Editing 1647: Diacritics
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In the title text "not my forté" is supposed to mean that it is not one of Randall's strength or talent. However, to obtain this meaning {{Wiktionary|forte}} should not have an acute diacritic over the e, thus proving Randall's point that it is not his forte to use diacritics. This is a form of {{w|hyperforeignism}}, where people spell loan words or use pronunciations that they believe is more faithful to the language it comes from instead of the "English" one, even though the "English" one is actually more correct. Due to its similarity with other words from French such as café, some people believe that forte is also spelled with a diacritic on the ending E (also note that the word was independently borrowed twice: from French as "a strength" and from Italian as a musical term. Neither usage requires diacritics). | In the title text "not my forté" is supposed to mean that it is not one of Randall's strength or talent. However, to obtain this meaning {{Wiktionary|forte}} should not have an acute diacritic over the e, thus proving Randall's point that it is not his forte to use diacritics. This is a form of {{w|hyperforeignism}}, where people spell loan words or use pronunciations that they believe is more faithful to the language it comes from instead of the "English" one, even though the "English" one is actually more correct. Due to its similarity with other words from French such as café, some people believe that forte is also spelled with a diacritic on the ending E (also note that the word was independently borrowed twice: from French as "a strength" and from Italian as a musical term. Neither usage requires diacritics). | ||
− | The title text may be a reference to the ''[[what if | + | The title text may be a reference to the ''[[what if|what if?]]'' released a week before this comic, {{what if|145|Fire from moonlight}}, in which note 9 reads, "My résumé says étendue is my forté" (with the same error on "forte"). It is possible that noticing his mistake was the inspiration for this comic. (Note: ''{{w|étendue}}'', borrowed from French ''{{Wiktionary|étendue}}'' 'spread, expanse', refers to the extent of how much the light from a particular source “spreads out” by the time it reaches the target.) |
If there actually has been someone who corrected Randall's mistake in the what if?, then there could be an extra pun hidden in the title. Those who criticized Randall's use of accents, would thus become dia''critics''! | If there actually has been someone who corrected Randall's mistake in the what if?, then there could be an extra pun hidden in the title. Those who criticized Randall's use of accents, would thus become dia''critics''! |