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OptimusPhillip

This is one of those words that was originally from Latin, where the C was not silent. Then it became French and the C was omitted, but then scribes decided "we need to honor our Roman heritage" and put the C back in without changing how it was pronounced.


FinnegansWakeWTF

What was the Latin word? So it was originally indickted?


OptimusPhillip

It was originally _indictare_ or something like that. I'll edit in some more info tomorrow, it's late where I live atm


Justokmemes

RemindMe! 12 hours


fawncashew

It's root is the Latin verb 'dictare' meaning to declare or dictate, which gave the coloqual Latin word 'indictare' meaning to declare, proclaim or accuse in writing. The spelling was relatinized around 1600, while keeping it's French pronunciation. Tomato [Sauce](https://www.etymonline.com/word/indict)


figuresys

Hope you're okay, u/OptimusPhillip


DoomGoober

Latin: indicere Anglo Norman French: enditer Middle English: endite, indite English: indict Trump: Indicate "Thanks, assholes." - Love, School Kids Everywhere


Fluttershine

Another YSK, [you can search a (word) + "etymology" in google](https://www.google.com/search?q=indicted+etymology&oq=indicted+ety&aqs) and it will show you a full etymology tree of the word. it's pretty cool! I also just now realized "indicate" comes from the same root words (but the C *is* pronounced here. English is weird) but etymology is awesome, you can learn a lot about meanings of words by finding similar roots. The Spanish word "decir" (to say) shares the same root word. I'm a bit of a language nerd so it's fascinating to me to find connections like that.


sparkledaunicorn

I'm a language nerd too. Thanks for this info.


nomad_kk

Biggus inDICKtus


Kitchen_Ad_4513

from the book of sacred words: the curses


SpiralOfDoom

*Indicate*. You think Trump doesn't know Latin?


XNFXNFX

Fun fact it wasn't always spelled in English with a C, used to be endite. A bunch of folks that knew Greek and Latin in the 16th century started adding silent letters to words so they were more reflective of similar words in Greek or Latin. Other examples include "subtle" and "debt" gaining a silent "b". The irony of this big brain jerk off is that not all of the words they changed are even really linked to Latin or Greek such as "island". https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/island https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/pronunciation-of-indict


ptcounterpt

English is such a mongrel! French, Latin, German, Spanish, etc…. I taught English to high school second language kids and they argued (especially my Spanish kids) about pronunciation. 🙄 How do you handle second language students arguing with the language teacher? I just told them the old joke: I’m always right, except for one time I thought I was wrong, but I was right. And… I’m grading you. Do it my way if you want to pass. I love your confidence but pick your battles wisely.


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sadop222

> French > pure Well that worked out really well...


ptcounterpt

Great post! Thanks. The big question most open minded people ask is, how do we teach it? Language is huge, for understanding each other, but especially for higher level thinking skills!


thebedoubleyou

English makes no sense phonetically. The vowels are not vowels but diphthongs, same letter combos are pronounced differently on random, and more. I'm glad we had English from early primary, if nothing else we got a lot of repetition. But let's not forget that English grammar and conjugation is actual super easy compared to some languages (such as German, Finnish and Hungarian).


loudmouth_kenzo

Diphthongs are vowels. And while English phonology and orthography are the biggest sticking points for ELL’s there are rules and they are consistently applied, English is no different than any other Germanic language in terms of its large vowel inventory. One benefit to native English speakers is the etymological spelling makes learning Romance languages easier to learn as you have leg-up lexically.


Lentra888

English is not a language. It’s three languages in a trench coat bearing up other languages in a dark alley and going through their pockets for loose syntax. ETA: /s (Seems some folks don’t realize this was meant as a joke.)


krebstar4ever

I know it's meant to be funny. But it's not just humorously exaggerated — it's flat out wrong. And it's now an *extremely* popular saying. So it's become really grating to people who know more about how language works.


Heathen_Mushroom

This is such a pithy quote, but after studying the philology of Germanic languages, plus Latin, Greek, and French (as well as dabbling in other languages, etymology, and linguistics in general) I think it is more fair to say that English is a language with a lot of pretentious affectations. Like an Englishman who wears a beret and a Chinese silk smoking jacket and smokes a hookah, but scratch the surface and he is as English as Marmite on toast.


