It has been brought to my attention that sometimes I use some Big Ass Words (a.k.a. $100 Words) in my blog posts. I honestly don't do this to be self-important, I do it because I'm a self-professed logophile (i.e. a word lover, from the Greek work "logos" meaning 'speech' and the suffix "-phile" meaning 'friend, lover'). When I was in law school, Webster and Black were my best buddies and we rolled (literally, in my rolling backpack because the text books were so effing heavy) everywhere together. Anytime I came across a word I didn't know (which was often) I'd stop and break out one or the other so that I had a full understanding of what I was reading (and to ensure I didn't make an ass of myself in class discussion). Soon this just became a habit with anything I read (One book that comes to mind for which this was a absolute must was Elliot Pearlman's "Seven Types of Ambiguity"..... I learned a lot of new words reading that gem).
So as a courtesy, I've provided a permanent link to Dictionary.com on the site (off to the right) so that when I get into my highfalutin' lawyer mode, you can quickly and easily access the meaning to any words I may get carried away with. There's even an audio pronunciation feature in case you actually ever want to use the word in conversation, and so THIS doesn't happen to you. It's all about educating yourself, loved ones, so don't be afraid to use it.
(This has been a public service announcement brought to you by your friendly logophile. Have a nice day.)
This post is so funny. You know the clothing designer Geoffrey Beene (me might be dead by now)? I used to pronounce his first name literally, using a long e and sounding out the o, instead of pronouncing it like Jeffrey, as it should be.
ReplyDeleteThe word grosgrain, as in grosgrain ribbon? I pronounced the s until my mother corrected me. I was thankful it was a word I rarely used, and that it was my mother who caught it.
I just don't know what to do when other people mispronounce names. Do you correct them or not? It's like the mascara under the eye dilemma. Shouldn't you tell the woman discreetly, so she doesn't have to wait until she finally goes into the bathroom and looks in the mirror? And then she's furious with everyone who's seen her for not telling her. But no one wants to be "the one."
My (real) name gets mispronounced ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I would correct people, but most of the time I wouldn't, but even when I corrected them half the time they would mispronounce it again anyway. However, one day my own mother pronounced it the "wrong" way, so I just quit correcting people unless they ask. *shrug*
ReplyDeleteI'm still very conscious about pronouncing people's names right because mine gets mispronounced so often. It's kind of a respect thing, ya know?