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Question

is it meerly or just merely

Aug 29, 2016 1:43AM PDT

anyone here from England? or know the differences between US and British English? If so, is meerly a word or slang?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Might depend on the usage
Aug 29, 2016 1:56AM PDT

The words "mere" and "meer" both exist but one is generally an adjective and the other a noun.

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Answer
UK here
Aug 29, 2016 6:32AM PDT

We use merely.

"It was merely a suggestion, not an order!"

"I was merely saying I don't like DT. I didn't say he was an idiot" Happy

I have never seen meerly written down

Mark

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"never seen meerly "
Aug 30, 2016 1:49PM PDT

Me neither, also.

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Answer
meer vs mere
Aug 29, 2016 7:08PM PDT

Only cats do it meerly, as some are named meerkats.

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Answer
OED 2nd ed.:
Aug 30, 2016 1:50PM PDT

First def. listed is "var. of Mir sb 1", which is 'var. of meer' from the Arabic; better known to us as Emir etc.
Second is "meer(e): see mare 1, mayor, mere, more."
Youse is on your own from here.

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Answer
for context
Aug 30, 2016 2:03PM PDT

I saw a British greeting card that used the term meerly. It said "You are not meerly any son..." It just did not seem right.

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Neer enough.
Aug 30, 2016 2:08PM PDT

That is, it was neerly rite.
Dafydd.

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LOL
Aug 31, 2016 1:51AM PDT

Looks like that greeting card creator lacked a little in comprehension.

Mark

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Probbly from moanpug dotcom.
Aug 31, 2016 1:31PM PDT

Dafydd.

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And we gotta put up with this, from
Sep 7, 2016 10:40AM PDT

a guy named "Dafydd"!
Grin

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I think that's an alternate spelling of "David"
Sep 7, 2016 10:59AM PDT

and a very good reason you'd not want to play Scrabble with a Welshman. Happy

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True Steven.
Sep 7, 2016 11:14AM PDT

David in English it is. How many points for llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?
Dafydd. Grin

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I think the six "g"s would make it impossible.
Sep 9, 2016 2:27PM PDT

Or the eleven "L"s.

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Re: scrabble
Sep 11, 2016 3:57AM PDT

Most often, when you see people saying "How about x for Scrabble", it turns out that x has more than 15 letters, thus is impossible.

In theory, you can get 27 * the sum of the letter values if your new letters fill all three of the "3 times word value" places in the top, bottom or side row. With 2 of your new letters giving double value if they happen to be on the blue "2 times letter value". Plus 50 if there were 8 letters already (either stand alone or valid English words) and you added 7.
So depending on the language and the dictionary used, there is an absolute maximum for one turn. But it's quite unlikely that maximum did ever occur in a real game. I guess for English it's somewhere around 1000.

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I think he said it!
Sep 10, 2016 11:07AM PDT
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Aha! That makes it a proper noun
Sep 10, 2016 5:23PM PDT

and subject to a penalty loss of turn.

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True.
Sep 10, 2016 6:13PM PDT

Rumbled Steven. Shocked
Dafydd.

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Good grief
Sep 11, 2016 3:16AM PDT
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I knew that.
Sep 9, 2016 2:29PM PDT

In any event, you would need to bring your own vowels to a Welsh Scrabble. The poor sods got none!

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DIdn't tehy make a Welsh Scrabble?
Sep 9, 2016 2:37PM PDT
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Wrong!
Sep 9, 2016 3:06PM PDT

You have 5 we have 7. A E I O U W Y. Seems we're not the ones lacking.
Dafydd. Wink

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Well...we have at least 6 and maybe 7 as well.
Sep 9, 2016 3:28PM PDT

"Y" can be a vowel if it contains the only vowel sound in a syllable. An example is the word "byway". The first Y is considered to be a vowel. It's sound is the same as a long "I". I recall an argument that the W can also be a vowel in American english but I cannot provide examples. As I understand it, however, it has to do with diphthongs which are comprised of two vowels. If the W changes the sound of the official vowel, it becomes a vowel too. I didn't do that well in English classes. I'd never survive what you must have gone through.

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Quite right about diphthongs Steven.
Sep 9, 2016 3:37PM PDT
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Just for fun
Sep 10, 2016 2:33AM PDT

Danny Devito will forever be known here as the gruff taxi cab dispatcher with a New York attitude in a comedy series. I found this while trying to find examples of the Welsh tongue. How accurate this is, I don't know. The Erse languages are another enigma. There's no way to read Scots and Irish out loud but somehow there's magic in what can be expressed by those who know the languages well.

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Add Hungarian and Polish.
Sep 15, 2016 11:56AM PDT

A famed physicist told another, Hungarian, physicist (don't recall the names) that Hungarians were really men from Mars. Proof: They are highly intelligent and Hungary is surrounded by language groups that have no connection with it (therefore must be Martian).
Add irrelevancy: A FES from Georgia told me his language is most closely related to Syrian. Check the map. Happy

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'we have 7'
Sep 15, 2016 11:51AM PDT

I knew that, too. Just messin' with ya'.

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I believe in Britain it's
Sep 15, 2016 11:58AM PDT

"prolly".