The written English language is a frustration

[Bretrick]

Let's look at the word once.
Why is it not written wonce?
It was written as such, but we need to go back to the 16th century where there is an example.
1599.
The rebell wonce in Rorie O More shewed himselfe, withe about 500 foote and 40 horse, 2 myles from our campe.
(The rebel, Rorie O More wonce showed himself, with about 500 foot soldiers and 40 horses, 2 miles from our camp.)
Someone, somewhere down the track decided to change the spelling to once.

 

[hollydolly]

Loads of these words we use today were spelled completely differently even a century ago much less 500 years... or more

 

[George1959]

For me as a foreigner the prepositions are sometimes a problem. And that some letters are pronounced differently. The 'u' in 'but' differs from the 'u' in 'bullied' for instance. Thus "the awful German language" (Mark Twain) is not the only awful language.
On the isle of Madeira in February 1996 I met a Scottish couple in our hotel. The man had learned German at school and remembered some rules of grammar, that I never heard of, since I did not even had to think about it. By the way, I liked both of them very much. The Scots seem to have a better sense of humor than the English people (in general, I don't want to insult the English people, since I know there are exceptions).

 

[VaughanJB]

My written english is average. My goal is to be understood. Etymology isn't my thing, to be honest. I'm all screwed up between US and UK English.

 

[DebraMae]

US and UK differences get to me too, usually when trying to do a crossword puzzle.

 

[Beezer]

usually when trying to do a crossword puzzle.

My Grandfather was a Crossword Puzzle designer. When he died, they buried him 6-Down and 3 -Across.

 

[TennVet]

I am amazed at the sloppy wording in online news articles. I try to use the right word in the context of speaking or writing, and this causes my to notice incorrect usage when reading. In some cases I have looked up the word in print to find out if it is actually a word. Even though one can decern the intended meaning in the context of the article many times I find that the print is using a nonexistent word.