From CollegeHumor. HT: David Ould

On that note, I came across an interesting quotation this morning–apparently we mispronounce old poetry!

A.C. Baugh points out (A History of the English Language) that Shakespeare used both the -eth and -s forms for third-person verbs, as in this passage from A Merchant of Venice (c. 1597):

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as a gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:…

Baugh quotes Richard Hodges’s A Special Help to Orthographie (1643) in which the writer notes the disconnect between how verbs are written and how they are pronounced in ordinary speech:

Howsoever wee use to Write thus, leadeth it, maketh it, noteth it, raketh it, per-fumeth it, etc. Yet in our ordinary speech (which is best to bee understood) wee say, leads it, makes it, notes it, rakes it, per-fumes it.

In a thoughtful and interesting article, Melanie Phillips at the Spectator points out that last month in public debate Dawkins observed that “a serious case could be made for a deistic God.” It’s not clear what that means for Dawkins’ debate so far. Admitting past error is likely to be one of the hardest things for a charismatic debater like Dawkins to do. But it will be interesting to see how Dawkins puts together his argument again, this time without simply discounting ‘the God delusion.’

This admission is no doubt in part to Dawkins’ involvement in lively debate with fellow scientists, for example this debate with John Lennox.