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in reply to My favorite silent English letter is:

If I was allowed to vote for my least favourite silent letter, it would be the "b" in "debt". The original spelling in English was "dete" or "dett" but at some point an idiot decided that because it derives from the Latin "debere" (to owe) it should be given a silent "b" to show its origins.

As if English spelling and pronuciation are inconsistent enough without that!

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Re^2: My favorite silent English letter is:
by mertserger (Curate) on Mar 02, 2012 at 13:49 UTC
    I meant to type "As if English spelling and pronuciation are not inconsistent enough without that! - oops