• ___@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    It’s pronounced offen with a silent T. You may think you sound smarter with a hard T, but you’re ignoring the root etymology of the word.

    • August27th@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      you’re ignoring the root etymology of the word

      Thousands of times a day for me, you don’t know the haff of it.

    • apolo399@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The word has always had a t sound since Old English, and it’s part of the reconstructed language Proto-Germanic in the form *ufta. Every other Germanic language displays a t in the corresponding word:

      Scots oftin (“often”), North Frisian oftem (“often”), Saterland Frisian oafte (“often”), German oft (“often”), Pennsylvania German oft (“often”), Danish ofte (“often”), Norwegian Bokmål ofte (“often”), Norwegian Nynorsk ofte (“often”), Swedish ofta (“often”), and Icelandic oft (“often”).

      Source

      • ___@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        You and J live in a bubble in a hyperloop tunnel. You have not invented “oft” as part of any language yet. Or do You and K live in the anthro and say oof… and laugh every time someone trips on a coconut often enough it becomes mean? Either is possible, yet oft misunderstood.