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You're Climbing Forte


Mos_Chillin

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it sucks huh? well, I can wait another year and a few months I guess....but I do need to start working out before my body gets like some of the other folk on this site...

 

uhh...you are referring to me...dammit...i'm callin' jenny craig! madgo_ron.gif

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Off topic, sorry, but did you know that its not pronouced for-tay? It rhymes with port. My brother corrected me at Christmas - I didnt believe him, looked it up - had to admit he was right.

 

From dictionary.com:

for·te Pronunciation Key (fôrt, fôrt, frt)

n.

1. Something in which a person excels.

2. The strong part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt.

 

Sorry, back to your thread. And, um, no I dont have a forte in climbing. Maybe teaching, does that count? I dunno.

Dox

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[quote

I'm guessing you mean sort of like Lynn Hill who freed the Nose because her small fingers allowed her to send the great roof?

 

I'm small(light) with big feet so slabbing has always been easier, lighter weight with an average size rubber contact patch is advantageous.

 

Hey, I never thought of that. The reason Lynn Hill is such an outstanding climber is b/c she is small. Who knew?

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and on the size continuum which connects big to small fingers one extreme limit must be no fingers ... which must be why Tommy Caldwell can free the great roof too ... heck probably made it 4th class jugs by climbing it with the finger he cut off.

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Actually, it's not an American bastardization at all, but the pronunciation is correct as DoxManDude stated earlier.

My source, the unabridged version of the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, gives the language derivation of "forte" as originating from the Middle French. Now, we all know that those Froggs don't pronounce their trailing "e"s (but we also know that the Italians do).

So, to be correct, we should not be pronouncing "forte" as two syllables in the context of this post, but if we refer to the word in a musical sense, then we would say the "ay" syllable, because in music, "forte" derives from the Italian "forte" or strong, from the Latin "fortis".

 

Class dismissed.

 

Oh, and in regards to my armchair climbing, I'm at my best in my StratoLounger...

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Actually...

 

Being something of an etymology buff, I had been curious about this word in the past and have a book on sesquipeds somewhere that addresses it. True, the definition as pertains to this thread is entry number one in the dictionary, for which the original pronunciation is "fort".

 

However, when a word is consistently spoken in the "wrong" way over time, that new pronunciation becomes the standard or becomes accepted as an alternative. The majority of people in the U.S. and Britain say "for-tay" and, as we all know, majority rules (and minority whines).

 

All sorts of words in the English language have changed their standard pronunciation and/or spelling over time. The only reason it bugs (some of) us is that we are aware of the transition in real time. Words that changed long ago are just fine with us. I'm sure H.W. Fowler would disagree, but he's dead.

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As long as we are going to get into the minutia of spelling, pronunciation, word origins etc. rolleyes.gif Can someone PLEASE get rid of the apostrophe and e in You're Climbing Forte. madgo_ron.gif Just a pet peave thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

 

That's peeve, sport. rolleyes.gif

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