4 ms·

OT but this isn't the first time I've seen someone mistake the verb "delve" with "dwelve": > ...we started dwelving into the code base... The author may not b

OT but this isn't the first time I've seen someone mistake the verb "delve" with "dwelve": > ...we started dwelving into the code base... The author may not be a native speaker, but this is far from a judgement on their English. I'm just curious about the provenance of this mistake, given the scarcity of words that begin with "dw". At first I thought it was a typo -- especially on a QWERTY keyboard -- but I've seen it often enough to question this.

leonheld 3y ago
>I'm just curious about the provenance of this mistake Because of English pronunciation (pronounciation? :-P). English is extremely irregular, there are a thousand of footguns in the language - both spoken and written -, so as non-native speakers we tend to make small mistakes that stick to our brains like glue, and it's very hard to get rid of (rid off? :-P). For me it kinda makes sense to say "dwelve" because it reminds me of "dwarfs" (dwarves? :-P) that live underground!
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Xophmeister 3y ago
  Dwindling dwarves dwell dweep :)
  - leonheld 3y ago
    btw, as a non-native, I also cannot understand why some native speakers confuse the use of "you're, your" or "there, their" or even "through, tough". To me they sound completely different!
wccrawford 3y ago
IMO, people learn language by seeing/hearing it used. And the internet is rife with misuse of language. My particular pet peeve is using "weary" instead of "wary" or "leery". I've started to hear it spoke in youtube videos now, too, so it's not just a typo.
- sdoering 3y ago
  And I learned something. Just threw it into deepl to understand the translation. Thanks for pointing it out. Would have tripped me probably.
Majromax 3y ago
A Reddit thread on r/grammar (https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/fxahta/does_the_world_dwelve_exist/ https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/fxahta/does_the_wo...) involves a poster asking a genuine question about the alleged word 'dwelve'. The answering commenter speculates that the author is conflating 'delve' and 'dwell'. Another comment, added years later, admits the same confusion.

leonheld 3y ago

>I'm just curious about the provenance of this mistake Because of English pronunciation (pronounciation? :-P). English is extremely irregular, there are a thousand of footguns in the language - both spoken and written -, so as non-native speakers we tend to make small mistakes that stick to our brains like glue, and it's very hard to get rid of (rid off? :-P). For me it kinda makes sense to say "dwelve" because it reminds me of "dwarfs" (dwarves? :-P) that live underground!

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Xophmeister 3y ago
Dwindling dwarves dwell dweep :)
- leonheld 3y ago
  btw, as a non-native, I also cannot understand why some native speakers confuse the use of "you're, your" or "there, their" or even "through, tough". To me they sound completely different!

wccrawford 3y ago

IMO, people learn language by seeing/hearing it used. And the internet is rife with misuse of language. My particular pet peeve is using "weary" instead of "wary" or "leery". I've started to hear it spoke in youtube videos now, too, so it's not just a typo.

sdoering 3y ago
And I learned something. Just threw it into deepl to understand the translation. Thanks for pointing it out. Would have tripped me probably.

Majromax 3y ago

A Reddit thread on r/grammar (https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/fxahta/does_the_world_dwelve_exist/ https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/fxahta/does_the_wo...) involves a poster asking a genuine question about the alleged word 'dwelve'. The answering commenter speculates that the author is conflating 'delve' and 'dwell'. Another comment, added years later, admits the same confusion.