5 ms·

It occurred to me for the first time the other day that the word "sloth" is to "slow" what "warmth" is to "warm".

by klondike_klive 2y ago

mc32 2y ago
And some people do pronounce the word “slow-th” though it’s atypical.
- vrc 2y ago
  Many would bristle at you referring to Sir David Attenborough as atypical!
  - Loughla 2y ago
    I was joking around with a student from England who is attending the college I'm consulting with right now. He is trying to figure out a future career. He wants to do something with media. I was throwing out really stupid ideas to get him to laugh. Then I Said, "why not replace Attenborough?" The joking immediately stopped and he stared at me deadpan and said "not funny. No one could do that." It was amazing.
    - Nursie 2y ago
      Yeah, we Brits are very proud of him, a real one of a kind national treasure. But we're also now painfully aware that Sir David is quite, quite old. Born in 1926 apparently. And there really isn't an obvious candidate to fill the gap once he does go. After having had that voice on well-produced nature content for my entire life, I find most other nature-documentary voice-overs quite jarring. Even the British ones (Tom Hiddlestone had a go recently IIRC). I will say though that I enjoyed Paul Rudd doing ‘Secrets of the Octopus’. Didn't overplay it, just did a really good job IMHO.
      - luxuryballs 2y ago
        uh oh I can see where this is going given the current technology trends… I wonder if his family can patent the voice or get royalties from a reproduction
        Nursie 2y ago
        Oh, I really hope that's not where we end up! I have lots of time for well-meaning parody though, such as this one about the majestic Australian White Ibis (otherwise known as the bin chicken) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4dYWhkSbTU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4dYWhkSbTU
      - iainmerrick 2y ago
        Tangentially, for the Attenborough fans here, I highly recommend you check out "Zoo Quest in Colour" if you haven't already: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qxfsg https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qxfsg "Zoo Quest" is his first nature documentary series, from 1954(!), very different in style from today's nature shows. I remember as a child seeing clips of it when it was already ancient history -- grainy black-and-white footage of a very young and athletic Attenborough practically wrestling a lizard. It was originally broadcast before colour TV existed in the UK (funnily enough, Attenborough was the controller at BBC 2 when they pioneered colour broadcasting) so everyone assumed it had been shot in black and white. But in 2016 someone discovered that much of the original footage was colour film. The restored version is absolutely gorgeous.
      - iainmerrick 2y ago
        After having had that voice on well-produced nature content for my entire life, I find most other nature-documentary voice-overs quite jarring. Yes! I think it's not just familiarity, what makes him definitive is a combination of factors: fantastic voice and deep domain knowledge and his very clear love and enthusiasm for nature. You can get an actor with a great voice, Morgan Freeman or Tom Hiddleston or whoever, but you always know they're just reading from a script and probably don't know any more about the animals than you do. And there are other experts with a knack for presenting, people like Mary Beard, but you can't just transfer that knowledge to a completely different subject area.
- NovemberWhiskey 2y ago
  It’s how it’s pronounced in British English.
  - HeatrayEnjoyer 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - bitdivision 2y ago
    No it's not. It's pronounced in the same way as the US, unless you're David Attenborough. Edit: It seems as though others do say slow-th, but it's not something I've really heard from the younger generation
    - NovemberWhiskey 2y ago
      The RP pronunciation (i.e. standard British English) is /sləʊθ/ ... i.e. slow-th, and that's how it's indicated in the OED.
- sudobash1 2y ago
  I have always heard this pronunciation in American English when referring to the vice.
endofreach 2y ago
Well, it would be "slowth"... Which makes me think: i am surprised that is not an excessively used term in the startup / brotrepreneur world...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- walrus01 2y ago
  "slowth" is how David Attenborough pronounces it, and if anyone could be considered an authoritative English language expert on the common (non-latin) names of mammals, he would be it...
- schoen 2y ago
  Apparently it was historically spelled in a way that makes the slow + -th connection more apparent! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sloth#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sloth#Etymology
jagged-chisel 2y ago
One of the seven deadly sins
- moffkalast 2y ago
  Rule number one: Cardio.
ks2048 2y ago
According to wiktionary, these are the examples of -th "Used to form nouns of quality from adjectives. (no longer productive except jocular coinages)": breadth, chillth, coolth, dampth, dearth, depth, filth, health, height/heighth, illth, length, roomth, ruth, strength, troth, truth, sloth/slowth, warmth, wealth, width, wrath, wrength, youth/youngth
- eastbound 2y ago
  When you want to make them adjectives again… add a “y”: wealthy, truthy, healthy… (As a foreigner I’m curious what the original adjective was for filth, length, ruth, wealthy, wrath).
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - jeroenhd 2y ago
    > As a foreigner I’m curious what the original adjective was for filth, length, ruth, wealthy, wrath Looked the ones I didn't know the adjectives of up on wiktionary: foul, long, rue, possibly the archaic "wele" (but there are multiple etymological paths), and basically "wrath" but pronounced slightly differently going back thousands of years.
    - xerox13ster 2y ago
      Wealthy's root form is weal. As in we should do things for the common weal of the people. Weal is defined as happiness, well-being, prosperity, or that which is best for someone.
  - ks2048 2y ago
    As a native English speaker there are words there that I've never seen and others were I would not know the original adjective. In wiktionary, you can click them see etymology, here https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-th#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-th#English For example, apparently "filth" comes from the equivalent of "foul".
sethammons 2y ago
so _that_ is why some pronounce it "slow-th" vs "sloth" (that rhymes with cloth)

