Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun rare, humorous Alternative spelling of
fish .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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One of the champions of such reform was the playwright George Bernard Shaw - he of the word ghoti, pronounced
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He joked that the word "ghoti" was a logical spelling of "fish."
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Sure he invented the word "ghoti" but he made the point.
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Sure he invented the word "ghoti" but he made the point.
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He joked that the word "ghoti" was a logical spelling of "fish."
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Shaw it was who came up with the tired joke of spelling fish as "ghoti" (gh as in laugh; o as in women; ti as in motion).
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Spelling fish as “ghoti”: did this really begin with Bernard Shaw?
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Spelling fish as “ghoti”: did this really begin with Bernard Shaw?
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George Bernard Shaw pointed out that we should spell “fish” as ghoti, gh = f (enough) o = i (women) ti = s (emotion).
This Is An Outrage Haw Can He Say This? « Literacy Instruction « Literacy Help « Literacy News 2009
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For some reason this reminds me of the old linguistic joke: How do you pronounce the word “ghoti”?
Suspenseful With A Pencil Ever Since Prince Turned Himself Into A Symbol | ATTACKERMAN 2009
nkocharh commented on the word ghoti
Wikipedia has a terribly interesting article on this word.
December 13, 2006
valse commented on the word ghoti
Robin: "Ghoti" is "fish"?
Batman: See here. English phonetics. GH becomes F, as in "tough" or "laugh". O becomes I as in "women". TI becomes SH as in "ration" or the word "nation".
Robin: Holy semantics, Batman. You never cease to amaze me!
May 24, 2007
skipvia commented on the word ghoti
From Barry Rudd, not Batman and Robin. Let's give credit where credit is due.
If you haven't read "The Child Buyer," go check it out immediately.
October 4, 2007
reesetee commented on the word ghoti
On my list. The title alone is intriguing. :-)
October 4, 2007
skipvia commented on the word ghoti
Should be required reading for any linguist. Or educator.
October 4, 2007
donricklin commented on the word ghoti
There is also Phtholognyrrh pronounced: Turner, According to a Mr. Turner who insisted on signing his name that way according to Robert M. Rennick in I Didn't Catch Your Name, Verbatim® Vol. XXix, No2. Mr Turner explains: " Look, the phth is like phthisic, which is pronounced t; olo is like colonel, which is pronounced ur; gn as in gnat is pronounced n; and yrrh as in myrrh, is pronounced er. So you have Turner. Nothing could be simpler." Reader's Digest, Jan . 1941, p. 42
September 1, 2008
divinityatlast commented on the word ghoti
In Jr. High my friends and I were avid fans of a band called Ghoti Hook. Because of that band I knew the meaning of this word as a 14 year old. HA!
July 17, 2009
Drum commented on the word ghoti
A constructed word used to illustrate irregularities in English spelling. It is pronounced 'fish' - gh as in tough. o as in women. ti as in nation.
August 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ghoti
Gone ghotion.
November 15, 2010
vendingmachine commented on the word ghoti
The Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, is said to have joked that the word ‘fish’ could legitimately be spelled ‘ghoti’ by using the ‘gh’ sound as it is pronounced in ‘enough’, the ‘o’ sound as it is pronounced in ‘women’ and the ‘ti’ sound as it is pronounced in ‘action’.
However, linguists have pointed out that the location of the letters in the constructed word is inconsistent with how those letters would be pronounced in those placements, and that the expected pronunciation in English would be "goaty".1 For instance, the letters "gh" cannot be pronounced /f/ at the beginning of a syllable, and the letters "ti" cannot be pronounced /ʃ/ at the end of a syllable.
January 3, 2016
TankHughes commented on the word ghoti
I wrote about this 4 years ago, with some bonus discussion of minims and Churchillian Drift thrown in: http://tankhughes.com/?p=727
January 4, 2016