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Spelling of "Phenix City"
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Will Dockery
Sep 27, 2015, 1:22:29 PM9/27/15
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Gary Lee Dunn wrote:
Will Dockery: I thought that the Yankee record label company forced that upon Freddie's record about his own hometown. But forcing the stupid "O" on us doesn't end there! Today's internet "trolls" love to criticize Phenix City's spelling and dismiss it as being something "dumb Southerners with no education are expected to do." They always go there instead of looking at the facts. They criticize us for leaving off the "O". The truth is, Phenix (or Phoenix) is a Greek word. The word in Greek is spelled "φοῖνιξ", so how Americans and the English added an "O" to the English spelling version of "φοῖνιξ" has nothing to do with anything. In the 1800's, after the Civil War during reconstruction, and on throughout the Victorian period when the former Brownsville Alabama (aka Girard Alabama) was rebuilding and gathering up the pieces from the war, they took a cue from the popular theme at the time of brushing yourself off, and starting over. The popular theme in the late 1800's was pointing to the mythical Greek bird "The Phoenix" which mythologically "rose out of the ashes of a great fire". Atlanta became synonymous with that theme. The Eagle Mill in Columbus used that theme, and used the popular "Phenix" name after rebuilding from their war ruins. Today we call it The Eagle & Phenix Mill. Books and newspaper columnists all throughout America of the 1800s (including the New York Times) all spelled the Greek word "φοῖνιξ" as their English interpretation of it as being "PHENIX" at the time. So anyone using the term to describe the bird, or anyone naming something describing the mythical bird would use "PHENIX" as the well known accepted way to spell it throughout Victorian England and America. During Southern Reconstruction, and wishing symbolize themselves with the popular trend at the time, Girard residents renamed themselves Phenix City. Spelling it EXACTLY the same way everyone else in America (including the New York Times) spelled it at the time. Arizona wasn't even a state yet, and how they decided to add the modern English spelling of Phoenix with an "O" to name their Arizona city has nothing to do with how smart Yankees are and how dumb Southerners are supposed to be for their spelling skills. Just because Phoenix Arizona is a larger city and more people use their version of the spelling, doesn't make Alabama's version wrong. Yankees blame the Alabama spelling on stupidity. It's just a common dismissal they like to use. They don't have a clue how wrong they are. I'm so tired of the "Southerners are stupid" arguments on the internet. But I try to educate dumb Yankees every chance I get when I see it
Will Dockery: I thought that the Yankee record label company forced that upon Freddie's record about his own hometown. But forcing the stupid "O" on us doesn't end there! Today's internet "trolls" love to criticize Phenix City's spelling and dismiss it as being something "dumb Southerners with no education are expected to do." They always go there instead of looking at the facts. They criticize us for leaving off the "O". The truth is, Phenix (or Phoenix) is a Greek word. The word in Greek is spelled "φοῖνιξ", so how Americans and the English added an "O" to the English spelling version of "φοῖνιξ" has nothing to do with anything. In the 1800's, after the Civil War during reconstruction, and on throughout the Victorian period when the former Brownsville Alabama (aka Girard Alabama) was rebuilding and gathering up the pieces from the war, they took a cue from the popular theme at the time of brushing yourself off, and starting over. The popular theme in the late 1800's was pointing to the mythical Greek bird "The Phoenix" which mythologically "rose out of the ashes of a great fire". Atlanta became synonymous with that theme. The Eagle Mill in Columbus used that theme, and used the popular "Phenix" name after rebuilding from their war ruins. Today we call it The Eagle & Phenix Mill. Books and newspaper columnists all throughout America of the 1800s (including the New York Times) all spelled the Greek word "φοῖνιξ" as their English interpretation of it as being "PHENIX" at the time. So anyone using the term to describe the bird, or anyone naming something describing the mythical bird would use "PHENIX" as the well known accepted way to spell it throughout Victorian England and America. During Southern Reconstruction, and wishing symbolize themselves with the popular trend at the time, Girard residents renamed themselves Phenix City. Spelling it EXACTLY the same way everyone else in America (including the New York Times) spelled it at the time. Arizona wasn't even a state yet, and how they decided to add the modern English spelling of Phoenix with an "O" to name their Arizona city has nothing to do with how smart Yankees are and how dumb Southerners are supposed to be for their spelling skills. Just because Phoenix Arizona is a larger city and more people use their version of the spelling, doesn't make Alabama's version wrong. Yankees blame the Alabama spelling on stupidity. It's just a common dismissal they like to use. They don't have a clue how wrong they are. I'm so tired of the "Southerners are stupid" arguments on the internet. But I try to educate dumb Yankees every chance I get when I see it
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