Saturday, October 2, 2010

Out of Comptrol

I didn't know that
  1. "controller" comes from "counter roller," meaning I guess that "to control" comes from "to counter-roll";
  2. "comptroller" is a misspelling of the same word, "born of ignorance and continued in darkness" (that's what she said); and
  3. the "P" is silent.
What I'm still not clear on is whether "the 'P' is silent" means that you're supposed to say "com'troller" because you wouldn't say the "P" in French (would you? I have no idea), or whether you're just supposed to ignore the ignorance-born/darkness-continued–ness of it and say "controller."

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