this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2024
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Funny

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[–] [email protected] 101 points 5 months ago (3 children)

On the one hand, a sign like this definitely did have enough room for the full spelling of "through". There seems to be no reason to abbreviate it.

On the other hand, isn't drive-thru just, like, its own noun now? Part of me thinks this was always spelled correctly.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 5 months ago (5 children)

It seems like shorthand for signs that has been used enough that it's basically normal now, like "lite" instead light, or "donut" instead of doughnut.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

Right, the distinction I'm making is this isn't just "normalized" but actually the correct spelling. As in, if a newspaper editor saw it written as "drive-through" they would be obliged to correct it.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

Suppose both aight?

drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars.

Sensational spelling is the deliberate spelling of a word in a non-standard way for special effect.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

All my homies call them aerodromes.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (2 children)

My kid calls it a plane station and frankly it’s growing on me

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I’m down for that

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Or we could go with train-port.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm gonna take a ride in a aero

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

“I would like to send this letter to the Prussian Consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4.30 autogyro?”

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

How about a nite-lite?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

The correct way would be "drive-through."

"Drive-thru" is purposely spelled wrong to attract attention. The same as "Krispy Kreme" or "Dunkin' Donuts." It's only "correct" in that it has become ubiquitous through usage.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It's only "correct" in that it has become ubiquitous through usage.

What you are describing is called "language"

"You" wasn't always allowed to be singular. Colour vs color. Doughnut can be donut. Etc. Languages evolve over time, and "drive-thru" is in plenty of dictionaries.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Yup, "drive through" is an instruction, "drive-thru" is a noun. So you'll drive through the drive-thru.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure thru is to save space.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Yup, esp since it's often written on the pavement.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

"lite" has a different meaning (or at least connotation) to "light"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I can hear the commercial in my head...

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Ohh I thought donut was the American spelling of doughnut.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yup, doughnut if you're being fancy, donut if it's some trash from the grocery store.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Not necessarily. Some hole in the wall serving the best damn breakfast pastries our country has to offer is gonna call it a donut. A donut is a working class doughnut.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Yup, fancy is usually less tasty IMO. I prefer the ghetto donuts at our grocery store to the fancy doughnuts at the fancy bakery.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Donut is straight up just another way to spell doughnut, though. It's fully accepted, and not shorthand.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

According to Merriam Webster, “thru” is an acceptable, albeit less common, variant of “through”. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thru

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. They don't decide if something is "acceptable", just if it is widely used enough to report. If a mistake becomes common, it will enter the dictionary.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Maybe they meant, only drive on Thursday?