I don’t like the number seven. Well, really the name of the number
seven. All the other single digit numbers are single syllable, and
seven has to go and take two. Seventy and seventeen have the same
problem. What can we do?
I think the two main candidates are “sev” (dropping the second
syllable) and “sen” (dropping the first coda and second onset). While
I find “sen” slightly nicer on the tongue, I think “sev” is more
promising because it feels like a better short form.
It feels like we ought to be able to switch to calling it “sev”, where
some people just start saying that and other people understand them?
I’ve been playing around it, but every time I do my toddler Nora
laughs at me as if I’m being ridiculously over the top: “you said
sev!!” Does not bode well for a low-key
migration.
Sev, Sevteen, Sevty, Sevth
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I don’t like the number seven. Well, really the name of the number seven. All the other single digit numbers are single syllable, and seven has to go and take two. Seventy and seventeen have the same problem. What can we do?
I think the two main candidates are “sev” (dropping the second syllable) and “sen” (dropping the first coda and second onset). While I find “sen” slightly nicer on the tongue, I think “sev” is more promising because it feels like a better short form.
It feels like we ought to be able to switch to calling it “sev”, where some people just start saying that and other people understand them? I’ve been playing around it, but every time I do my toddler Nora laughs at me as if I’m being ridiculously over the top: “you said sev!!” Does not bode well for a low-key migration.
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