Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the letter
R , which was trilled in Latin, imitating the sound of a snarling dog.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the Latin littera canina meaning "letter pertaining to a dog", "a dog's letter" or "a canine letter".
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Examples
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sionnach commented on the word dog's letter
the letter 'R'.
"There is only the difference of the dog's letter between friend and fiend."
The Westminster Review (London, UK); 1830.
from the A Word a Day site.
December 13, 2008
bilby commented on the word dog's letter
Isn't it the pirate letter?
December 13, 2008
sarra commented on the word dog's letter
No, P is the pirate letter - it's their favourite.
Why?
It's like R - but it's only got one leg.
December 13, 2008
rolig commented on the word dog's letter
I'd have thought Q was the dog's letter, wagging its tail and all. What makes R canine?
December 13, 2008
bilby commented on the word dog's letter
Sarra, ha! But as we all know around Wordie, P is the pterodactyl's letter.
December 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dog's letter
And don't you forget it! I'm entitled to a 3-cent royalty anytime any of you use My Letter, and some of you are wayyyyyy behind on your payments!
December 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dog's letter
(Note: To demonstrate that he is not unkind, and to maintain the honor of the pterosaurs, Pterodactyl would like to announce that the mandatory 3-cent royalties will be waived for any applicant who can provide a rigorous example of silly poetry.)
December 13, 2008
sionnach commented on the word dog's letter
A young pterodactyl named Pterry
Was in lust with a colleague called Merry
He said "she's so glamorous,
I just gets all amorous".
Pterry ptargeted young Merry's cherry.
December 13, 2008
bilby commented on the word dog's letter
Noodling here and shnooping there
I did come to know and cherish the legendary Wordie, pterodactyl.
Yet he brazenly demanded P-recompense in verse! Young man, tact'll
Get you everywhere.
December 13, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word dog's letter
pterodactyl, if you want royalties just go to p and tag it ©.
December 13, 2008
sionnach commented on the word dog's letter
Hello:
My name is s©i©o©n©n©a©c©h©.
December 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dog's letter
I have evaluated the samples offered by bilby and sionnach and found that they are indeed very rigorous. They are also aesthetic, cogent, cromulent, and (in sionnach's case) practically libelous. ;)
In light of this, I declare that any royalties they may owe shall be waived in perpetuity.
As for the rest of you...
December 14, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word dog's letter
I'm not sure whether this will answer rrrrrolig's question, but the Century Dictionary does have this to say over on r:
"In Anglo-Saxon the initial r of many words was aspirated (that is, pronounced with an h before it), as hring (our ring); but the aspiration was long ago abandoned, both in pronunciation and in spelling. In Greek initial r was always thus aspirated, and the combination was transliterated in Latin by rh instead of hr: hence the frequency of rh in our words of Greek derivation. Moreover, such an r, when by inflection or composition made medial, became rrh, and double r was in general viewed as rrh: whence that spelling in many of our words (for example, diarrhea, hemorrhage, catarrh, etc.): in recent scientific words and names taken from Greek, the Greek rule and Latin practice as regards the doubling and aspiration of the r are often neglected. The mode of production of the r-sound itself varies greatly in different languages and dialects. Normally its utterance is combined with a distinct trilling or vibration of the tip of the tongue, in various degrees (the sound is thence often called the “dog's letter,” littera canina)."
January 31, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word dog's letter
*makes payment to pterrrrrrodactyl*
January 31, 2011