• sleigh •
Pronunciation: slay • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, Verb
Meaning: 1. [Noun] A light carriage on narrow runners pulled by dogs, horses, or in very northern climes, reindeer. 2. [Verb] To ride in a sleigh.
Notes: English has several words for vehicles that slide across snow or ice. A sled usually a small toy for sliding down hills though a bobsled can accommodate 4 or more people. A sledge is a work sleigh, heavily built, pulled by horses or oxen over the snow or over snowless ground. The sleigh is a light, festive vehicle that we associate with happy times around Christmas.
In Play: We are approaching that time of the year when a most famous "miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" will sail across the rooftops of our children's imaginations, "with a little old driver, so lively and quick, [they will all know] in a moment it must be St. Nick." For a showroom of sleighs built in the United States, click here.
Word History: The reason sled and sleigh are so similar is that they come from the same source. This good holiday word is another English borrowed twice from the same language: Dutch slede, slee "sleigh", only we assigned the two words different meanings. All the Germanic languages have very similar words meaning either "sleigh" or "sled": Norwegian slede, Swedish släde, Danish slæde, German Schlitte. They are all remindful of English slide, which is where they all come from—the local word for "slide". The spelling? If we borrowed this word from Dutch slee, why to we spell it sleigh? It has been spelled slay and sley in the past but English speakers love letters that are no more than decorative curlicues, and what better place for decorative curlicues than on the word for sleighs?
sleigh
- Dr. Goodword
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• The Good Dr. Goodword
Re: sleigh
Ouch! The proofreader in me (I have been paid to proofread for 10 years now.) wants a verb in this sentence.A sled usually a small toy for sliding down hills though a bobsled can accommodate 4 or more people.
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- Grand Panjandrum
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Re: sleigh
Ouch! You get paid for this? Somebody buys the cow when Sluggo is cheap (nay, free)?Ouch! The proofreader in me (I have been paid to proofread for 10 years now.) wants a verb in this sentence.A sled usually a small toy for sliding down hills though a bobsled can accommodate 4 or more people.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!
Actually, the editor in me wanted a comma after the word sled and the word hills but hey, some might not like commas.
mark comma-rich-text BaileyA sled, usually a small toy for sliding down hills, though a bobsled can accommodate 4 or more people.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb
I get the idea, but the grammar is still off. Try:Actually, the editor in me wanted a comma after the word sled and the word hills but hey, some might not like commas.mark comma-rich-text BaileyA sled, usually a small toy for sliding down hills, though a bobsled can accommodate 4 or more people.
A sled is a small toy for sliding down hills, but a bobsled can accommodate 4 or more people.
Yep. It never ceases to amaze me the spelling and grammar mistakes people will make, esp. in public business forums. I tend to see them everywhere I go. Often I wish I had the peace of mind to overlook them instead.Ouch! You get paid for this? Somebody buys the cow when Sluggo is cheap (nay, free)?
-Ah! a prescriptivist in our midst,
-it is Bob's sled we are talking about, of course.
-I feel if it conveys its intended meaning it's just fine.
-I kinda like the way it's written. [so there ]
mark more-Laissez-faire-in-my-editing Bailey
-it is Bob's sled we are talking about, of course.
-I feel if it conveys its intended meaning it's just fine.
-I kinda like the way it's written. [so there ]
mark more-Laissez-faire-in-my-editing Bailey
Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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No, just someone who believes that a clause containing an adverb patiently waiting to perform its duty usually needs a verb for self-fulfillment.-Ah! a prescriptivist in our midst,
Of course! Dr. Bob writes all the Goodwords!-it is Bob's sled we are talking about, of course.
Sure ...-I feel if it conveys its intended meaning it's just fine.
-I kinda like the way it's written. [so there ]
mark more-Laissez-faire-in-my-editing Bailey
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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