Frazz by Jef Mallett for May 12, 2023

“Cherry” was originally a plural-sounding singular too, still surviving as “cherise”.

It’s also Kerb and Catalogue, But given they’re meant to be in Minnestoa or Wiconsin, shouldn’t Frazz be using Norsk or Swensk comparisons?

I was good at maths!

Don’t mean to ruin this by being literal, but a pea is a single legume, while a corn is whole ear of kernels.

If you say that you eat pea, I’d say that urine in trouble by the sound of it.

England and the US: Two nations divided by a common language.

And why is it panties and a bra?

Yes, he should get with the programme…

“Pease porridge hot. Pease porridge cold. Pease porridge in the pot. Nine days old.”

Etymology is fun.

I always roll my eyes every time a Brit calls the fenders on a car “wings”.

So THAT is where the rhyme, PEASE PORRIDGE came from. “Pea Porridge” (Pea Pudding)“Pease Porridge Hot” or “Pease Pudding Hot” is a children’s singing game and nursery rhyme.Pease Porridge hotPease Porridge coldPease Porridge in the pot, nine days old.

Butter’d pease. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dmfQGyKZYoM

Corns are on your feet and it would be disgusting to eat them.

Corn used to be used to mean grain and usually the main grain crop in the region, and still is in some areas. And grains is usually only used when referring to a variety of grains and not just for a conglomeration of a single type of grain.

I have been collecting vinyl records for 40-some years now, and have noticed that with the recent resurgence of record buying some people have started calling them “vinyls”. Not sure how or why it started.

I just heard this about “pease” on a podcast about a week ago. Took 35+ years to learn it and then twice in a week!

I find corn to be a-maize-ing.

Child is correct. Human nature being what it is, a few of us remember the ‘oddments’ of language better than the formality of math.

Amazing for a songwriter?

Look around you. How tall is Imhotep?

By late Middle English, pease was both singular and plural, like deer, sheep and species. It couldn’t be reinterpreted as a plural until the sibilant plural marker became voiced, i.e. /z/ and /ǝz/. Earlier, voiceless, it was possible for richesse (from French) to be taken for a plural, hence modern riches. Old plurals that were reinterpreted as singulars retained the voiceless form, /s/, as in bodice and truce; curiously, a couple of words that remained “plural” functionally nevertheless retained /s/, as pence and dice

In the original Greek, “math” was “learning”, “mathetai” was “to learn”

Since no one has said it so far, I guess its up to me, “Pray for Whorled Peas.”

I’m not reading all the comments, but while we say “Sports”, Richard on “Keeping Up Appearances” (British) was reading the paper and the section front said “Sport”.

“Maths” has the s because it’s short for “MATHematicS”. C. S. Lewis was of the opinion that “physics” will become “physic” as soon as the old meaning of “physic” (drug, which is why a doctor is called a “physician”) is totally forgotten.

“England are ahead!”

The best song EVER about peas! (Of course, it’s British.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74UZNexK8a4

In “debt” the b is silent and the t is pronunced, but add a “u” and in debut the b is pronounced but the b is not. Add an “ed” and debuted is pronounced “day-BYOOD” when it should be “deebutted.” And to think English was my Mayjer in kollig.