I was reading the Wikipedia article on Earth today (please don't ask me why), and something about the word Earth interested me. As I was reading the etymology of the word Earth, I began to feel as though the name Earth came from a high fantasy setting. The word and the spelling suddenly became foreign to me.
I have some hypotheses to why this may be so.
Issue Of Simplicity
This hypothesis (that I came up with, so please don’t quote this as scientific) rests on the fact that words like Earth are simple enough that we use and spell them automatically without a second thought. When we do notice them, we have to consciously piece those words back together. Other examples (please read carefully and mindfully) include jump, trinket, citrus, gone.
Pronunciation Mismatch
To an non-native English speaker, Earth would intuitively pronounced ear-th. Alternatively, it perhaps should rhyme with hearth (or hearth should rhyme with Earth?). But it is not pronounced in either manner. Maybe the conflict of how it is spelled and how it should pronounce causes the word Earth to, at times, look funny when read.
Pictorial Associations
When I was reading Earth’s etymology, there were no pictures of Earth I could associate with the word. Often, pictures are better descriptors and serve better for memory recall than just plain text. Perhaps, while I was reading the entry, the word Earth seemed foreign because there was no picture to normalize the word for me.
It Actually Isn’t An Issue
Lastly, maybe I am the only one experiencing this. No one I talked to has ever told me they had this experience. Still, I cannot shake off this occasional feeling of words that should be obvious when read but feel weird.
Thanks to everyone for reading my first post! And extra thanks to everyone who liked and resteemed it. As a reward, here is a picture of our blue marble, just to bring you back to Earth.
Image Source: Earth As Seen From Apollo 17