Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Dangerous Jobs

what is the most dangerous job in america?

deaths per 100,000 workers

Timber Cutter: 117
Pilot: 71
Commericial Fisher: 69
Structual Metal Worker: 58
Driver: 37
Roofer: 32
Electrical Power Installer: 32
Farmer: 28
Construction Worker: 27
Truck Driver: 25

Female Prostitute: 204

The Letter "C"

I would like to pose a question. What is the point of the letter "C." This letter is an abomination. It has no sound of its own. It produces two common sounds, however, neither is original. In it's original Latin form "C" (henceforth written simply as C) produced only a hard sound. This is forgivable as the Romans did not use "K." (no pun intended) In way I suppose we have the Romans to blame since they replaced the perfectly good hard K sound ,which was previously produced by the egyptian hand symbol and greek kappa, with c's. At least they were consistent. The C did not make a soft sound. In those days an S was an S, a C was a K, and a K could take a flying greek ?*%!. To my knowledge their linguistic descendants also follow this general rule (not about K's though). Let me put it this way. Can you think of any words which use C's that could not be supplanted with K's or S's. Of course you can! And this is where C might redeem itself. There are cases where the letter C is integral in forming entirely distinct sounds in conjunction with other letters, namely "H." The "CH" sound requires at least a place holding letter which helps to signify a difference from a regular H. What I propose is this: why not replace all C's performing the job of a K with K's. Replace all soft C's with S's. The letter C will now have a new, unique sound...the current "CH" sound. For example:
The word chalk becomes calk
caulk becomes kaulk
center becomes senter
and finally The chances that your skin catches cancer is evident by your scratches, becomes, The canses that your skin katces kanser is evident by your skratces.
The letter C need not be the mark of the barbarian era.