less of the former, more of the latter, please! eye dialect & latitudinarian

eye dialect eye-DY-uh-lekt noun

Unusual or nonstandard spelling to represent an uneducated or youthful speaker or to convey dialectal or colloquial speech.

Examples: wuz for was, wimmin (women), enuff (enough), warez (wares), peepul (people), Strine (Australian).

[First used in print by George Phillip Krapp (1872-1934) in The English Language in America to denote spellings in which “the convention violated is one of the eyes, not of the ear.”]

latitudinarian lat-uh-too-din-AIR-ee-un; -tyoo-, adjective:

Having or expressing broad and tolerant views, especially in religious matters.

noun:
1. A person who is broad-minded and tolerant; one who displays freedom in thinking, especially in religious matters.
2. (Often capitalized) A member of the Church of England, in the time of Charles II, who adopted more liberal notions in respect to the authority, government, and doctrines of the church than generally prevailed.

Latitudinarian comes from Latin latitudo, latitudin-, “latitude” (from latus, “broad, wide”) + the suffix -arian.

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