Unusual spelling

[Alpo]

You ever find yourself trying to figure out how to spell something that you would say? Because if you spelled it the way it sounds, because of the strange ways we spell things in this country, it wouldn't sound right.

 

People frequently refer to their beloved as honey. They also often call their children honey. They also frequently shorten that word to just the first syllable. Here in the South waitresses often use just the first syllable when speaking to the customer. So how do you spell it? If you just write the first syllable - h o n - people won't pronounce it the same. So most people spell it h u n.

 

You will frequently see someone talking about doing something to make their car run faster. They say they will soup it up. But the word has nothing to do with Campbell's. It's short for super. But if you spell it s u p people will want to pronounce it like it's the first part of supper.

 

I just recently made a reply to a post, and I said "got dat right". But when I saw the post, and said that out loud, there was no T on the end of the word GOT. I did not pronounce it with one, but when I went to write that phrase I realized I had to put the T on the word or people would think I meant go, like GO to the store. How would you spell it? G a h?

 

We have spelling variations for many shortenings of words. Gonna means going to. Wanna means wants to.

 

But those are more slang contractions. Someone needs to figure out the correct way to spell shortened words and have people know how to pronounce them.

 

I thought about using apostrophes. Go' dat right. I still think people would pronounce it like "go to the store".

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I was writing one of my stories and was on a roll when I suddenly couldn't remember how to spell "of".  Simple, everyday word but I tried every variation I could think of (?) with a "v"sound.

 

"To hell with it!" say I, and I went to get a bowl of ice cream.  I finished it and as I put the bowl in the sink a light came on in my head: "DUMB ASS!" it flashed at me.

 

That was back in about 2008, but it's still in there, blinking on every now and again.

[Rye Miles #13621]

1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I was writing one of my stories and was on a roll when I suddenly couldn't remember how to spell "of".  Simple, everyday word but I tried every variation I could think of (?) with a "v"sound.

 

"To hell with it!" say I, and I went to get a bowl of ice cream.  I finished it and as I put the bowl in the sink a light came on in my head: "DUMB ASS!" it flashed at me.

 

That was back in about 2008, but it's still in there, blinking on every now and again.

I believe it was Thomas Edison that said. “I’ll have it in the morning with my tea” when he was frustrated and stuck on something!  Ice cream is way better!😃

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I consider myself to be a careful speller. I usually read what I have written before posting. I amaze myself when I spell something that’s wrong but phonetically correct.

[Cypress Sun]

1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

I consider myself to be a careful speller. I usually read what I have written before posting. I amaze myself when I spell something that’s wrong but phonetically correct.

 

Me two!

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

I have found in my writing; that phonetic writing generally distracts from narrative.

 

I don't mind the occasional "description" of a word or phrase to offer me insight into a character; but I prefer fleshing out the character so after I have informed the readers vision - I dont have to continue to convey their speech phonetically - this enables me to write correctly and allows the reader to "fill in" with their imagination and create their version of the character.

 

i.e. As John entered the backroom; he appraised the dark haired man sitting at the table.  Shiny shoes and tweed newsie hat - the man looked like he had just walked off a stage production of "Chicago".

 

As John approached, "Stay right there" - the mans accent combined with the cigarette clenched between his lips made the phrase come out as, "Stay rat dare".  John was tempted to ask if he made a living as James Cagneys stunt double - but the 455 caliber hole in the barrel of the mans black Webley revolver encouraged him to stay rat dare and see how this turned out.

 

After this initial phoneticism - I can write corectly but the reader will continue to read it in a certain manner.

Now you can always utilize poor grammer or imprecise wording to convey anger, sadness or intelligence levels.

 

You can use phonetics and description to establish your character; to let your reader know they are Southern, English, from Boston.

Phonetics may be used to establish educated, slow, aloof or arrogant - but I dont feel it is necessary to do it ongoing.

I think phrasing and pacing - often conveys much more of the personality and meaning behind the words than simply writing out words phonetically to emulate speech patterns.

 

I think it can be used sparingly; but when a writer makes the decision to completely support the characters dialogue in a manner that forces me to read it phonetically - it takes me out of the story.