On Jul 3, 2011, at 12:09 PM, Karen Hore wrote: > In mild defence of the inhabitants of that collection of islands with toes in > the North and Irish Seas, the Atlantic Ocean, and that much quarrelled over > stretch of water La Manche/The English Channel. Their venerable > lexicographical institution, The Oxford English Dictionary (the Shorter > version, hardback, two hefty volumes, with notable extra functions such as > door stops and impertinent knuckle crushers) has both: > > 'gynaeco' and 'gyno' with the same meaning (in the sense of women).
I refrained from mentioning the sources that call "gyne" or "gynae" corruptions of "gynaeco." Didn't want to seem like one of those hellenolinguamaniacs. > So, as is often the case, there's more than one way to get to the same > meaning. You just have to decide which one you can handle in terms of > spelling, take your pick. > > American or British spellings both count, as long as they are used > consistently (saves confusing people). Some American spelling predate the > Great Spelling Standardisation (my capitalisation) of the Nineteenth Century, > when many quite eccentric decisions were made, but we (of the UK persuasion) > often love them because they're quite bonkers - though it must be even more > hellish for non-native speakers/spellers than it is for some natives. > > This from one hailing from a very big island swanning about in a selection of > oceans and seas. And how are things in Greenland? To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
