Why is there a "b" in doubt? - Gina Cooke

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/beyond-the-...

Say the word "doubt" aloud. What is that "b" doing there? Does it have any purpose? Gina Cooke explains the long and winding history of "doubt" and why the spelling, though it seems random, is a wink to its storied past.

Lesson by Gina Cooke, animation by The Leading Sheep Studios.

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  Education

[Glossophile]

Indeed. Kind of like adopting a child and then giving it plastic surgery to make it look like you.

[MagnusIngemann]

I remember when they tried to change the writing of english words in the norwegian language such as "bacon", "pub" and "camping" to "beiken" "pøbb"and "kæmping" since that is more similar to our pronounciation... A riddiculous proposal...

[SlimThrull]

I'm using "Tweogan" in place of "Doubt" from now on. Join me, freinds! Together we can rid English of all the silent letters!

[thehoodlum1919]

I still want to know what's with the K in knife is for.

[Zinoviy22441]

Cool, I guessed it was from Latin))

[Vandala666]

Ah tradition, is there anything you can't ruin?

[mina86ng]

I think we have different definitions of “calculus” – I view it more like what Newton and Leibniz did, and not a mathematician c. 400 years earlier – so let's just put that aside. Meanwhile, having an opinion about where Sun is rising and understanding sunrise are somehow orthogonal. One can understand sunrise perfectly well and still prefer Earth to rotate the other way. The same as one can understand language perfectly well and still prefer it to be different.

[HelloAgain151]

"Wizen" up, get a sense of humour about yourself, and learn to get the "ironee" that just bit your ass.

Fine, if you want to modernize the word and spell "doubt" without a "b" you should just lead that campaign, and start spelling it like that everywhere you go.

Good luck to you on your mission!

You're the person for the job!

[619Joe182]

wow, you must be really into latin shit

maybe into linguistics and realized youre wastng your life

i enjoy dwelling on the meaning of words as much as the next guy, but bottom line language is used to communicate, shit like this is useless

so loosen up and lose the b ;)

[HelloAgain151]

619Joe182 wrote

"conclusion - loose the 'b'"

Joe, I find it funny that you used the word "loose" [as in "to loosen a shoe lace"] when you actually meant "lose".

How about we keep the "b" in "doubt" and you lose an "o" from "loose" and "lernify" the "Langwaj"

[Glossophile]

Someone did invent a "simple calculus" -- his name was Leonardo de Pisa, aka Fibonacci. Regardless -- you're in luck! English spelling does take pronunciation into consideration! It just takes structure and history into consideration first. One might express an opinion that the sun would be so much better if it rose in the west, but such opinions rarely lead to an understanding and appreciation of the sunrise.