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Nik ?️‍⚧️ (he/they) (bleepnik@appdot.net)'s status on Monday, 14-Nov-2022 13:54:19 JST Nik ?️‍⚧️ (he/they)
- Graham Lester
Reposting a toot by @GrahamLester. This is super interesting and I wanted to share it—just adding alt text to the image. #language #linguistics
source: https://mastodonapp.uk/@GrahamLester/109337672557901169
In conversation Monday, 14-Nov-2022 13:54:19 JST from appdot.net permalink
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1. My favorite relic English still used everywhere is the word "the" used in phrases like: "the more I look at this, the stranger it seems', or "the bigger they come, the harder they fall". This "the" is not the article of any noun, it is a different word, a conjunction descended from the old English "pã", pronounced "tha" which means either "when" or "then". Back in early Middle English the structure "if - then" had not taken over and if you wanted to express an if - then relationship you said "pa whatever, ba whatever", meaning "when such-and-such, then such-and-such". "pa" sounds almost the same as "the" and the spelling of the two converged, but the meaning remained totally different. "the more, the merrier" literally means "when more, then merrier" or "if more, then merrier"; same as centuries ago.
  https://cdn.masto.host/appdotnet/media_attachments/files/109/340/322/286/098/871/original/a64c5dcc951effac.jpeg
2. Domain not in remote thumbnail source whitelist: files.mastodonapp.uk
  
  Graham Lester (@GrahamLester@mastodonapp.uk)
  
  from Graham Lester
  
  Attached: 1 image Well, isn't this interesting!
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  Rachel Thorn (rachel_thorn@queer.party)'s status on Monday, 14-Nov-2022 13:55:09 JST Rachel Thorn
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  @bleepnik Wow! I had no idea, nor had I ever thought about that particular usage.
  
  In conversation Monday, 14-Nov-2022 13:55:09 JST permalink

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