Thread: Description becomes Prescription
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Old 26-Mar-2008, 10:51
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Default Re: Description becomes Prescription
PS

'Description becomes prescription' could be said of many apparently arbitrary spelling rules in English, but not all. The silent 'b' in "debt" for example was a prescription dreamed up by an interfering busy-body who wanted to show off his Classical learning (L. debitum) and make life difficult for English learners. Centuries before the 'b' appeared there was a perfectly good and b-free word that English had borrowed from French - dette.

b
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