View Single Post
  #68   Report Post  
Posted to rec.crafts.metalworking
Richard J Kinch Richard J Kinch is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,392
Default Cleaning solvent

However, "Petroleum Naptha" is how it is referred to by
the Canadean Environment ministries, the Ontario Energy Board, and
Imperial oil.


That may be, but that is a slovenly corruption of the spelling, which
follows a natural mispronunciation. Kind of like people say

op-tha-mologist (incorrect but easy)

instead of

oph-thal-mologist (correct but clumsy)

And thus

nap-tha (incorrect but easier)

instead of

naf-tha (correct but not as easy)

See _The American HeritageŽ Book of English Usage_, 1996:

... with diphtheria, diphthong, and naphtha, the ph should properly be
pronounced (f), not (p). Because so many people say (p-), as opposed
to (f-), though, this variant has gradually become acceptable.

(I dedicate this post to the memory of the late Wm F Buckley.)