h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...as spoken, I mean. Double-ewe? Double-you? Double-yoo? Double-yew?

I think i you need to spell it - why you would I don't know - you could write double u because W is two Us joined together. But then how do you spell U?

I agree with Charlie Boy. I'd use 'double-u' (hyphenation optional). Why bother trying to spell 'U', though?

Why the heck don´t you spell it Double-V ?

You do if you're French.

And that should explain why...

I have a friend on IRC who's nick is jw... I generally refer to him as jdub.

I was just going to ask that same question...

Question 2: When, and most importantly, -why- was the decision made to change U to V and verse-vicea?

It's a historical artifact from Roman times. Their U looked like our V, as anyone who has seen "The Life of Brian" and many history majors will attest. They made the W, but they called it double-u instead of double-v because they didn't have a "V".

*nods* .. Yeah.. The Romans were big on vowels and soft sounds...

Many of today's 'bad words' are nothning more than greek words that were changed by invading romans because they were too 'harsh' sounding... (had too many consonants)

Ex: piss to urine


(If I could remember it, I'd cite the article I got the info from. )

I beg leave to differ about Romans liking soft sounds. I studied Latin at school (not from choice, but in some ways it was fun). We were taught that the Romans didn't have soft C and G sounds (as in city or giraffe). All words starting with C and G have hard sounds (as in car or garden). The soft sounds the Italians used come from somewhere else. Don't know where, though.

As compared to the greeks of the time, they liked soft-sounding words.

Hey, it's a bilabial semivowel. Don't think you NEED to spell it out, do you? You just spell it W.

T. H. White spelled it out in 'The Sword in the Stone', in the bit where Robin Wood (or Robin Hood) is being introduced to everybody. If it's OK for an author, it's OK by me!

Go on, it's killing me - how did T.H.Double-yoohite spell it?

From the Latians and etruscians I think it was... i could ask my old latin teacher one time...

Can't remember, and I couldn't find it when I tried to check. I suppose I'll have to read the whole book again. Oh, dear! What a burden! >:->

We all have to make sacrifices.

Unfortunately it's closed season on virgins. Will some innocent animal do, or does it have to be human?

It's not so much closed season... it's just that they're on the endangered species list.. if not extinct.

Perhaps the animal kingdom would offer up a better chance at bagging a virgin?