How prevalent is the silent "t"

[Jonathan Lighter]

My grade-school teachers made it clear that pronouncing the "t" was a bad thing.

  Not as bad as communism, but bad.

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: How prevalent is the silent "t"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was taught that "often" was to be pronounced as though spelled
"offen," back in the '40's. In the second grade, I was even given
unmitigated shit by Sr. Claire Marie for hyphenating it as "of-ten,"
though she didn't bother tell me how it ought to have been hyphenated.
I've lost sleep over this conundrum for more than sixty years.

FWIW, I've always considered the t-ful version to be a spelling pronunciation.

-Wilson

On 6/8/07, Marc Sacks wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Marc Sacks
> Subject: Re: How prevalent is the silent "t"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Tom Zurinskas asked:
>
> >
> > I'm just wondering about the pronunciation of words like 'entertainment'
> > 'center' 'international' I mostly hear these words pronounced by dropping
> > the middle 't' so it would sound like enertainment, cener, and
> > inernational.
> > But there are also others who would pronounced these words without
> > dropping
> > the middle 't' could anyone know where the pronunciation originated and
> > how
> > come others won't drop the middle 't' although I'm not saying it's wrong,
> > just wanna know so that if someone would ask the difference atleast I
> > would
> > know the answer. Thanks in advance guys.
> >
> I just want to add the word "often" to the question. My elementary-school
> teachers always insisted the "t" in "often" was silent, but many people
> pronounce it. I don't know that it's a regional difference, since my son
> pronounces the "t" while my wife and I don't, and I never noticed a
> prevalence for one or the other, at least around Boston.
>
> Marc Sacks
> msacks at theworld.com
> > authorhouse.com.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>From: "Landau, James"
> >>Reply-To: American Dialect Society
> >>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >>Subject: Re: "cigarette bat" referred to as "schoocher"?
> >>Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 12:16:34 -0400
> >>
> >>---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>-----------------------
> >>Sender: American Dialect Society
> >>Poster: "Landau, James"
> >>Subject: Re: "cigarette bat" referred to as "schoocher"?
> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>The name "cigarette" bat suggests something is on fire, so could
> >>"schoocher" be a variant of "scorcher"?
> >>
> >> - Jim Landau
> >>
> >>-----Original Message-----
> >>From: Sarah Lang [mailto:slang at UCHICAGO.EDU]
> >>Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 4:56 AM
> >>Subject: "cigarette bat" referred to as "schoocher"?
> >>
> >>So I just heard this term today and I cannot find a record of it
> >>anywhere (I tried possible variant spellings, or even mispronunciation).
> >>Is anyone familiar with "schoocher"? (Scoob/ed is the only thing I can
> >>find that is even somewhat related . . . .)
> >>
> >>S.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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