A list of 30 words by pterodactyl.
- Malcombwas added by fbharjo and appears on just this list
- divebombwas added by alexz and appears on 2 lists
- firebombwas added by alexz and appears on 8 lists
- upclimbwas added by alexz and appears on just this list
- clambwas added by alexz and appears on just this list
- recumbwas added by fbharjo and appears on 3 lists
- hecatombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 56 lists
- coxcombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 103 lists
- coombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 15 lists
- iambwas added by fbharjo and appears on 31 lists
- doorjambwas added by fbharjo and appears on 12 lists
- dithyrambwas added by fbharjo and appears on 67 lists
- rhombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 11 lists
- coulombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 13 lists
- honeycombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 30 lists
- succumbwas added by fbharjo and appears on 66 lists
- catacombwas added by fbharjo and appears on 48 lists
- plumbwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 80 lists
- combwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 53 lists
- tombwas added by qms and appears on 45 lists
- aplombwas added by qms and appears on 292 lists
- wombwas added by qms and appears on 36 lists
- dumbwas added by qms and appears on 39 lists
- numbwas added by qms and appears on 41 lists
- lambwas added by qms and appears on 58 lists
- limbwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 25 lists
- jambwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 45 lists
- thumbwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 33 lists
- climbwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 24 lists
- bombwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 53 lists
- crumbwas added by pterodactyl and appears on 41 lists
bilby commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
I knew bterodactyl was the right person to make this list.
June 29, 2014
qms commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
Sorry, I have once again failed to intervene to prevent the stupid iPad from capitalizing the initial letter, which means that "Dumb" links to a useless entry page. Only pterodactyl (or the omnipotent erinmckean) can replace "Dumb" with "dumb."
June 29, 2014
erinmckean commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
done!
June 29, 2014
qms commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
Thank you, Your Omnipotence.
June 29, 2014
alexz commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
comb? plumb,
June 30, 2014
bilby commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
bumble?
June 30, 2014
pterodactyl commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
Hey erinmckean, as I write this there are two pieces of spam on this list (both having to do with "cougars"). I tried to delete them, but I don't know how. Am I able to delete them, or is that something only an admin can do?
June 30, 2014
erinmckean commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
Hi pterodactyl! Deleted, and I'll look into why you weren't able to delete them yourself ... when you hover over a word on this list, do you see a little gray X off to the right? Clicking on that should delete a word.
June 30, 2014
qms commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
When community honor is breached
And the limits of patience are reached
The spammers must cower
Before righteous power
For then bold ruzuzu's unleashed.
June 30, 2014
ruzuzu commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
Aw, shucks. Thanks, qms--but I'm sure all the credit goes to erinmckean.
And stellar list, pterodactyl! *favorited*
June 30, 2014
qms commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
I would be the last to slight Her Omnipotence, but while she does the actual banishing you handle the chastisement. You Polish them off, so to speak. The purge is hers but revenge is thine.
June 30, 2014
yarb commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
I'm a big fan of the archaic past tense of climb, clomb.
Generally, though, I find it quite odd to think of most of these words as having silent final b's. Some of them - comb, tomb, succumb, bomb I am pretty sure I pronounce, if ever so slightly. Others like limb and jamb I don't think are audible but they're very much in my mind when I say the words. For me the real stand-out here is womb, which really does sound (and present itself) to me like "woom", no b to be seen.
July 1, 2014
qms commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
yarb, I think you are allowing your knowledge of the spelling of these words to color your impression of the way you pronounce them. I would be very surprised if you truly sounded any hint of a final b. It is like clothes and close (the verb). It can be very hard to convince native speakers that these are perfect homophones. Resistance is a matter of stubborn belief born of knowing the spelling and the meaning. Do you really think that there is any difference in your sounding of the final b in womb as opposed to tomb?
It is possible that we are more inclined to “feel” the final b in words that can be extended with its use, as in “crumb” to “crumbled,” and less in words that are dead ends, such as “womb.” (“Wombat,” like its continent, being a matter of separate evolution and not likely to influence us.) There is an interesting essay on the silence of the Bs here.
July 1, 2014
yarb commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
I certainly agree about the knowledge of the spelling affecting how I believe I pronounce them. I think that's probably right and after much practicing, I can't say there is any real distinction.
But clothes and close, are you serious?! My tongue is very firmly between my front teeth when I say the former - where's yours?!
July 1, 2014
qms commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
The tip of my tongue is in the same location behind my lower front teeth on both of these words. I too was incredulous when I first heard this asserted but to people trying to learn the language it is obvious. Try googling the pairing or looking at the phonetic representations in dictionary entries.
July 1, 2014
pterodactyl commented on the list ends-in-a-silent-b
Thanks, erinmckean! I do see the little grey X, but only for words that I added. Words that other people added do not have the X.
Also, I changed the title of the list, but the URL did not change. Is the URL supposed to change when the title of the list changes And if not, is there any way for me to change the URL manually to match the new title?
July 2, 2014