Chris - stick with English, using foreign words is cheating!

Richie says: September 19, 2010 at 12:14 pmProbably any letter can be silent if you talk to the right people! (e.g. I don’t pronounce the “l” in “people”)

You don't???? So how do you pronounce people - "pee-po"??? I pronounce the word people as "pee-pul" - "l" is definity pronounced.

The Turkish etymology is pretty far-fetched and unlikely. Somehow I doubt the ancient people were stupid enough to think they could hit the moon with an arrow!

From Wikipaedia - There are five proposed etymologies which have received material academic support since the 1960s. They are:

1.Greek words "Ola Kala" (??? ????) meaning "everything's good" or "all good"; used by Greek railroad workers in the United States. It is also said that "O.K." was written on the ships or other places to show that the ships are ready.
2.Initials of the "comically misspelled" Oll Korrect[6]
3.Initials of "Old Kinderhook" a nickname for President Martin Van Buren which was a reference to Van Buren's birthplace Kinderhook, NY.
4.Choctaw word okeh
5.Wolof and Bantu word waw-kay or the Mande (aka "Mandinke" or "Mandingo") phrase o ke

The Greek theory seems to be the most likely.

Out of curiosity I passed Résumé though the Word spell check in the Queen's English (UK and Canada), Australian and American. Résumé passed all 4 spell checks.

"Résume" failed all 4 English spell checks, likewise "Resumé" failed all 4 spell checks. It would seem that Résumé correct in all 4 languages and the other permutations are errors in spelling. Resume of course means to take up a course of action that you had previously stopped.

I think the American aversion to the "é" is xenophobia. I have discovered over the years that Americans tend to avoid that which is different and belittle it. Trying saying "zed" in the US and the abuse you take. Anything that seems foreign is automatically insulted and deemed to be inferior. I have lived in both Canada and the United Kingdom and Résumé works - of course CV is the standard in the UK. In Canada CV tends to be limited to academic and medical circles.

Peter Messervy - the initials CV definitely stand for Curriculum vitae. Your "chapter and verse" sounds like a "backronym" created by someone who wasn't quite sure what CV stood for - or they were pulling your leg!

The only time I've heard the phrase "chapter and verse" was watching Sharpe on television (the series based on the Bernard Cromwell books and starring Sean Bean).

Hmmm...I'm thinking that popular usage of north vs. northern or east vs eastern comes down to rhythm. I have often thought that English when spoken by a native speaker has a rhythm (I cannot speak to other languages). Sometimes a word just ”sounds right”. Try saying “eastern Europe” vs. ”east Europe” –one phrase feels “right” and the other not. On the other hand North America and northern America both sound right – in this case it is just a matter of common practise.

Nobody has ever accused English of being a logical language!

porsche - You say you haven't heard "mistle", but mistle = MISS-ul. Methinks it is just an interpretation of spelling. It still comes down to miss-ile vs. mistle (miss-ul).

A few other pronunciation differences between Canadian and American I have noted:

dew – dyew vs. doo
duke – dyuke vs dook
missile – miss-sile vs mistle

Don’t even get me started on “zed” vs. “zee”!!!!

Methinks many have not read the entirety of the thoughts behind Anglish. I do not think that it was intended to be nit-picky about replacing or purging all non-Anglo-Saxon from English. I believe the original intent was to use the Anglo-Saxon choice where it was practicable. Some words have anglo-saxon alternates and others do not.

I do not see "April showers bring May flowers" being replaced with "Whan that Aprille, with hise shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour"...somewhat wordy, puffed up and awkward by modern standards ...then again, politicians might like it.

Mind you, when listening to international football matches it seems the England fans are already yelling "Engelond" out loud..

Re: “Mrs. Smith taught me and John” Personally, I would say that Mrs. Smith taught John and myself. I have always thought that English has a rhythm and you say what sounds correct!