For word nerds and grammar geeks, a witty guide to the most commonly mispronounced words, along with their correct pronunciations and pithy forays into their fascinating etymologies and histories of use and misuse.
With wit and good humor, this handy little book not only saves us from sticky linguistic situations but also provides fascinating cocktail-party-ready anecdotes. Entries reveal how to pronounce boatswain like an old salt on the deck of a ship, trompe l'oeil like a bona fide art expert, and haricot vert like a foodie, while arming us with the knowledge of why certain words are correctly pronounced the "slangy" way (they came about before dictionaries), what stalks of grain have to do with pronunciation, and more. With bonus sidebars like "How to Sound like a Seasoned Traveler" and "How to Sound Cultured," readers will be able to speak about foreign foods and places, fashion, philosophy, and literature with authority.
Subtitle: A pronunciation guide to the 150 most commonly mispronounced words and their tangled histories of misuse.
It's pretty straightforward: a word per page, with the correct usage, how it's mispronounced and this historical reasons for both the correct and incorrect usage, sometimes more speculative, sometimes more factual.
I was off to a rip-roaring start with the first word: acai, which I've always pronounced (although always suspected in error) ah-KAI, when it is actually supposed to be ah-sigh-EE. But I'm happy to say that I've been pronouncing most of the 150 correctly (although not always; I remember a few of these mispronunciations from my childhood). There are a couple of words here that MT and I have debated over the years (as he's an Aussie, I'm a Yank) and it turns out that at least one of them he has been right about all this time. Shhh... don't tell him.
The authors take care to mention in the introduction that as this is a pronunciation guide, (and they are Americans) they are focusing on the American pronunciations, although they do use the OED as a main source and occasionally point out where the UK differs.
The biggest surprise to me was "spitting image" (they throw in a few common phrases). If you have ever used this phrase (or spittin' image if you're from the South), like I have, you've been saying it wrong. The original, and correct phrase is spit and image. Nobody knows why but it is clearly the historical usage winner. I'm also rather appalled that I've been mispronouncing Van Gogh's name all these years and my BFF lives in the Netherlands and has not corrected me! (It's van GOKH or van KOKH, roughly).
Written in a laid back style that doesn't take itself seriously, but is still very well researched, with a notes section in the back, this is a handy little reference for those times when you're just not sure you're saying it right, or if you're in the midst of a lively debate with, say, your husband from another country. Just make sure you look it up before he does.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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12 January, 2017:
Finished reading
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12 January, 2017:
Reviewed