Joined:
November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | For years Martin spelled the word with an "a" as in dreadnaught, although most folks spell it with an "o"(including the royal british navy which ought to know) as in dreadnought battleships. Apparently Martin shifted to the "o" spelling in the early 1960's. I like it better with an "a". If you look "naught" and "nought" up at Dictionary.com you'll discover that they have identical meanings and origins, but the web site says one can be confused for the other. If they are identical, how can one be right and the other be wrong, so how can they be confused? And my G Mail spell checker prefers "naught". Also, "naught" provided the base for the adjective "naughty". So I prefer "naught" to "nought".
I knew most of that and I looked the rest up. Why? I was curious because I had never encountered the short form "dread" until I joined a few guitar forums and now I see it everywhere. I'll probably never get used to it --- if I ever do, it'll prove that I'm still young at heart. Meanwhile, I'll try to fear nothing (or try to dread naught). |
OT: Dreadnought or naught?