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What's a word you've spent a long time not using right? (lemm.ee)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

256 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Just recently I was in a conversation with a number of UK mainlanders and we had a debate over what "tories" meant, apparently disproportionately ordinarily it refers to a political party and it's not usual to use it as short for "territories" as I've used it (according to how the debate ended, it was half and half between them). And once again I'm reminded of how people feel to look back at their usage of a word/phrase over the years and cringe.

More tragically, me and a friend were embarrassed once upon realizing everyone was confusing "encephalitis" with "hydrocephalus" when talking to someone about their kid with hydrocephalus. Awkward because encephalitis is caused by HIV.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago (5 children)

How about " till " in English vs " 'til " ?

In English, a till is a cash drawer or a plough. The abbreviation for "until" is " 'til ".

I see it in subtitles. I worry for society.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago (1 children)

TIL

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

🤣🤣

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

Wiktionary says it's the other way around (until originates from til) and both til and till are correct: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/till#Etymology_1

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

Haha, sorry to confuse things further but this is not true .

Tldr, "till" is its own word and is actually older than the word until, and they've been used synonymously for centuries. 'Til with an apostrophe is acceptable but has been less common, and til without an apostrophe is even less common.