Recent posts

#1

Off-Topic / Re: No more new pennies

Last post by Max Rockatansky - Today at 12:45:00 PM

Okay, what is all this business about Santa controlling the flow of time?  Is this something like the plot of It: Welcome to Derry with Santa not experiencing time in a forward linear fashion?  How does this involve the taking of all pennies?

#2

General Highway Talk / Re: Highest-numbered route you...

Last post by formulanone - Today at 12:40:47 PM

Updated for 2026:

FL 9336
KY 3900 (9007)
TX 3549 
LA 3267
NC 1007 (possibly others, this was the highest with an actual sign)
PA 999
NY 990 (987G)
GA 985 (CR 90938 in Yatesville is my highest overall)
AR 980
CA 980
MD 978
IN 933
MS 923
SC 917
WA 906
WV 901
DE 896
VA 895 (90005)
WI 894
AB 881
IA 880
TN 840
OH 835
AL 759
MO 759
OR 730
MI 696
DC 695
MN 694
CT 691 (796 is my highest SSR which I'm aware of)
NE 680
NJ 676 (700)
KS 635
NM 599
MA 495
IL 474 (981)
SD 471
WY 450
ON 427 (451)
OK 412 (444)
RI 403
ME 395 (703)
NH 393
UT 280
NV 215 (604)
ND 210
AZ 202
VT 189
ID 128
BC  99
AK   9

[not]

#3

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by Beltway - Today at 12:36:41 PM

We don't say the capital city of Saudi Arabia as rye-yod.

Those examples are all Latin‑alphabet loanwords, where English keeps the foreign spelling and adapts the pronunciation. That's the same reason we don't pronounce Renault as ree‑nault.

Hilarious, that the only example you actually quoted is not a Latin-alphabet loanword.
الرياض  →  ar-Ryaḍ  →  Riyadh

My point was narrower: when English adopts names from non‑Latin scripts, it doesn't transliterate phonetically.

So what?  All sorts of languages do the same thing.
The Spanish name for the country Jordán is not a phonetic transliteration of الأردن, but rather follows the same convoluted path through various languages as the English name for the same country.
The German name for the city Damaskus uses the same wrong first vowel sound as English does for the same city دِمَشق.
The Russian name for the city Алеппо uses the same wrong first vowel sound as English does for the same city حلب.
Etc, etc, etc.

It anglicizes the spelling. If English were trying to match the native vowel in Iran, the spelling would be Eran,

No, because i is used to represent the ee sound for loanwords from that part of the world.  As in Tripoli or Shiraz or Erbil or Karachi.

in anglicized transliterations, I → /aɪ/ is the default

Says who?
Looking at the map...
China:  Jinan
Russia:  Izhevsk
Iran:  Isfahan
Ukraine:  Ivano-Frankivsk
Greece:  Ilioupoli

The examples you're listing actually reinforce the point I'm making.

When English adopts names from non‑Latin scripts, it doesn't transliterate phonetically. It adopts a Latinized spelling and then anglicizes the pronunciation.

Riyadh is a good illustration: the English spelling comes from a Latinized form of the Arabic, not from a phonetic rendering of الریاض. Same with Beijing, Qingdao, Xi'an, Osaka, Yamato, etc. None of those are pronounced the way a phonetic transliteration would require.

The fact that Spanish, German, Russian, and others also use non‑phonetic Latinized spellings for Arabic names doesn't contradict the mechanism -- it shows that multiple languages follow the same pattern.

So the narrow point stands: Iran is spelled with I because English adopted a Latinized spelling, not because English was trying to match the native vowel. If English wanted to force the native vowel, the spelling would be Eran, just as English would spell Renault as Renoh if it wanted to force the French vowel.

#4

General Highway Talk / Re: Daily conversation: What ...

Last post by kphoger - Today at 12:35:01 PM

21 JUL 2026

What does it mean to "clinch" a route?

It means everything.  You haven't truly enjoyed a route unless you've clinched it.  You aren't a real roadgeek unless you clinch as many routes as possible.  Your Travel Mapping stats are the measure of your worth.  Without clinches you are nothing.

#5

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: Gordie Howe Bridge (US-Can...

Last post by Sani - Today at 12:32:46 PM

I don't think the Canadians will postpone the bridge opening because of the new tariffs Trump announced. They don't want to stoop to his level.

#6

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by kphoger - Today at 12:26:46 PM

English adopts a Latinized spelling and then anglicizes the pronunciation.

So, what all sorts of other languages do too.

#7

Central States / Re: Alphabetically named secti...

Last post by flan - Today at 12:24:26 PM

Nobles County, MN, has alphabetically-named section lines going N-S, but not all letters are used and a couple are used twice or even three times. Best I can tell, most of these names are from early settlers of the county in the 19th century.

#8

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by Beltway - Today at 12:21:15 PM

when English adopts names from non‑Latin scripts, it doesn't transliterate phonetically

China enters the room ...

That's gotta be a pretty fucking big room.

China and Japan walk into the same room -- and they actually reinforce my point. English spellings of names from non‑Latin scripts aren't phonetic.

Yamato isn't pronounced the way it looks in English. Tokyo isn't either. Same with Beijing, Qingdao, Xi'an, etc.

English adopts a Latinized spelling and then anglicizes the pronunciation. That's the exact mechanism behind Iran => "eye‑ran."

#9

Off-Topic / Re: No more new pennies

Last post by kphoger - Today at 12:11:37 PM

I'm pretty sure Santa Claus controls the presents.

That's just what NASA wants you to believe.  The North Pole doesn't exist.  Something about the firmament.

#10

Off-Topic / Re: This is true? - Geographic...

Last post by kphoger - Today at 12:08:43 PM

Am I the only one who is surprised by the fact that Billings is bigger than Missoula?