beamjockey: Drawing of Bill of the Heterodyne Boys by Phil Foglio. (Default)
beamjockey ([personal profile] beamjockey) wrote2012-01-31 10:49 am
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Today's Diphthong Question

Why is "threshold" spelled with one "H" but "withhold" spelled with two?
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[identity profile] kevin kenny (from livejournal.com) 2012-01-31 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
withhold < ME "with" + "hold" -- hold back, hold with (yourself)

threshold < OE "thresc" + "wald" -- cognate to modern "thresh" (but in an older sense of "tread") and "way", but not cognate to "hold"
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