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

that when in American novels they talk of a duffel bag, they don't mean a duffel bag, they mean a holdall.

I had very often wondered why they used these impractical receptacles. We used to tote our gymkit to school in them. They are in the shape of a cylinder, open at the top, with cord threaded round the top. The ends of the cord are attached to the bottom. The shape is impractical and the cord can only be hitched over one shoulder and cuts into the shoulder with the weight of the contents.

The shape was impractical in itself and you could never find anything in them. There was no way of fastening them shut, so if they were held upside down (not uncommon among schoolchildren, especially with each others' bags) the contents would fall out, the insides of the bag usually being coated with a shiny plastic for waterproofing. They had no side pockets and to make matters worse they were usually in dull colours or tartans.

So I Google-Imaged for "duffel bag" and found loads of pictures of holdalls.

Here is a duffel bag as I always understood it, albeit somewhat modernised with a strap rather than a cord, which is less likely to cut into your shoulder:

http://de.myprotein.com/protein-zubehor/myprotein-jim-bag-canvas-duffel-bag-camel/schwarz/11098685.html

Yet again, two countries divided by the same language.

Yes, I'd agree with you TC. None of the item returned on an image search for "duffel bag" is a duffel bag.

But surely "duffel" was originally a type of cloth, and neither your duffel bag nor the American one seems to be made of duffel.

When I took my PE kit to school, I called the tube bag with drawstring a Pump Bag because it had my pumps (gym shoes) in it

I have seen a proper Duffel Bag, made from wool fabric with a drawstring at the top but mine were always made with oddments of thin cotton or similar artificial material.

There is actually a wiki page on them which confirms what Gnomon says - the material came from a place in Belgium called Duffel.

Should they then be the same material as duffel coats?

The bag I carry my swimming trunks and towel in are tubular, like the English version of duffel bag.

My image of a duffel bag is what TC describes but is indeed made from the same material as a duffel coat.

Although what I think of a duffel coat is actually more related to the type of button/fastners than the material it is made of. You live and learn.

I was correcting someone's report yesterday and found dilemna spelt dilemma - I corrected this then thought - I wonder if both are correct. And I found this...

http://dilemna.info

That's what I learned yesterday

Trilemma and quadrilemma are also spelled with two m's.

dodecilemna is the only irregular in the series it seems

Leave it to Hootoo to be the place where words like that get brought up.

I've never seen the spelling 'dilemna'. I have see pornegranite, though.

I was taught at school that it is dilemna - just as is described in that link.

I was most surprised by that article. It's weird how these memes survive and are even propagated by teachers.

But how could anyone think the mN had a silent n in the middle of a word?

Mn at the start of a word is pronounced N. Mnemonic

-mn at the end of a word is pronounced M. Autumn.

But there are no words with -mn- in the middle where one of the lrtters is silent are there? Autumnal lemniscate damnation

Don't overthink it - it's not like language has all that much logic.

It's a shame the British English thread seems to have died - this could be a good one for it

I'm sure we covered it at least once on there. Will have a look in a minute. Connection is causing problems at the moment.

- The football's on, isn't it - that's why the internet is so slow.

Footbacon got pulled up on it here:

F134694?thread=400622&post=5085763#p5085763


And it was discussed at length here:

F19585?thread=7733392&post=100268640#p100268640

(sorry, still don't know how to do conversation links in Pliny)

And I am in the "dilemma" camp. I hadn't heard of "dilemna" until a couple of years ago, and like Deb in the second link above, I was quite incredulous.

Oh dear, I got the wrong end of the stick didn't I? It was Dea and she was in the "Dilemna" camp.

I'm going to have to wash my hands now I've written it the wrong way.