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Susan C-P's avatar

“At Eleventy we recognize ourselves in believing in the importance of family relationships…”

That is indeed an interesting translation turn-of-phrase. (Is there a word for that?) Today I plan to work ‘eleventy’ and ‘I recognize myself in believing’ into ordinary discourse.

When Google Translate was in its infancy, I used to amuse myself by going to various foreign language websites and translating the page. I picked ones where I had some familiarity with the language. Oh, the felicitous poetry it produced. I would read it aloud for best effect. The Italian-English, for whatever reason, was the best.

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W. Michael Johnson's avatar

I appreciate your appreciation of Tolkien's appreciation for OLD English wordplay. I have no idea what EleventyMilano is doing; they probably made the mistake of letting a geek into the marketing department. But I thought you'd like to hear my mother's review of Peter Jackson's (technically impressive but ... ) first part of "The Hobbit." "It's ugly men, fighting."

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Jonathon GREEN's avatar

Then there's ‘eleventy-eleven’: https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/kc453uq

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

Nice! And mea culpa for not consulting GDoS.

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Yoko Sakao Ohama's avatar

There is also Eleventy the static website builder! Cute origin story on the name here: https://www.11ty.dev/docs/glossary/#where-did-the-name-come-from

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

Nice! Thanks, Yoko.

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Bonnie Portnoy's avatar

Ka-ching, Fritinancy! This Eleventy article might turn out to be the most expensive one of yours I've read to date. : ( I'm tempted . . .

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

Ha. Scrolling through Eleventy’s wares had the opposite effect on me!

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Bonnie Portnoy's avatar

I was sort of kidding but some of your descriptions sounded yummy, cost aside.

I guess not!

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Carol Edge's avatar

And then there's the Okefenokee Swamp's Albert Alligator's counting "lebenty-leben." This could be why you associate eleventy with the American "backwoods." Long may the wordsmithery of Walt Kelly live!

I so enjoy your word explorations (and exhortations).

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

Thanks, Carol!

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heydave56's avatar

Huh. Now I'm thinking twice about getting rid of my distressed clothing.

And they've been organically distressed!

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Darrow Woods's avatar

Fascinating piece, as always. I have to admit I found myself caught back at the photo of the 3 wick candle in a jar, on offer for $395. I am gob-smacked! Who would have the utter gall to attempt to sell a scented candle for such a ridiculous amount?

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heydave56's avatar

Hell, I'm thinking of upselling my candles now. Or at least regifting them!

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Jeff Johnson's avatar

Perhaps she would have the utter gall to attempt to sell a scented candle for such a ridiculous amount.

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Jeff Johnson's avatar

A steal! Do they smell like her hoo-ha?

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Jeff Johnson's avatar

Gweneth Paltrow?

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

What about her?

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Andrew Alden's avatar

I imagine that the Italians pronounce the brand ella-VEN-ty, which emits a whole different set of aromas. The wordmark certainly suggests that.

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

I hadn't considered that! But then why the Y instead of Italianesque I?

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

OK, I couldn't find any pronunciation clues in the brand's videos, so I called the Bal Harbour (Florida) store. It's ELEVEN-TEE, accent on the second syllable as in English.

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Andrew Alden's avatar

Thanks for checking! Of course they would say that to an American caller . . . the Y instead of I is *branding*!

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

Lyft, Fynd, Stytch, Thynk ... https://www.pinterest.com/fritinancy/y-for-an-i/

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Nancy Friedman's avatar

Then there's the "onety-one" alternative (thanks to reader NDK!):

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHHTuSivIg4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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