Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two g’s?
How should I write the above sentence?:
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two g’s?
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two “g”'s?
or
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two "g"s?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I spelled it wrong today in my adult class today and a student corrected me. I told him that he was wrong and we looked it up in the dictionary. How embarassing. 
I just figured it out. With two g’s, the it’s a short “a”. With one it’s a long “a”. The pronunciation of “exa” overrides the “g” factor and to keep the original “exa” pronunciation, you need two g’s.
Or something like that.
Today wasn’t a good day. I argued with my boss about what he wants to pay me to do some 4-hour/day OT class.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
And that’s not all - ‘embarrassing’ is spelled with two r-s. 
Two arses I thought that was.
You see. I’m just going downhill. Or is it down hill.
Calgon! Take me away!
[quote=“j99l88e77”]Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two g’s?
How should I write the above sentence?:
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two g’s?
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two “g”'s?
or
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two "g"s?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I spelled it wrong today in my adult class today and a student corrected me. I told him that he was wrong and we looked it up in the dictionary. How embarassing. [/quote]
Well, it’s probably spelled that way because it’s derived from a Latin word that was spelled that way, which in turn was derived from another Latin word that was spelled that way (aggerare, “to heap up,” which is the same root as in aggregate, per the OED). “Exaggerate” came to English via French, which is why it has the soft g instead of the hard g, and French does now spell it with one g, but in medieval Fr. it had both. Personally I’d think that both gs are necessary for the pronunciation, as the consonant sound is pretty long – sounds like “exaj jer ate” instead of “exa jer ate” but that could be just because I’m thinking about it right now.
Web sources (Brian Forte, dictionary.com) seem to indicate that the plural of single letters is formed by taking the apostrophe – g’s – but this is one of those cases where I’ll insist the entire rest of the world is wrong, because it just plain looks like a possessive to me. Write Gs on my tombstone, there’s no justification for the apostrophe.
I just have to face it. I made a boo boo. Like when you spell “afraid” “affraid”. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
[quote=“yisha’ou”][quote=“j99l88e77”]Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two g’s?
How should I write the above sentence?:
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two g’s?
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two “g”'s?
or
-Why is “exaggerate” spelled with two "g"s?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I spelled it wrong today in my adult class today and a student corrected me. I told him that he was wrong and we looked it up in the dictionary. How embarassing. [/quote]
Well, it’s probably spelled that way because it’s derived from a Latin word that was spelled that way, which in turn was derived from another Latin word that was spelled that way (aggerare, “to heap up,” which is the same root as in aggregate, per the OED). “Exaggerate” came to English via French, which is why it has the soft g instead of the hard g, and French does now spell it with one g, but in medieval Fr. it had both. Personally I’d think that both gs are necessary for the pronunciation, as the consonant sound is pretty long – sounds like “exaj jer ate” instead of “exa jer ate” but that could be just because I’m thinking about it right now.
Web sources (Brian Forte, dictionary.com) seem to indicate that the plural of single letters is formed by taking the apostrophe – g’s – but this is one of those cases where I’ll insist the entire rest of the world is wrong, because it just plain looks like a possessive to me. Write Gs on my tombstone, there’s no justification for the apostrophe.[/quote]
:bravo: :bravo:
You talk purty.
:bravo: :bravo:
You talk purty.[/quote]
Thanks!
Speak for yourself.
Speak for yourself.[/quote]
You see. I know these things as I’m typing them, but sometimes I don’t go back and correct them. Then it comes back to haunt me.
Oh well. I got a raise today anyway. 
6500 NT/month (200,000 Won). Wahoo! Think I’ll go spend it. Maybe.
How about if the apostrophe is being used to form a contraction?
Perhaps the full form should be "G"s, and the apostrophe is taking the place of the opening and closing quotes, thus g’s?
And what if you are trying to specify lowercase g’s? Lowercase gs? Looks like an abbreviation. What about As? Looks like a word. Some of the other capital letter + ‘s’ combinations look like they could belong on the periodic table of elements. Not to mention that Gs is a reserved term meaning the normal gravity of the earth.
Not that I’m passionate on the subject. Afterall,
It’s your funeral.
How about if the apostrophe is being used to form a contraction?
Perhaps the full form should be "G"s, and the apostrophe is taking the place of the opening and closing quotes, thus g’s?[/quote]
Mmm… sounds fishy to me.
Context should be sufficient to indicate whether you mean multiples of earth’s gravitational strength vs. instances of a letter form. One should perhaps use italicization for additional clarity in printed usage. I don’t see much of a confusion issue with uppercase-lowercase, though; of course there are no uppercase Gs in “exaggerate.” I’d think of it as referring to the idea of a letter, rather than the particular letter form.
But I’m sure there is somewhere some kind of explanation for the apostrophe, I’ve just got a bee in my bonnet about it because it’s always looked so… irksome.