[TheForge] Coak

[Bruce .]

I find myself  cringing every time I compose a message in which I need to
name that well-known product of partial combustion of coal that shares a
name with a soft drink from Atlanta and, in particular, with a street
drug.  I really don't want my every email to be subject to scrutiny by the
authorities.  (A mild paranoia is the sign of a healthy mind.)

Spellings are standardized these days, but that wasn't always true.  Hence,
exerting a small bit of poetic (?) license, I tried an alternative spelling
(see subject line).  Of course, I wouldn't insist that anyone ELSE use this
spelling, I'm mainly interested whether you'd recognise the meaning.  Think
"Cook Coal to make Coak".

Now if that novel spelling doesn't please you, one could use the old
spelling, "colk", which the "Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology"
(Doesn't EVERYBODY have a copy of that?) lists our current spelling as
first recorded in the 17th century, and probably alternative spelling of
the word (as opposed to a distinct word) which was first recorded in the
14th century.

Your thoughts?

Bruce
NJ