Pronunciation Peeves
by Zia ~ February 8th, 2006. Filed under: Ephemera.Unsurprisingly, I have lots of pronunciation peeves, and nothing is more guaranteed to make me cringe than these:
Applicable. The emphasis does NOT fall on “plic”; rather it’s on the first syllable. To pronouce it otherwise reminds me of an icepick. Which is bad, and possibly even fatal.
Realtor. Relator?
Patina. Again, the emphasis is not on the second syllable, but the first. Patina does not rhyme with the name Katina, which in any case sounds like a Vegas stripper. Or, more recently, Katrina, which should be avoided at all costs.
Potable. If it were pronounced with a short “o,” there would be another “t” and then you could plant it. End of story.
Mischievous. Where does the extra “i” and related syllable come from? Miss-CHEE-vee-us? It’s MISS-che-vuss.
On a semi-related note (well, peeves, not pronunciation), there seems to be a tendency to take foreign words and double them up with their English counterparts. Duvet cover. Futon mattress (or pad). Chai tea.
Hmmph.
February 10th, 2006 at 12:02 am
Hey zia,
I’m very excited to have another wordsmith in our new neighborhood (Skyway, although I’ve heard at least one other new buyer stretching it by calling their ‘hood Rainier Beach…) Maybe we can have some future blog meet-ups for us South-easterners!
I know what you mean about pronunciations… My husband studied for a semester in South Africa & now says things like conn-trah’-ver-see instead of con’-troh-vir-sees, arghhh. It drives me nuts, like driving on the wrong side of the road, or rather, the mouth.
February 10th, 2006 at 12:10 am
Hey ms proust! New neighborhood? Welcome to South Seattle! I think it would be GREAT to have some blog meetups for us southerners. Thanks for suggesting it. Heaven knows I need to get out of the house more. When and where? I’m up for it.
February 10th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
Well first we have to move *in* to our new house, but after that–let’s do it! Have you been to the Met Coffee & Wine Bar in Renton? Kind of curious, but don’t have high hopes… I enjoyed going to the Columbia City Bakery on a Sunday afternoon & *love* their baguettes. Had Stella’s pizza recently & wouldn’t mind eating a slice in (but wish we were closer to Zagi’s in Ballard, my new favorite.) Heard the servers can have some real attitude though. And there’s always the Red House (I’ve never been)!
BUT, I was thinking that it might be fun to have a blogger’s bowling outing at the Skyway Bowl? That little strip is a trip! Have you ever eaten at the Basket Case Inn? My new little corner seems to be right out of “Back to the Future”. My husband’s super-psyched that there’s an Ezell’s right around the corner from our new digs. Now *that* might drive our real estate value up with the right crowd…
February 13th, 2006 at 10:26 am
There’s also the best nursury in your area, Mintner’s (I think that’s what it’s called). The owners are our neighbors. It’s been around for something like 70 years and their greenhouses are SOOO cool. In fact, we headed over there yesterday, and I bought some more houseplants to kill. Among other things, they usually have a good collection of scented geraniums.
But that’s zooming off into another topic, isn’t it? I’ve never gone to any restaurants in Skyway, but it certainly seems there’s a lot to explore. Do you know of any other South Seattle bloggers? Bowling alley, restaurant … I think it would all be fun!