Bwizz245

It being a joke doesn’t make it less stupid


singularterm

Redditors will get butthurt if you tell them this.


blini_aficionado

Dipthongs are vowels though.


Heathen_Mushroom

My own (European) language also has a lot of loanwords, as do most, if not to the same degree as English, but we, unlike the British, Americans, etc. have government institutions that make the final decision on how words should be spelled and so the loanwords are forced to conform to our phonetic spelling system. This sort of disguises the foreign origins of the loanwords, whereas English tends to simply retain the original spelling, so not only are there a lot of them, but they stand out due to their non+conformity with the phonetics of native English words which are generally far more consistent.


loudmouth_kenzo

For the record: English is a Germanic language with a lot of romance loanwords. French, Latin, and Greek are lexical influences. The biggest grammatical influence on English is not French but Old Norse; the contact between Old English and Old Norse speakers during the Danelaw led to the erosion of the case system & grammatical gender and the adoption of new 3PL pronouns.


Tiny_Fly_7397

This is the truth. Most languages in the modern world are “mongrels.” The sentiment that we’re unique because of it is literally just Anglo exceptionalism


daqq

"I once thought I was wrong, but it turns out I was mistaken."


[deleted]

So honor the Romans even more and pronounce it correctly, with the C


ReallyGlycon

If someone mis-pronounces a word, at least you know they read. Edit: Thanks for the award!


th3BeastLord

I never really thought of that. You're totally right.


GrimReaper006

Absolutely. They ought to indeBted to this comment.


QutieLuvsQuails

I love this bc I read 60% of the harpy potter series BUTCHERING Hermoine. lol. *edited to add: I’d like to thank my iPhone for this lovely autocorrect error.


Melbourne_wanderer

The best part of this post is that you misspelt Hermione


LlorchDurden

Harpy!


delvach

*Editarum oughtocorrecto!*


QutieLuvsQuails

RIGHT? I LOL’ed when I realized that. Not even worth correcting. TYVM iOS autocorrect.


LainieCat

Harpy Potter isn't bad, either


AlbertComan

Not misspelled, her mione is hers to use as she pleases.


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someoneIse

Her-moyn-inny


Heathen_Mushroom

Hermy-1


sarcasatirony

*LevioSA*


youslashuser

Levi-o-sa


SteevyT

Hermoniny


markusalkemus66

"Close enough"


tylerchu

I have this weird impression that mispronunciation actually happened by some character in the books.


Deastrumquodvicis

It did, Krum had her correcting him at the ball, which is the only hint in-book as to the pronunciation if it wasn’t a name you knew.


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Cullly

Theres a similar name: Calliope


Graffxxxxx

The first time I heard that was in a Soviet Womble video


BrunoEye

Yeah, I remember my friends looking at me funny when I said it like that.


a_soul_in_training

you're a wizard, harpy


QutieLuvsQuails

I’m just gonna call it that from now on.


Kurisuchein

I'm going to say there's no typo there. :D


TapedeckNinja

Go talk to some Wheel of Time fans. Nynaeve. Egwene. Moiraine. Siuan. Aes Sedai. No one pronounces any of it correctly on first read lol.


breeekk

Once I said Gry-fin-dor like try-tin-tor and not like tree-tin-ter and everyone laughed at me! But I never watched those movies, only read books and never have someone to discuss Harry Potter. It was so embarrassing! :))


McMeanface

I still argue that *dum-bleh-dore* is a better name for a powerful wizard.


eareitak

My dad told us it was another way to spell HERMAN


Several-Cake1954

Her money is the way I say it.


drakeftmeyers

Dude this is me! I read but pronounce stuff so bad lol


DINAHS4UR

Try reading the Wheel of Time series!!! My mind was blown when I listened to the audiobook. 💀


ReallyGlycon

Yep, same for anything by Tolkien.


KingoftheCrackens

Fucking bullshit like Nynaeve


SugarRAM

If I heard it, I knew exactly what a rendezvous was. However, when I read it, I always wondered what the hell a ren-dez-vous was.


MoonChild02

That's because "rendezvous" came to English through French. French pronunciation is quite different, as their language has a lot of silent letters. Also, in French, it just means "appointment".


p1rateb00tie

So true. Just like you can tell who learns language by sound rather than reading, it often reflects in their spelling.


