Dear Steven et al, I've been very amused by the constant flow of emails on this subject of language and abbreviations with great interest and must add my little bit to it all. As a numeracy/literacy teacher myself (amongst other things) and being an expert speller myself (ehem! coff coff) and a bulb/plant grower who learnt Latin at school in his youth at a big Catholic College in Brisbane Queensland, (mea culpa), I thought you might be amused by the poem inserted below: Well, just to mention a few bulbs, so I don't get into trouble, as I know this is supposed to be a bulb discussion group, some of the plants flowering at present in Gippsland are: Liliums, lots of different species, hybrids Cyrtanths mackenii and others Zepheranthes, various hybrids and species Haemanthus humulis (and waiting for H. humulis hirsutus to flower) Heamanthus albiflos is not quite to flowering this year yet A very beautiful Fuchsia boliviana, which the birds love (not a bulb LOL) Eucomis. Kniphofia Canna Hemerocallus fulva Hemerocallus longituba Roses galore! various species of succulents. et al.! I've got rid of all my goats years ago and now only have to contend with red-bellied black snakes, blackbirds, black cockatoos, dogs and children. LMFAO AND LOL to you regards, Bill Richardson Ixiaking West Gippsland Victoria, Australia Summer 16c - 40c variable at present ixia@dcsi.net.au http://www.angelfire.com/ri/ixia/ "Almost any garden, if you see it at just the right moment, can be confused with Paradise" Henry Mitchell "The difference between a flower and a weed is a judgement" Our Strange Lingo When the English tongue we speak. Why is break not rhymed with freak? Will you tell me why it's true We say sew but likewise few? And the maker of the verse, Cannot rhyme his horse with worse? Beard is not the same as heard Cord is different from word. Cow is cow but low is low Shoe is never rhymed with foe. Think of hose, dose,and lose And think of goose and yet with choose Think of comb, tomb and bomb, Doll and roll or home and some. Since pay is rhymed with say Why not paid with said I pray? Think of blood, food and good. Mould is not pronounced like could. Wherefore done, but gone and lone - Is there any reason known? To sum up all, it seems to me Sound and letters don't agree. This was written by Lord Cromer, published in the Spectator of August 9th, 1902 -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 7 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1280 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len/ The Professional version does not have this message