not a part of the Roman/Latin alphabet. It, and the letter W, were Carolingian-era developments. Besides: why would "U" be hard to chisel compared to, say, "R"?
- imd 16y agoI'm no expert on the antiquities of English, but they were interchangable in English in Shakespeare's time. Here are some asciified lines from Macbeth: I goe, and it is done: the Bell inuites me. Heare it not, Duncan, for it is a Knell, That summons thee to Heauen, or to Hell.
- orborde 16y agoAre you sure that isn't just cruddy OCR?
- lesterbuck 16y agoApparently U and J came into English in the sixteenth century as undifferentiated alternatives, and were split into separate letters about 1700. It was very surprising to me to learn that English picked up three new letters only three hundred years ago. Note that "w" is pronounced "double U" rather than "double V", which seems to not be an accident. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2696/why-is-the-alphabet-in-alphabetical-order http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2696/why-is-the-alp...
- shin_lao 16y agoIn French it's called "double V".