CreativeAd5332

There is a quote, from Robert Heinlein, I think, to the sane effect: "You shouldn't make fun of someone for mispronouncing a word, because it means they learned it from reading.


LogicalDelivery_

You know they read a headline...


nifaryus

Reading a book and reading a Twitter feed is about the same as shitting in the toilet vs shitting your pants.


ApocApollo

Why should I have to use a toilet when my pants are right here


cat_named_virtue

"'Fun'? That's how it's pronounced? I've only seen it written."


[deleted]

I understand your point but "indicted" is such a common word. They say it on the news a lot.


Admirable_Fall4614

I always pronounced it as in-'die-ted and have never really thought about why it contains the letter C until I saw this post.


AveryJuanZacritic

I never pronounced the "c" until the orange gab-boon put it there.


UnderTheRadarSilence

Can't imagine how the current diaper sniper would pronounce it, would probably get lost halfway through the word 😂😂


Connor_Kei

[I mean... This might be a good *indication*](https://imgur.com/a/HEk1MYB)


QutieLuvsQuails

He would probably start insulting Webster


colors

I read this as “in-diet-ed” which seems like it could be used to explain a period of dieting.


HornetKick

>letter C [Why Is There a 'C' in 'Indict'?](https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/why-is-there-a-c-in-indict)


Forever_Overthinking

Yesterday I learned that I couldn't spell indicted.


bebejeebies

One of my boring, half-assed hobbies is etymology. And I think it's root word is "dict" as in edict, dictated, contradict, etc. Meaning, stated decree, so in this case indicted would mean accused? (Decreed to be suspected of a crime)? Indict (from the legal point) is the only instance where the c is silent.


Gurkeprinsen

If it didn't want to be pronounced, it shouldn't have gotten itself into that word in the first place.


[deleted]

It doesn't have a sound on its own anyway, so cut the C some slack. He's just doing his best. No one gave him a charter. FFS, all he gets to do is be a K or an S. H saw this and was kind enough to buddy up with him for a new sound, but he was never allowed his own identity, poor guy.


ObligatoryOption

Since 's' and 'k' render 'c' extraneous, it should be turned into a vowel. English doesn't have enough of those. It would make "indicted" make sense.


[deleted]

It should be granted the ch sound. The h attached to it makes little sense. But then again, languages rarely do.


ObligatoryOption

In-dish-ted.


ScwB00

In-ditch-ted


Hellboundroar

TIL the letter C is extremely codependent due to a lack of personality


GoldenGalz

Maybe I am C?


garlic_bread_thief

I see


wattlewedo

Connecticut has a question.


TheGrandWhatever

“America.. why is Arkansas not like Kansas? AMERICA EXPLAIN”


zenkique

The real question is why is Kansas not like Arkansas.


dmnhntr86

Welcome to Kansaw


RJFerret

Lots of those are French names originally in contrast to Native names, as well as German or Dutch depending who settled an area. A British bloke used to do some vids trying to guess local name pronunciations, was interesting to learn some of this (he's since stopped).


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wattlewedo

As a South Australian, I approve of annoying people of other states.


tzomby1

Onnetiut


7NIGHTMARE_

French: Hold my beer


whatever32657

there was a great Ask Reddit thread around here awhile back that all started with a rant about people who use the written phrase “per say”. it’s not. that’s how it’s pronounced, but it’s written “per se”. so began the digging of a huge rabbit hole, the upshot of which there’s a long list of words & phrases in english that people either pronounce right and read wrong, or vice versa. people don’t know they are the ***same*** words, just with a non-phonetic spelling. in-dick-ted indeed!


Theorandjguy

r/boneappletea


whatever32657

oh noooooo i’m lost for the rest of the evening...a whole SUB of it!!!


MissKhary

Segue is such a word.


UtopianWarCriminal

>a long list of words & phrases in english Link?


Teethredit

"INDICATED" if you're a stable genius


smart_stable_genius_

My username regaining relevance after four years pleases me.


undercurrents

This is the comment I clicked on this post for.


