I was mucking about in a casual game (as the two lovely gentlemen on our roof made it impossible to concentrate on anything) and it got me thinking about the modern pronunciation of 'thermometer'.
It's a meter to measure heat, so at what point did 'thermo - meter' become the single word 'thermometer'?
Dude I've been wondering the same thing, and even gotten into heated debates about it! I doubt there's any good resources on the issue, but I suppose it's just one of those subtle linguistic efficiencies that happen over time as people begin to truncate sounds and syllables until it starts to sound normal.
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