Optimal, Poptimal

Grief is heavy, and all I really feel like doing is writing, because it helps me figure out what I think. Don't worry; I'm not going to write about the fires again, but if you can consider even a small a donation to help my friends' widowed neighbor, please do it here: https://gofund.me/bc650875.

I have been really slowed down over the past week, but the questions about language that come in from everyone as they've started back to school in the new year do not. I've gotten some very good questions in the past 24 hours, one in my English Spelling Facebook group, and another throgh a Facebook private message. Even though Meta and Mark Zuckerberg are increasingly garbagey, I value the irreplaceable connections with friends and clients too much to leave. (And spare me the BlueSky talk, please.)

One question pertains to the forms of the verb to say. Another pertains to the governance of the so-called potential <e>, which I prefer to call parenthetical, as "potential" is not a linguistic term. I've written about that parenthetical <e> before, here. I'm going to offer brief responses to these two questions here, and explore them more fully in Pop-Up classes coming up this winter:

January: Wasted Potential: The Parenthetical <e> and an Optimal Orthography

February: Marry, Carry, and Vary

March: Say, how do "Irregular" Verbs Work?

Dates and details are below.