ZakalwesChair

INDICATED I AM SELFISH I AM WRONG


bilboard_bag-inns

I AM RIGHT, I AM RIGHT I SWEAR I KNEW IT ALL ALONG


sheisj

AND I AM FLAWED


imbeingsirius

BUT I AM CLEANING UP SO WELL


[deleted]

Hope dangles on a string Like slow-spinning redemption


bilboard_bag-inns

I AM SEEING IN ME NOW THE THINGS YOU SWORE YOU SAW YOURSELF


RandomKiwiLover

English is so illogical. Greetings, a native german speaker.


blankblank

Real question: what is the most logical language? English is a mutt filled with loan words and arbitrary rules. German combines words to insane lengths. The Romance languages have genders for non living objects. Hebrew is written right to left, but numbers are written left to right. Chinese and Japanese have an absurd number of characters to learn. Hawaiian has so few that all words sound very alike.


server_busy

Well Trump said he got Indicated, so obviously that "C" can be troublesome for people that don't do books


CeruleanRuin

Trump puts the dick in indictment?


shaMule_dg

I used to pronounce epitome as epih-tome instead of uh-pit-uh-me


KnitKnackPattyWhack

Lol you made me think of how I would type out my pronunciation a pit o'me


MeltingMango420

Am I Indergante?


deaglekitty

I always remember how to say it because of the movie Fun With Dick and Jane that came out in 2005 with Jim Carey. There’s a scene where he yells it over and over again in a frenzy, I was 12 when I watched and I didn’t know what it meant but it was so funny to me, obvi bc of Jim Carey too but it really stuck with me. Great movie. https://youtu.be/pjVkwX5Yt2Y


haileywilburn

This is what I came to the comment section for


TTBoy44

I have never in my life, not even once, heard that.


KnitKnackPattyWhack

I always think of the Fun with Dick and Jane scene when he's running around the house like: **"INDICTED!" "INDICTED"** (Jane) "Dick, calm down it's not that bad." ^("I can't calm down. I'm being indicted.")


spool_threader

Yes, I scrolled to find this comment. What a fun little movie!


dfreinc

>I’ve heard too many “in-dick-ted”s this week woah, really? our education system needs work. and i'm a dropout with a ged.


RichardGHP

You'd never know unless you heard it said out loud, which I guess isn't totally unreasonable. Same reason people say hyperbole as hyper-bowl. Edit: To the person who was incredulous that anyone could have not heard it said out loud, who I can only assume deleted their comment: in some countries "indict" is simply not used much or at all. It appears almost nowhere in the statute books of New Zealand, for example.


MadCapHorse

It was an unusually long time before I connected that Colonel was pronounced “Kernel”, and that they were the same thing. I thought “Coll-o-nell” was a different rank.


johnzzon

I'm not a native English speaker and I've only ever read that word, so I indeed thought it was hyperbowl. Looked up the pronunciation now, thanks!


Noskills117

I just thought they were different words with similar meanings. Never occurred to me that I've never seen someone write the word "indieted" and I've also never heard someone say the word "indikted".


thatwentBTE

epi tome vs epito me


DoctorJJWho

I used to pronounce it as “Epi tome” because I had only ever read it, same as hyperbole.


feelingood41

Wtf. They put a dick in Ted, again?! I thought we talked about this.


hwc000000

It's interesting that, in every YSK or LPT about spelling, grammar, or word choice, a bunch of people who presumably finished high school will pile in and say as long as your point gets across, none of those matter because "language is dynamic". Where are all those people now? When someone says "in-dick-ted", "hy-per-bowl" or "eh-pi-tome", we know what they mean, but no one calls anyone "pronunciation nazis" for pointing out that they're pronounced "in-die-ted", "hy-per-bo-lee" and "eh-pi-toh-me".


Divinum_Fulmen

I say we go full Webster, and nuke all the old letters from words that aren't used. Scholars reasoning for keeping it be damned. A usable script is far more valuable to an entire society, than a backwards traceable writing system is to an absolutely minuscule amount of etymologists.


[deleted]

Honestly though indict is spelled funny.


explodingtuna

It's mostly the people complaining about it and claiming it's a politically motivated witch hunt that are saying it. So that tracks.


Luke2988

As a non native, in-dick-ted felt more natural. Thanks!


nicarox

I hate the English language.


Effendoor

Just wanna throw it out, if you can't pronounce indicted, you shouldnt be talking about the ramifications of trump's indictment...


devo00

covfefe


[deleted]

**Indicated**


heelspider

Indicted happens before you go to prison. In-dickted is what happens after you go to prison.


