Have you seen the funny desk sign – “I’m silently correcting your grammar”? I love it! I would also like “I’m silently correcting your pronunciation.”
Word has it that English is crazy difficult to learn if it’s not your first language. It reflects our characterization as a melting pot, with a splash of Old Norse, pinches of Latin, a heavy peppering of Germanic variations, a soupcon of French.
So there’s obviously no consistency with pronunciation, which is a real problem. Just consider “tough,” thorough,” “though,” and “through,” and laugh. Then throw in “lough” (pronounced “lok” (Scottish/Irish)), and weep. Check out itsbobbyfinn on Instagram for an entertaining English lesson. He plays both the nerdy scold and his befuddled, frustrated alter ego who can’t pronounce words correctly because they don’t follow a predictable pattern (ear … so, fear … but, bear … but, hear … but, heard … you get the idea).
There can be some stumbling blocks even for those who think they can pronounce everything correctly: synecdoche (si-nek-duh-kee (Greek)), which is a figure of speech where a part of something is used to refer to its whole, e.g., a hired hand is a worker, floccinaucinihilipilification (flok-se-now-suh-ni-hi-li-pil-i-fi-kay-shun (Latin)), which means the act of estimating something as unimportant, and chiaroscuro (kee-ar-o-skoo-ro (Italian)), meaning the treatment of light and shadow in drawing or painting, just to name a few.
And let’s not forget about another English oddity – the silent medial “t.” “Often” is probably the most obvious example and the most oft-repeated. Often has been around since the early 1300s and used as a variant of oft, so the “t” was pronounced early on but then fell away. It’s been making a resurgence, however, so we’re not allowed to considered someone illiterate if they pronounce the “t.” When I hear the “t,” I admit to silently correcting it.
On the other hand, there’s the issue of the silent medial “b.” Consider “subtle.” Under no circumstances should the “b” be pronounced. My colleague heard the “b” included when she was at a restaurant recently and lost her appetite. It was an ignominious (on a top 31 list of mispronounced words) offense.1
Hope you’re having a great March weekend, being carefree in your floccinaucinihilipilifications, and taking in some of the rural (another top 202) charms of your area.
