It Doesn't Add Up
From the New York Times, a disturbing story about the state of consumer indebtedness in the U.S.
And on page 4, this sentence:
Toting up her financial obligations, Ms. McLeod said she owed $237,000 on her home mortgage.
"Tote" is a verb, an Americanism of unknown origin, meaning "to carry". Since it ends with an "-e", it has a long "-o-", and so when we tack the suffix "-ing" onto it, we lose the "-e-", by convention, and the single consonant ensures that the vowel stays long.
"Tot" is a verb, a Britishism of Latin origin (it's short from "total", from Latin "totalis", "the whole thing"), meaning "to add up; to tally". Since it doesn't end with an "-e", it has a short "-o-", and so when we tack the suffix "-ing" onto it, we double the terminal letter, by convention, and the doubled consonant ensures that the vowel stays short.
How can it be that the New York Times doesn't know this?
And on page 4, this sentence:
Toting up her financial obligations, Ms. McLeod said she owed $237,000 on her home mortgage.
"Tote" is a verb, an Americanism of unknown origin, meaning "to carry". Since it ends with an "-e", it has a long "-o-", and so when we tack the suffix "-ing" onto it, we lose the "-e-", by convention, and the single consonant ensures that the vowel stays long.
"Tot" is a verb, a Britishism of Latin origin (it's short from "total", from Latin "totalis", "the whole thing"), meaning "to add up; to tally". Since it doesn't end with an "-e", it has a short "-o-", and so when we tack the suffix "-ing" onto it, we double the terminal letter, by convention, and the doubled consonant ensures that the vowel stays short.
How can it be that the New York Times doesn't know this?
posted by pyramus | 1:42 AM
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