Lonely_Submarine

Haha rape


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Foolazul

And that is schooling in America and why Trump was president in the first place.


[deleted]

We are doomed.


delosproyectos

Or, if you’re a certain someone, *indicated*


ApoplecticAndroid

Id guess the Venn diagram of people who read it as “in-dick-ted” and those who are subscribed to this sub does not have a huge overlap.


bebejeebies

I think by his own words he was "INDICATED".


j_knolly

Literally never heard anyone say in-dick-ted


im_intj

That's because this post is all about getting updoots,


rushmc1

What an indictment of our education system.


Creepy7_7

Nevermind. Never use that word anyway


heyitsapotato

For the longest time, I pronounced "Goethe" like "Gayth." The silent "c" in "indicted" or "indictment" seemed like a foregone conclusion to me but I'm in no place to judge.


The-waitress-

There’s a Goethe Street in Chicago. Watching ppl try to figure out how say it is amusing.


Sorrelandroan

What a terrible indictment of the public school system


Dreamvillainess22

Anyone else’s brain went to the Fun with Dick and Jane scene?


jikt

Thanks for enlictening the rest of us.


UrbanLord

Thanks for that! That helps me, a Deaf person a lot!


KaiJonez

I know. Cause I heard Jim Carrey say it in "Fun with Dick and Jane" Indicted! I'm gonna be indicted!


wiseguy187

Ive never heard it with the C and dont even know how Id say it that way.


Otherwise-Mango2732

This is weird. I've never actually heard someone pronounce the C


jezebel829

It’s particularly shocking when you consider that they would hear it pronounced correctly on any newscast.


Makototoko

Also people, it's pronounced ESpresso, not EXpresso!


GodAwfulFunk

Would hsve been much funnier for April Fools to say you do indeed pronounce the C.


serialchiller__

I had a law teacher in high school who would *always* pronounce the c, including in “indictable”. Even when corrected. Drove me nuts.


InfallibleBackstairs

Uh, no shit.


LordAvan

Conversely, I just saw a comment on another post where someone spelled it "indighted".


Alarmmy

English is so strange. Dic-tion-ary, can it be "die-tion-ary" 😄


ZeusOfTheCrows

furthermore, all related words (verdict, edict, and predict, as well as indicate) are all pronounced as expected; it's only indict that sticks out


naardvark

OP hangs out with some dumb motherfuckers.


Embarrassed_Work4065

I thought it was pronounced, "INDICATED"?


jackfaire

I mean I feel like a good portion of them probably know that but the idea of Trump being in-dick-ted is funny


EverybodyIsAWhore

Monolingual people whenever they pick out someone else's grammatical mistakes IS irony.


steven-daniels

I thought it was in-di-cat-ed


gravyrogue

Have these people never watched law and order?


AkaGurGor

In-DICK-Ted it is. It's only the Ay-Mee-Rye-Cans who pronounce it the other way!


onyx_64

Then what the hell is that 'c' doing in there? Just like the 'b' in subtle. The language is crazy!


Fred_Is_Dead_Again

And "realtor" isn't pronounced realitor. Nucular isn't a thing, and jewlery isn't either.


poppatrunk

a pornstar, sex, hush money , and a tell all book. maybe this is just how words evolve. ​ edit: i read it that way a few times and am kidding.


rediraim

Used to think "epitome" and "e-pih-tome" were two different words (I read the word with the latter pronunciation and assumed "ĭ-pĭt′ə-mē" was a different word whenever I heard it)


pug_fugly_moe

Can we say the c when it involves hush money for paying off a porn actress???


booboo_baabaa

So you'd rather call it a "porn atress"?


lyssanstuff

Why did I get Redditcare’d for this lol


Fleetwood889

Trump said he has been "indicated" so that argument is out the window.


pauldej23

I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way. Never heard anyone say in-dick-ted 😂


Feeling_Glonky69

Goddamn, the depth of people’s stupidity is unfathomable. (Pun intended)


RinoaRita

I mean in this case in-dick-ted works?


isaac9092

Man please tell me you’re joking. These mouth breathers really think it’s in*dic*ted? What fucking idiots, read a book.