# potable water



## Carrie2

Hi. I'm British, and I seem to ask more questions about US English than I do about foreign languages . In the US does the word "potable" exist, as in "potable water", meaning "drinking water"? Until today I would have said that "potable" didn't exist in English, but I''ve just seen it used by 2 people from the US. So, is it standard US English? Would it be understood/used by people in general? Does it sound strange to American ears? Of course, I could check a dictionary, but dictionaries often list words that are rarely used or understood by the general populatiopn, so I always prefer to ask real live pople  when I can. Also, what about other English-speaking countries?

Many, many thanks.


----------



## jinti

Yes, _potable_, as in _potable water_ exists and is understood widely in the US.  It seems standard enough to me, although a bit formal.


----------



## .   1

I think that perhaps potable is slightly archaic.
I learned the word when I was in the Army but I suspect that the word has fallen out of use and the reverse is now used.
Water is described as grey water or recycled water or reclaimed water to indicate that it is not potable.

.,,


----------



## stranger in your midst

My other half used to be a water hygienist so could confirm 'potable water' is employed in BE, particularly in a scientific context. I think most educated BE speakers would understand the term, albeit in everyday English one would tend to say 'is this water good to dink?' as opposed to 'is this water potable'. < Other languages removed from English Only.  Cagey, moderator >


----------



## rsweet

I agree with .,, in that "potable" is heard more in a negative sense: "not potable." You do sometimes see "potable water," but "drinking water" is more common.


----------



## panjandrum

Potable is used by those who work with water systems.
It is not common in normal conversation - and indeed I only found out recently that the o in potable is pronounced like the oa in boat, not like the o in pot.  It derives from latin potare, to drink, and has nothing directly to do with cooking pots


----------



## equivoque

I don't recall having heard someone say "potable" water. I thought that water suitable for drinking was just called "drinking water". So to verify whether it had just gone out of vogue, I spoke to my mother and a friend of hers, neither of them had ever heard the term. I can only assume that it hasn't been used in this country for a long time.  

Thank-you for the pronunciation reference, I was quite surprised!


----------



## timpeac

I remember learning the term when I was learning French but I don't think I've come across it in day-to-day English before. I think it's just reserved for scientific contexts here.


----------



## Carrie2

Thanks to everyone, I've learnt a lot!   As for the word in French & Spanish, yes, that's why I asked - the examples where I'd seen it in English were translations from Spanish & I thought the translator must have made a mistake. I see I was completely wrong. Thanks very much for all your replies.


----------



## timpeac

Carrie2 said:


> Thanks to everyone, I've learnt a lot!  As for the word in French & Spanish, yes, that's why I asked - the examples where I'd seen it in English were translations from Spanish & I thought the translator must have made a mistake. I see I was completely wrong. Thanks very much for all your replies.


Well, in a way you were right - I don't think the correct translation into English of "potable" in French or Spanish should be "potable" because it's not the same register at all (unless it was a scientific context).


----------



## Carrie2

Yes, and register's arguably just as important in translation as central meaning, I agree.


----------



## mirx

Well, potable in english is as potable in spanish, as a non-native speaker I was not very sure wheter to use the word or not, I used sometimes in The Usa and people seemed to understand what i meand although probably they just nodded and pretended they understood, Now, when I was in Ireland I asked for a glass of (or with) water and my friend tells me to take it from the tap, then I asked him if tap water was potable water, and he gave me this look, like saying "speak english", So I asked him again what they called drinking water, and he said "just that", "drinking water". Now it turns out I was not very wrong potable water is as potable as in spanish and french.


----------



## timpeac

mirx said:


> Well, potable in english is as potable in spanish, as a non-native speaker I was not very sure wheter to use the word or not, I used sometimes in The Usa and people seemed to understand what i meand although probably they just nodded and pretended they understood, Now, when I was in Ireland I asked for a glass of (or with) water and my friend tells me to take it from the tap, then I asked him if tap water was potable water, and he gave me this look, like saying "speak english", So I asked him again what they called drinking water, and he said "just that", "drinking water". Now it turns out I was not very wrong potable water is as potable as in spanish and french.


Only in the scientific context. In the UK I wouldn't be surprised if many people didn't understand it. Perhaps it is more common in the US (Spanish influence?).


----------



## Tchara

I stumbled across this posting because a friend and I had a (polite) disagreement about the pronunciation of potable.  Perhaps no one seems to know the word because most of the people we know mispronounce it with the short o of pot.  My friend and I both know and use the word and know others who do as well.  The whole conversation started when I pointed out that most people mispronounce the word...


