In 1879 Mister Gilbert and Mister Sullivan created this dialog,

General. Stop! I think I see where we are getting confused. When you said “orphan”, did you mean “orphan” – a person who has lost his parents, or “often”, frequently?

King. Ah! I beg pardon – I see what you mean – frequently.

General. Ah! you said “often”, frequently.

King. No, only once.

General. (irritated) Exactly – you said “often”, frequently, only once.

Today I hear of-Ten frequently.
As one who has been ridiculed (only once) for pronouncing the k sound in Tucson, the s in Illinois and the equally silent T in often, I wonder when WaL-king and K-nowing will become acceptable.

This dictionary tells me:
“Often was pronounced with a t-sound until the 17th century, when a pronunciation without thelled Pronunciation T sound came to predominate in the speech of the educated, in both North America and Great Britain, and the earlier pronunciation fell into disfavor.  Today, although it is still sometimes criticized, often with a /t/[t] is now so widely heard from educated speakers that it has become fully standard once again.”

With text speak like SKO and LOL dropping letters all over the place on our cell P-hones , it’s hard for me to believe that we have decided as a society to bring back a letter that has been so properly quiet  for over three centuries.  Besides destroying the brilliant interchange of the Major General and Pirate King, it sets a very dangerous precedent that could very well have future generations puzzling over “W hoo’s on first”.

I oncet axed a guy from Hahvahd about it and he told me if I didn’t like it I should move to Cuber.

This is just no fun…or I should I say not fun…is nothing oftfensize in this language anymore?