this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

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'Choose' rhymes with 'lose'? I mean c'mon, someone did that shit on purpose 👀

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

No one? They aren't pronounced the same in any accent that I'm aware of.

Edit: I'm dumb. I was reading that as the "nearby" close and not the "shut " close.

[–] over_clox 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

You're probably thinking of the pronunciation of close as in 'close to you'

I was thinking of the pronunciation of close as in 'close the door'

Which is pronounced the same as clothes.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Those still aren’t pronounced the same. The th in clothes isn’t silent.

[–] over_clox 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I'm not sure where you're from, but the th is indeed silent in my area regarding the word 'clothes'. I've never heard it pronounced any different than 'close'.

Now if it's said as 'clothing', the th is indeed pronounced. But not for 'clothes'. And I've worked at a clothing store before.

You might be thinking of the word 'cloths', which indeed does pronounce the th.

English is weird like that.

[–] BenM2023 10 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I'm not sure where you're from, but the th is indeed silent in my area regarding the word 'clothes'. I've never heard it pronounced any different than 'close'.

I'm not sure where you're from, the th in is always pronounced in my area regarding the word 'clothes'. I've never heard it pronounced the same as 'close'

I will say that people got called out for pronouncing it the same as the spice 'cloves'.

FWIW My area = rural southern UK.

[–] ODuffer 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Yeah absolutely not silent. Unless perhaps you're a cockney. Source: I'm in northern England. Perhaps it is a British thing.

[–] Asidonhopo 2 points 2 months ago

I'm in the US and I pronounce it, I think a lot of people do? Maybe I just know a lot of snobs and "regular" Americans mush the word together but I don't think so

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh well that's easy then, it's because you guys speak British, not English!

Kidding aside, I lived in East Anglia for a few years as a kid and I don't remember the British kids saying it that way either, but that was a really long time ago and my memory ain't what it used to be! I think. I can't remember how it used to be actually.

[–] BenM2023 3 points 2 months ago

it's because you guys speak British, not English!

Fighting talk, sirrah! Fighting talk.... But yes, I guess.

British English has been described as three languages dressed up in a trenchcoat that go around mugging other languages in dark alleys and stealing the best bits...

[–] over_clox 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You seem like the sort of person that would pronounce the word often with a hard T, yet still pronounce the letter A as if it was an O.

[–] BenM2023 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

You seem like the sort of person that would pronounce the word often with a hard T,

Not at all. Used to make fun of people who did.

yet still pronounce the letter A as if it was an O.

No - there are two sounds for A, bath (short, as in cat) for tub of usually hot water and Bath (long, as in car) for the city famous for its hot water. Never heard it like O - no, wait... RP has an O sounding A doesn't it? Lloyd Grossman was famous for his mangling of vowel sounds.

ETA that distinction for the A sound is probably familial rather than regional; grew up with Geordie mam and Home counties dad.

[–] over_clox 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] BenM2023 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeh cheese as cheeze is an odd one - especially considering the z is "zed" not "zee"... I guess cheese is where the idea of "zee" came from?

[–] over_clox 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Additional question..

Who decided to include the letter D in the pronunciation of the letter Z?

Zed?

Where did that come from? We don't say it that way over here in the states, we just say zee..

[–] BenM2023 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I would ask "why did you left ponders choose to change the pronunciation to zee?" - though given many USAian pronunciations are, apparently, closer to Elizabethan English than the current UK sounds I wouldn't like to guess which came first the zed or the zee....

[–] over_clox 1 points 2 months ago

Probably because D has absolutely nothing to do with Z.

[–] db2 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

So on laundry day you put away your clo_s_ing? The rest of us have clo_th_ing.

I can edit also.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Huh? I have lived in every corner and the middle of the United States and I have never heard anyone pronounce the TH in clothes no matter the accent. It always sounds like close as in to close the door.

Unless you are thinking of cloths, as in a pile of wash cloths.

English kinda sucks sometimes.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

I’m American and I’ve never heard a single person ever pronounce it “close”. Listen closely and you’ll hear that the word sounds longer. That’s the pronunciation. It’s not a hard “thuh”. It’s a soft “ths”. Say the word “cloths” but use a long “o” sound rather than “awh”.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

This is just wrong. Im canadian but think about how you would pronounce the word 'clothe' as in 'he can barely clothe himself" and then add an s sound. Although it is more of a 'z' sound abd can blend with the 'th' a little bit, the 'th' is definitely pronounced clo-th-z.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I pronounce the th sometimes, but not always, depends how fast I'm talking

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Close isn't always pronounced the same?!

[–] teft 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Sit close to me vs close the door

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Ooh wow you're right.

Close to me is "closs"

Close the door is "cloz"

I never noticed

[–] over_clox 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Your wright!

And I'm rong.

Why is English so weird?

[–] over_clox 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Because it's wired..

[–] teft 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I've had to train my ear because I learned to speak spanish so I notice these things with my friends who are learning english.

The one that broke my mind the other day is that the D in drink is pronounced like a J. My friend was practicing his D sounds and came up with that out of the blue.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hmm, it is similar to a J, and may become the same depending on the speaker, but not necessarily exactly the same

[–] teft 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

According to the international phonetic alphabet they're the same sound.

Here is the IPA for drink: dɹɪŋk

Here is the IPA for jury: d͡ʒʊɹi

Mainly it's noticeable for spanish speakers because the spanish D is pronounced closer to the english th or is unvoiced depending on where it is in a word.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I think I may have always mispronounced one or both of these then.

Man, English pronunciation, I swear.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I don't know shit about fuck when it comes to the differences between accents/dialects but it's at least enough of a thing to be there in dictionaries.

[–] teft 2 points 2 months ago

Even the second one isn’t pronounced the same. Some accents drop the th sound in clothes which is why they can sound similar.