Hugh: Chloe, I have encountered another… fascinating peculiarity of the English language. Have you heard about silent letters? Chloe: Never heard of them. Must be a very subtle thing. Tell me more. Hugh: Take this garden creature, for example, the gnome. It starts with the letter ‘G’, but it makes no sound! Why is it there? Does it serve some secret purpose? Chloe: A ghost sound! That is… poetic, in a way. That reminds me of a poetic book I currently read: it’s a story about a brave… knight. Hugh: What, how can the dark night be brave? Isn’t it just the time for ghosts? Chloe: No, Hugh - the knight spelled with a ‘k’, like in knickers, knowledge, or knot. Hugh: Or not? Chloe: No, the knot spelled with a ‘k’, like in knife, knit, or to knock. Hugh: Listening to you feels a bit like a trap for the ears! Speaking of a trap, have you heard that the heir of Rieneck castle is in trouble? Chloe: What, is the air in Rieneck polluted? Should I get a mask? Hugh: No, Chloe, the heir spelled with an ‘h’. The heir is in debt. Anyway, I have been waiting here for you for one… whole… hour. Chloe: An hour? As in, our time together? Hugh: No, the hour spelled with an ‘h’, honestly! I’ve had enough of this. So many misunderstandings because of silent letters. Let’s pronounce them! Chloe: Ok, Hugh - HUG-H let’s HON-OUR the silent letters. Hugh: Good, Chloe - CH-LO-E, let’s make dinner! I’ll make a LASAG-NE, you make your delicious SAL-MON SAND-WICH. Chloe: Oh, I THOUG-H-T we COUL-D prepare a BUFFET. We have HAL-F of the S-WORDFISH leftovers and the YOG-HURT. I’ll bring some spoons and KNIVES. Hugh: And after dinner, I’ll read to you that story about garden GNOMES, who were haunted by G-HOSTS that were then slain by the dark K-NIG-H-T late at NIG-H-T. Chloe: That sounds great! And we had no more misunderstandings. Pronouncing the silent letters is barely an inconvenience. Hugh: Yeah, I agree, the changes are very SUB-TL-E.