The post was clearly written sometime in the 14th century when the UU digraph had become widespread but the U-V distinction had not. No wonder it is so yellowed, I’d say it’s actually in great condition for its age
There was no distinction between V and U when W first started being used. They were considered the same letter, with V just being the style for writing it at the start of words (like that long S that looks like an f). So you would write “have” as haue and “upon” as vpon.
When it was representing a consonant in classical Latin, it sounded like a modern English W. So the famous veni vidi vici - I came, I saw, I conquered - was pronounced more like wenee weedee weekee.
Eventually the V sound started to emerge in some places where Latin and its descendants had used that W sound before, and people started treating the two forms as different letters. By this point the W was already in widespread use, though, so whatever people already called it had a good chance of sticking
In French (and no doubt countless other languages) it is ‘double v’. So to answer your question: The English language is flawed and for most people, it’s too jarring to correct it
It’s a double v though
The post was clearly written sometime in the 14th century when the UU digraph had become widespread but the U-V distinction had not. No wonder it is so yellowed, I’d say it’s actually in great condition for its age
It might have been dabbed with a used teabag to give the impression that’s it’s older than it is
Why do people say double “U” when they mean a double “V”?
I speak cursive.
There was no distinction between V and U when W first started being used. They were considered the same letter, with V just being the style for writing it at the start of words (like that long S that looks like an f). So you would write “have” as haue and “upon” as vpon.
When it was representing a consonant in classical Latin, it sounded like a modern English W. So the famous veni vidi vici - I came, I saw, I conquered - was pronounced more like wenee weedee weekee.
Eventually the V sound started to emerge in some places where Latin and its descendants had used that W sound before, and people started treating the two forms as different letters. By this point the W was already in widespread use, though, so whatever people already called it had a good chance of sticking
The implications for Latin had escaped me until you pointed them out.
That’s amazing, and I demand the public be aware of wenee weedee weekee.
In Finnish and probably bunch of other languages it’s “double v”
In French (and no doubt countless other languages) it is ‘double v’. So to answer your question: The English language is flawed and for most people, it’s too jarring to correct it
W is not double anything in German.
French, not German