It occurred to me for the first time the other day that the word "sloth" is to "slow" what "warmth" is to "warm".

mc32 2y ago

And some people do pronounce the word “slow-th” though it’s atypical.

vrc 2y ago
Many would bristle at you referring to Sir David Attenborough as atypical!
- Loughla 2y ago
  I was joking around with a student from England who is attending the college I'm consulting with right now. He is trying to figure out a future career. He wants to do something with media. I was throwing out really stupid ideas to get him to laugh. Then I Said, "why not replace Attenborough?" The joking immediately stopped and he stared at me deadpan and said "not funny. No one could do that." It was amazing.
  - Nursie 2y ago
    Yeah, we Brits are very proud of him, a real one of a kind national treasure. But we're also now painfully aware that Sir David is quite, quite old. Born in 1926 apparently. And there really isn't an obvious candidate to fill the gap once he does go. After having had that voice on well-produced nature content for my entire life, I find most other nature-documentary voice-overs quite jarring. Even the British ones (Tom Hiddlestone had a go recently IIRC). I will say though that I enjoyed Paul Rudd doing ‘Secrets of the Octopus’. Didn't overplay it, just did a really good job IMHO.
    - luxuryballs 2y ago
      uh oh I can see where this is going given the current technology trends… I wonder if his family can patent the voice or get royalties from a reproduction
      - Nursie 2y ago
        Oh, I really hope that's not where we end up! I have lots of time for well-meaning parody though, such as this one about the majestic Australian White Ibis (otherwise known as the bin chicken) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4dYWhkSbTU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4dYWhkSbTU
    - iainmerrick 2y ago
      Tangentially, for the Attenborough fans here, I highly recommend you check out "Zoo Quest in Colour" if you haven't already: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qxfsg https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03qxfsg "Zoo Quest" is his first nature documentary series, from 1954(!), very different in style from today's nature shows. I remember as a child seeing clips of it when it was already ancient history -- grainy black-and-white footage of a very young and athletic Attenborough practically wrestling a lizard. It was originally broadcast before colour TV existed in the UK (funnily enough, Attenborough was the controller at BBC 2 when they pioneered colour broadcasting) so everyone assumed it had been shot in black and white. But in 2016 someone discovered that much of the original footage was colour film. The restored version is absolutely gorgeous.
    - iainmerrick 2y ago
      After having had that voice on well-produced nature content for my entire life, I find most other nature-documentary voice-overs quite jarring. Yes! I think it's not just familiarity, what makes him definitive is a combination of factors: fantastic voice and deep domain knowledge and his very clear love and enthusiasm for nature. You can get an actor with a great voice, Morgan Freeman or Tom Hiddleston or whoever, but you always know they're just reading from a script and probably don't know any more about the animals than you do. And there are other experts with a knack for presenting, people like Mary Beard, but you can't just transfer that knowledge to a completely different subject area.
NovemberWhiskey 2y ago
It’s how it’s pronounced in British English.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 2y ago
  [flagged]
- bitdivision 2y ago
  No it's not. It's pronounced in the same way as the US, unless you're David Attenborough. Edit: It seems as though others do say slow-th, but it's not something I've really heard from the younger generation
  - NovemberWhiskey 2y ago
    The RP pronunciation (i.e. standard British English) is /sləʊθ/ ... i.e. slow-th, and that's how it's indicated in the OED.
sudobash1 2y ago
I have always heard this pronunciation in American English when referring to the vice.

endofreach 2y ago

Well, it would be "slowth"... Which makes me think: i am surprised that is not an excessively used term in the startup / brotrepreneur world...

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
walrus01 2y ago
"slowth" is how David Attenborough pronounces it, and if anyone could be considered an authoritative English language expert on the common (non-latin) names of mammals, he would be it...
schoen 2y ago
Apparently it was historically spelled in a way that makes the slow + -th connection more apparent! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sloth#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sloth#Etymology

jagged-chisel 2y ago

One of the seven deadly sins

moffkalast 2y ago
Rule number one: Cardio.

ks2048 2y ago

According to wiktionary, these are the examples of -th "Used to form nouns of quality from adjectives. (no longer productive except jocular coinages)": breadth, chillth, coolth, dampth, dearth, depth, filth, health, height/heighth, illth, length, roomth, ruth, strength, troth, truth, sloth/slowth, warmth, wealth, width, wrath, wrength, youth/youngth

eastbound 2y ago
When you want to make them adjectives again… add a “y”: wealthy, truthy, healthy… (As a foreigner I’m curious what the original adjective was for filth, length, ruth, wealthy, wrath).
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- jeroenhd 2y ago
  > As a foreigner I’m curious what the original adjective was for filth, length, ruth, wealthy, wrath Looked the ones I didn't know the adjectives of up on wiktionary: foul, long, rue, possibly the archaic "wele" (but there are multiple etymological paths), and basically "wrath" but pronounced slightly differently going back thousands of years.
  - xerox13ster 2y ago
    Wealthy's root form is weal. As in we should do things for the common weal of the people. Weal is defined as happiness, well-being, prosperity, or that which is best for someone.
- ks2048 2y ago
  As a native English speaker there are words there that I've never seen and others were I would not know the original adjective. In wiktionary, you can click them see etymology, here https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-th#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-th#English For example, apparently "filth" comes from the equivalent of "foul".

sethammons 2y ago

so _that_ is why some pronounce it "slow-th" vs "sloth" (that rhymes with cloth)