TH, costumes, dogs

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Geoff wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/26897 :

<< An unvoiced "th" is in words such as thin, think, thick >>

Do 'think'and 'thick' have the same 'th'? It doesn't sound the same to
me as I experiment -- fin, fick, but sink not fink.

<< whereas a voiced "th" is in words like the, then, thine. >>

De and den in Brooklynese, but I can't imagine saying 'dine' in 'For
Dine is de kingdom and de power and de glory"... I sadly feel that the
'Continental' mispronunciation, despite all its bad connotations, is
closer to the real pronuniction, ze, zen, zine.... 

<< It's similar to things such as "v" being a voiced "f". >>

Lee told me that the minimum distinctive difference is found in
"either" versus "ether" (eeever versus eeefer). So I gather that
whether a particular 'th' sounds more like an F/V or an S/Z or a D has
nothing to do with whether it is voiced or unvoiced?

Tonks_op wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/26910 :

<< One small town near here deck out the whole town to look like
Hogwarts and there are witches and wizards swooping around everwhere.
We dress up and drive over there just for the fun. All the stores are
converted into one of the stores in Diagon Alley. the bank isn't open,
but it looks like Gringotts. >>

What Fun! Does the whole town profit from it, or do they just do it
for fun?

Storm wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/27011 :

<< Maybe the Great Dane has had substantial changes to the standard in
the last 500 years. >>

IIRC, last year when I was reading about breeds of dogs to figure out
what Padfoot is, I read that the Great Dane was a kind of Mastiff
until a bit over 100 years ago they decided to make it slimmer IIRC by
crossing it with Dobermans. I don't recall anything about what they
were supposed to hunt: I thought Mastiffs were primarily watchdogs and
fighting dogs.

Storm wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/27016 :

<< envious of Geoff and his border collie but knows she is unable to
entertain a bc >>

My friend's late dog was a Sheltie/spaniel cross who was the perfect
dog. As smart as a Border Collie and with herding ability, but much
easier to entertain -- he wanted humans to throw tennis balls for him
to fetch and return, but when he ran out of willing humans, he would
go to sleep on a sofa cushion. When I and my then two cats lived there
for a month, Fuzzy herded my cats, after which all three would go to
sleep on 'my' bed together.