----------



## timpeac

Tchara said:


> I stumbled across this posting because a friend and I had a (polite) disagreement about the pronunciation of potable. Perhaps no one seems to know the word because most of the people we know mispronounce it with the short o of pot. My friend and I both know and use the word and know others who do as well. The whole conversation started when I pointed out that most people mispronounce the word...


Very interesting - I didn't know it was meant to be a long o (I think my science-teacher used the short o which is the only time I've heard it). However, I don't follow your argument about why people mispronouncing it would lead to it being unknown - that's just sound change.


----------



## JamesM

As for being reserved for scientific use and water workers, there is an exception in California.  It's not uncommon to see a road by the side of the freeway that says "landscaping irrigated with non-potable water."


----------



## Treb107

In the military, the distinction of water being potable or nonpotable is always made. But, alas, if you trying and correct someone as to the pronounciation, with a long "o", they look at you as if horns were growing out your head.


----------



## lhrlong

Growing up, (in America) we were taught pronunciation of long or short vowels based on the letters which followed.

  If a vowel were followed by a single consonant, then another vowel, typically it would be pronounced as a long vowel.

  If followed by a double consonant, or a single consonant with no vowel following, it would be pronounced as a short vowel.

Potable  = long O

Pottable = short vowel - not that pottable is a word,  just using it for clarification - Vowel followed by a double consonant 

 Pot and not are more examples of short vowels.  Followed by a single consonant with no vowel afterwards.

I "mispronounced' according to a co-worker just the other day, this word potable, with the long vowel, using this rule.  

How to respectfully correct co-worker's pronunciation...??.....I'll just use it 'incorrectly' every time I use it in his presence and either this will tick him off or make him ask me to prove it.

Enough 'school is in session'  Back to Labor Day relaxation activities  : )


----------



## Adge

I feel like I've known this word since way before I knew Spanish, but I could be fooling myself...either way, I've always pronounced it with a long 'o' and I've seen plenty of signs in public rest areas that say "Non-potable water" above the sinks, so I would hope that people at least know what it means.


----------



## GreatLakesSurfer

I never heard of this word in American English or even in Spanish until I enlisted in the Army when I was in my early twenties. I first saw "Potable Water" on the side of a so-called Water Buffalo which was an Army term for the trailers that hold water storage tanks. My initial thought was that some idiot private mispelled "Portable" water. You can see a pic by searching for creativecrash.com/marketplace/3d-models/c/water-tank. 
Oh, and I've found out that potable is pronounce with a long o sound contrary to the normal US English rules.


----------



## natkretep

Welcome to the Forum, GreatLakesSurfer! 

Maybe my office is a little strange, but we do talk about potable and non-potable water and how water can become non-potable when piped into cisterns in roofs.  But I agree that in ordinary conversation, you'd probably talk about _drinking water_.


----------



## airportzombie

In the game show _Jeopardy!_, there is a recurring category on alcoholic beverages called "Potent Potables"; Alex Trebek pronounces it with the long _o_ in "boat".

At the airport you have _potable water cabinets or trucks_ to deliver drinking water to the aircraft. In this context, I've only heard it with the short _o_ in "pot".


----------



## Gwan

I realise this is a pretty old thread which has been revived, but just to chip in, I think 'potable' is pretty uncommon in everyday NZE as well. We would also say drinking water in normal conversation.
I don't remember why, but I remember once saying to an American that "no-one would understand" potable on a sign, and she corrected me on that front!


----------



## andiandi11

Personally I lo(long O yes?)ve the 'rules' of English, because if they were hard & fast we wouldn't need forums like this.  
Potable is, in my experience, a commonly used word, if only in situations that require the exact identification of drinkable water (in the U.S. people generally DO have access to drinkable water): Armed service bases, camp grounds, water treatment facilities, public water pumps and park faucets, marinas and boats, long distance trains, environmental toxicity disscusions, hurricane disaster zones..... 
It occasionally  shows up on bar and restaurant menus as "potables," the drinks you may order,  because menus always sound more appetizing in French, no?  It so often gets mispronounced, assumed to be somehow related to pots or containers and portability.  I believe I made this mistake myself as a child, not knowing it's roots in French & latin.  I've had the same experience of being "corrected" by more than one person who was certain the word rhymed with trot or knot.


