The Word Cop is Listening - How’s your pronunciation?
Professionals have to be able to communicate, both in writing and in speech. How we communicate gives an instant impression of our professional persona - good or bad - to colleagues, clients, and potential clients. So how do you want to appear to these critical audiences?
I have quoted Professor Higgins, of My Fair Lady fame, before. The basis of the entire plot of the play supports my premise here. The professor makes a bet with a buddy that he can take a flower girl, with an abysmal accent and lousy English usage, and pass her off as a duchess at an Embassy ball simply by teaching her to speak properly. In one of the great songs in the musical (lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, one of my heroes - what a writer!), he laments the fact that Englishmen and women are instantly classified by their speech. “This verbal class distinction, by now should be antique.” I agree.
So let me take a few moments here to plead with my fellow English speakers, especially Americans, to take greater care with their speech. Make a better, more positive impression in your professional life - our 21st century equivalent of that Embassy ball.
Let me help by offering a few of my pronunciation pet peeves.
- Etcetera - Okay, be honest. How many of you out there pronounce this as “ek - cetera”? That second letter is a “t”, not a “k”, and the word is pronounced accordingly. The most egregious offenders here tend to be the people who use the word the most.
- “Moot” versus “Mute” - These words are different, with different meanings and different pronunciations. The first is pronounced just the way it is spelled, with an “oo” sound, like the sound of a cow. “Mute” is pronounced “myoot”. I can’t count the number of times I have heard the words confused. “That’s a mute point.” Huh? That’s a point you can’t hear because it is muted? Bad pronunciation clouds meaning.
- Nuclear - President Bush has made this one infamous. His is the classic, very annoying and way too common mispronunciation: “Nuculer”. What is so difficult about this word? It is “nu-cle-ar”.
- Realtor - This one is similar to “nuclear”. The common mispronunciation is “re-la-tor”. Wrong! It is “real-tor”. If actual Realtors had to pronounce the word correctly in order to be licensed, more than half would be out of work. They are the worst offenders.
Enough for now! I am sure I will have more to share in future. Please share your pronunciation pet peeves!