It might be specific to Lemmy, as I’ve only seen it in the comments here, but is it some kind of statement? It can’t possibly be easier than just writing “th”? And in many comments I see “th” and “þ” being used interchangeably.

  • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    þ is part of Old English. It came with the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians during the great Germanic migration. It was present in Middle English, but had already started being replaced by “th-” and “y-” like in “Ye Olde Tavern”. Obviously, “th-” won out, but it was the printing press that removed þ from the English language.

    • Hedup@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      What I was alluding to, was that it would be nice if English went back to being phonetic language with consistent spelling that reflects what actually is being said.

      Of course that’s not realistic. Especially because of ASCII which is kind of the 21st century version of printing press in this context.

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Yeah, if someone comes on here speaking olde English, we can chastise them as well. I remember having to read Shakespeare in high school and being like “the fuck is this nonsense.” It’s wonderful in context. This is a message board where we’re trying to convey ideas (generally stupid ideas), so it makes sense to stick to the guidelines.

      • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        I don’t get where I said we should or shouldn’t chastise them. Just noting that thorn was at one point part of the English alphabet.