----------



## JulianStuart

A notable thread indeed - a potted history of a drinking water term - a very old word indeed, still almost pure Latin


----------



## GreenWhiteBlue

For my part, I have never heard "potable" (which I don't consider an everyday word, but also don't find particularly strange or arcane) mispronounced with a short 'o', just as I have never heard "notable" mispronounced with a short 'o', or "quotable" mispronounced with a short 'o'.


----------



## Dale Texas

As far as long and short voyels go, aside from being taught as per several posters above, I was intrigued to watch a public service Television series a couple of years ago which instructed illiterate adults how to read, and they had a cute saying (which doesn't always work in the exception- ridden English language) but works often enough to be helpful, and was memorable, which was the point, and it was this:

"When two voyels go walking, the first does the talking and says it's own name."  It's understood in this  context is there is one consonant "walking between the voyels" but only the first one recites the name of it's alphabet letter to give the desired sound.

POTABLE.  So:  O walks with A and says its own alphabet letter name,  "O" (oh).  CAKE.  So A walks with E and says it's own alphabet letter name, "A." (Ay)


----------



## andiandi11

Jeopardy- Yes!


----------



## Packard

timpeac said:


> Only in the scientific context. In the UK I wouldn't be surprised if many people didn't understand it. Perhaps it is more common in the US (Spanish influence?).



When my AeroMexico flight from Mexico City to Dallas had an unscheduled landing and layover (in Monterrey--the pilot was tired), the passengers were put in a holding area (we had not yet gone through customs) and there was a bathroom but not food concession. The faucets in the bathroom all carried the notation "not potable". I had to explain what that meant to a few people on the flight. It was a rough 12 hours without food or water (or sufficient chairs for all) but we finally got one of the staff to bring in Cokes for the passengers.


----------



## pob14

As with several others, I learned the word from _Jeopardy!_  I'm sure that's why it's generally known in the US.  I recall seeing it written before hearing the host, Art Fleming, say it, and I thought it was "portable."


----------



## Alxmrphi

If I didn't know the word through Italian, I wouldn't have thought it existed, or understood its meaning.
I probably would have said it with a short 'o' before reading this thread, but that's just the Italian influence again.


----------



## Packard

Campers and mountain climbers are (or should be) familiar with the term.  Many streams and lakes are listed as having water that is not potable and water purification equipment and chemicals are available to remedy that.  The chemistry (iodine) is not too pleasant however.


----------



## Salvage

Adge said:


> [. . .]
> I've seen plenty of signs in public rest areas that say "Non-potable water" above the sinks, so I would hope that people at least know what it means.



This is the sort of context where I have encountered "potable," that is, where mistaking a non-drinkable liquid for a drinkable liquid is possible.  Water from a tap is generally potable, so when it is not, we are warned.  Likewise, in the Army large field containers full of liquid tend to be the same color, size, and shape, so they are always clearly identified as potable or not.

But back to the original question.  I think in the United States we know what it means, but we are exposed to it predominantly in signage, and not so much in the spoken language.  "Drinkable" would be likely used in conversation.


----------



## timpeac

I think there's a clear British-American difference here. Most Americans know exactly what it means, although they might use other words such as "drinkable" in conversation. Many Brits wouldn't have a clue what it means, unless they have come across it in a scientific context, or they know it from foreign languages where it is a normal word.

Personally I know it from science and French-Spanish, but I don't think I've ever come across it in a normal English context. Before reading this thread I would have assumed it was pronounced with a short "o" like "pot" (I don't know why, but it would have been my assumption). I can't remember what my science teachers used to say (too long ago unfortunately).


----------



## Packard

So as to help keep our British friends from embarrassment I will offer up the pronunciation for "potable" (in plain English).

Here is an audio of the spoken word:  http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=potable

But in case the moderators feel fit to delete that I will offer up in "Packard-speak" this guide:

Poe-tibble. 

Pot-able.


----------



## Andygc

timpeac said:


> Many Brits wouldn't have a clue what it means, unless they have come across it in a scientific context


I'd suggest that rather than "scientific context" alone, I'd add "or unless they have ever had anything to do with drinking water supplies". I'd not describe one of the  local water company's water treatment operators or the average sapper* as a scientist, but plenty of them know how to make and distribute potable water, and call it by that term.


Packard said:


> So as to help keep our British friends from  embarrassment I will offer up the pronunciation for "potable" (in plain  English).
> 
> Here is an audio of the spoken word:  http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=potable
> 
> But in case the moderators feel fit to delete that I will offer up in "Packard-speak" this guide:
> 
> Poe-tibble.


You won't embarrass me, Packard . I agree with the pronunciation in your link, but I don't see how you transcribe that as poe-tibble. It's a soft "a", not an "i"

*
Sapper = A soldier in the Royal Engineers


----------



## Packard

Andygc said:


> I'd suggest that rather than "scientific context" alone, I'd add "or unless they have ever had anything to do with drinking water supplies". I'd not describe one of the local water company's water treatment operators or the average sapper* as a scientist, but plenty of them know how to make and distribute potable water, and call it by that term.
> 
> You won't embarrass me, Packard . I agree with the pronunciation in your link, but I don't see how you transcribe that as poe-tibble. It's a soft "a", not an "i"
> 
> *
> Sapper = A soldier in the Royal Engineers



I've been repeating it aloud for the last few seconds and, perhaps it is the New York influence, but is sounds more like "ibble" than "abble" to me--or perhaps something just in between.

Of course the "pot-able" would have sounded completely wrong.


----------



## JulianStuart

Andygc said:


> You won't embarrass me, Packard . I agree with the pronunciation in your link, but I don't see how you transcribe that as poe-tibble. It's a soft "a", not


I'd say it was a common or garden schwa - the a sound in aloud.


----------



## Packard

JulianStuart said:


> I'd say it was a common or garden schwa - the a sound in aloud.



I grew up in a shwa-less society--in fact I've never seen or hear of that word except within these fora.  So I have to resort to "plain English" guides.


----------



## Thomas Veil

The Jeopardy category provides a way to remember (and justify) the correct pronunciation: "potent" and "potable" have the same first three letters, and have the same first vowel sound.
[...]


----------



## timpeac

Thomas Veil said:


> The Jeopardy category


What's a jeopardy category?


----------



## Glenfarclas

A category of questions on the long-running American quiz show _Jeopardy!_  (Yes, this mnemonic would not be very helpful for anyone but American quiz-show watchers.)  "Potent potables" regularly recurs (maybe a couple of times a year) as the title for categories of questions dealing with alcoholic drinks.


----------



## timpeac

Glenfarclas said:


> A category of questions on the long-running American quiz show _Jeopardy!_  (Yes, this mnemonic would not be very helpful for anyone but American quiz-show watchers.)  "Potent potables" regularly recurs (maybe a couple of times a year) as the title for categories of questions dealing with alcoholic drinks.


Ah, I see thanks. I think this reinforces my earlier comment that outside of specific contexts "potable" wouldn't be understood by the British. "Potent potables" would be met with incomprehension over here, I think.

That said - I don't see how this would justify it anyway, unless we take game shows as the ultimate arbiter of English usage...


----------



## Dale Texas

Andygc said:


> I'd suggest that rather than "scientific context" alone, I'd add "or unless they have ever had anything to do with drinking water supplies". I'd not describe one of the  local water company's water treatment operators or the average sapper* as a scientist, but plenty of them know how to make and distribute potable water, and call it by that term.
> 
> 
> You won't embarrass me, Packard . I agree with the pronunciation in your link, but I don't see how you transcribe that as poe-tibble. It's a soft "a", not an "i"
> 
> *
> Sapper = A soldier in the Royal Engineers



...and of course in my most careful and refined American accent, where t's in such positions articulate as d's, I would pronounce this as "POE d'bull."


----------



## JamesM

On a recent trip I encountered a sign with "potable" on it and thought I'd share it:


----------



## z10user3

Hi. New here. How about a nearly 7 year thread resurrection? 

I have a beef with the pronunciation of potable and consistencies in English with other words of similar origin. ie. Latin. So in Latin an o is long. In Latin an a is pretty much short. So apparently we're supposed to pronounce potable as like poe-tible as someone else wrote somewhere here. But here's where I see the inconsistency (who said English was supposed to be consistent?  )...the word capable. It comes from Latin. Oughtn't we to pronounce it as cap-ible?

I'm sticking with my colloquial pot-ible. When I first saw the word and its context I thought hmm interesting ok.. able to be used in a pot so as to mean drinkable. ok. New word. No problem. But I'm seeing more frequently people getting on their high horses saying we're all bumpkins for saying pot-ible when it's supposed to be poe-tible. So what gives? Shouldn't people then mount their high horses to go on information campaigns saying that cape-ible should be cap-ible? Be consistent! I just think poe-tible comes across as snooty and wierd. I get its Latin origins but we're speaking English here.


----------



## Andygc

How do you pronounce "potent"? How about "notable"? The pronunciation of words has evolved. Nobody actually knows how Romans pronounced Latin words - no recordings. Church Latin is pronounced differently from the Latin I learnt at school. Latin pronunciation is, in any case as irrelevant to modern English as is Latin grammar.

Feel free to pronounce "potable" any way you want to. Few people will care about your mispronouncing it.


----------



## Uncle Jack

Welcome to the forum.

It is very rarely used in BrE and I doubt whether most people know what it means. When it is used (unless by someone who has only seen the word written down, which is entirely possible with such an unusual word), it is poe-tabl.

Pot-tabl is used for snooker and pool balls. Apparently this is spelt with two "t"s, but is not in the OED.

I don't see the connection with "capable". Both "capable" and "potable" have long vowels and single consonants, as is the norm (though I am sure there are many exceptions).


----------



## GreenWhiteBlue

z10user3 said:


> Be consistent! I just think poe-tible comes across as snooty and wierd.


For my part, I find the long-o pronunciation of potable to be normal, natural, and the only one I have ever heard anyone say.  On the other hand, I think a short-o "pot-able" (which mispronunciation I have never heard anyone use) comes across as absurd.  Meanwhile, in order to "be consistent", are you now going to start pronouncing _notable with a short o_ as "not-able" instead of "noe-tible", or _quotable_ as "quot-able" instead of "quoe-tible"?


----------



## z10user3

Thanks for comments folks for this new arrival.
There are inconsistencies with "the rules" pertaining to a vowel followed by a consonant followed by another vowel to be pronounced long. We don't say oh-ven for oven. Or sie-mie-less for similes. (I'm likin' this poem thing I found.) Or we don't say skoh-ler for scholar or vie-cer for vicar or cie-ger for cigar. Or ay-nee-moh-nee for anemone. We even have lie-ken for lichen. Nor shay-lay for chalet. I think that's enough to make my point.
So the rule demanding poe-tible is silly to me. It doesn't even make sense. What's a pote that something can be put into it to make it pote-able (potable)? Something that can be put into a pot as to imply drinkability makes sense to me.


----------



## velisarius

English spelling isn't supposed to make sense. It was invented for the sole purpose of confusing foreigners. I must say that whoever planned it has been remarkably successful. Well done him...or her (or zee).


----------



## JulianStuart

z10user3 said:


> Thanks for comments folks for this new arrival.
> There are inconsistencies with "the rules" pertaining to a vowel followed by a consonant followed by another vowel to be pronounced long. We don't say oh-ven for oven. Or sie-mie-less for similes. (I'm likin' this poem thing I found.) Or we don't say skoh-ler for scholar or vie-cer for vicar or cie-ger for cigar. Or ay-nee-moh-nee for anemone. We even have lie-ken for lichen. Nor shay-lay for chalet. I think that's enough to make my point.
> So the rule demanding poe-tible is silly to me. It doesn't even make sense. What's a pote that something can be put into it to make it pote-able (potable)? Something that can be put into a pot as to imply drinkability makes sense to me.


Oh dear - inconsistencies between spelling and pronunciation - in English   Spelling has been an afterthought for many people for a long time.  Feel free to think of English spelling and pronunciation as "silly" - but it won't help or change anything


----------



## sdgraham

Welcome to the forum, S10, and this old thread.
The English language is full of words that don't follow normal pronunciation rules or even have an obvious etymology. Trying to analyze them leads only to frustration.
"Potable" is an extremely familiar word to those of us who have recreational camping vehicles in the U.S.
(And, it would help us immensely if you would provide the variety of English you claim as native.)


----------



## GreenWhiteBlue

z10user3 said:


> What's a pote that something can be put into it to make it pote-able (potable)? Something that can be put into a pot as to imply drinkability makes sense to me.


Except that the origin of the word has nothing whatsoever to do with the "pot" that you use for cooking; it instead derives from the Latin word _potare_, which means "to drink."  Another word that derives ultimately from _potare_ is "potion" -- and I am fairly certain that you don't think that word should be considered to mean something cooked in a pot, and that it therefore should be pronounced "pot-yun".


----------



## JulianStuart

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> Except that the origin of the word has nothing whatsoever to do with the "pot" that you use for cooking; it instead derives from the Latin word _potare_, which means "to drink."  Another word that derives ultimately from _potare_ is "potion" -- and I am fairly certain that you don't think that word should be considered to mean something cooked in a pot, and that it therefore should be pronounced "pot-yun".


No - it would be posh-un


----------



## z10user3

GreenWhiteBlue: Ah but you COULD make a potion in a pot and drink it. Thus making your potion pot-ible. I get the drink link..I get the Latin word-origin link. I just disagree with the high horse mounted evangelists demanding poe-tible over pot-ible. Maybe I could live with it if it was indeed potible. But with the -able on there...it just doesn't make sense. Or maybe even potarable (poe-ter-ible).

Where I was going with capable was using similar source origin. Cap from Latin would likely have been pronounced with the short a. So why isn't that cap-ible? That's why I brought that up.


----------



## JulianStuart

z10user3 said:


> GreenWhiteBlue: Ah but you COULD make a potion in a pot and drink it. Thus making your potion pot-ible. I get the drink link..I get the Latin word-origin link. I just disagree with the high horse mounted evangelists demanding poe-tible over pot-ible. Maybe I could live with it if it was indeed potible. But with the -able on there...it just doesn't make sense. Or maybe even potarable (poe-ter-ible).
> 
> Where I was going with capable was using similar source origin. Cap from Latin would likely have been pronounced with the short a. So why isn't that cap-ible? That's why I brought that up.


If you really feel you can't live with the current state of Engish pronunciation (this being that there are millions of high and low horse mounted non-evangelists, just plain users with that pronunciation), you could perhaps take a position of last resort and blame the French who have the same word from the same Latin root and their o is also long and explain it by its being a (presumably what you could call a misguided) "borrowing".  I tend to agree with the others that notable is a more common word and people know already how to pronounce that, so when they see "potable" they use the same long o, so it actualy follows the "rule" (just not yours )


----------



## z10user3

JulianStuart: I would look at notable as being derived from note. No problem. But there ain't no pote.
Of course I know I won't be changing any worlds here. I'm just griping. Like I made-up...potarable would work for me seeing as how the Latin root is potare. My gripe includes the inconsistencies about the rules too. 
I say leave well enough alone. If you want to say pot-ible then have at it. If you want to say poe-tible then feel free. It's really the same word.


----------



## Myridon

z10user3 said:


> JulianStuart: I would look at notable as being derived from note. No problem. But there ain't no pote.
> potarable would work for me seeing as how the Latin root is potare.


Notable is from the Latin word_ *notab*ilis_ (noteworthy) from the verb _notare_.
Potable is from the Latin word _*potab*ilis_ (drinkable) from the verb _potare_.
The idea that both "note" and "pote" have to be words just because "notable" and "potable" are words is silly.


----------



## natkretep

I don't know what the problem is. I think we can disregard the Latin, and just look at the English spelling. The single consonant letter <t> rather than the doubled <tt> encourages us to use the long vowel before it. I would say /ˈpəʊtəbl̩/ (poe-tuh-bl) is the expected pronunciation of _potable_. Compare this with _potent. _


----------



## z10user3

natkretep: I gave a list of many exceptions to the "rules".
Myridon: Excellent! This is why I'm fascinated with etymology. That's even better than potare.
I still think poe-tible sounds (and potable looks) odd with the -able suffix.


----------



## natkretep

You gave 'exceptions' (but a number of them can be explained, but I shan't take us through them), but why should you insist that _potable_ should belong to the 'exception' group? If I saw the word for the first time, I'd give it the long vowel.

I'm happy enough with exceptions and variation. I know North Americans probably say _yogurt_ with a long vowel, whereas I say it with a short vowel. I think North Americans often say _process_ with a short vowel, whereas I say it with a long vowel.


----------



## z10user3

natkretep: I'm not insisting anything. Who am I to insist anybody does anything anyway? I'm just griping about what seems to be maybe a bit of a spate of high and mighty corrections people are demanding on the spoken word. To the point that I found my way here to wonder.
I saw the word for the first time and saw, what appeared to me in concert with the context, the two parts in its context. Drinkable water. A pot holds drinkable water. Add the -able and the water is "able" to be put in a pot for safe consumption. You wouldn't want to put drinkable water in a gas can for example. Maybe pot was a synonym for jug or container whatever. That's where I went with it. It made sense to me. Still does. I hear poe-tible and think...what the heck is (a) pote? But I'm roundly and understandably corrected with great evidence.
I'll continue being the unedumacated bumpkin and say it as it seems to mean and if I get wierd looks then so be it.


----------

