Month: August 2008

“Pronunciate”

Verbs

I occasionally hear this.

Problem:
“Pronunciate” is a slang verb that makes the speaker sound dumb.

Explanation:
“Pronunciate” is a back-formation of the noun “pronunciation”.

Maybe some people who use “pronunciate” know that the noun “obligation” and the verb “obligate” go together and therefore believe that “pronunciation” and “pronunciate” go together.

I have heard “pronunciate” or one of its ‘conjugations’ in sentences such as these:

  • “She did not pronunciate well.”
  • “I was repeatedly pronunciating it to the telphone operator.”
  • “He pronunciated the words with a Californian accent.”

At least in my experience, it seems as if some of those who say “pronunciate” are trying to sound more intelligent than those who are listening to them. After all, “pronunciate” is longer than “pronounce”, so the former must be a “fancier” word than the latter (or at least that’s their reasoning).

Whatever the reason, “pronunciate” makes the speaker sound dumb.

For fun, I searched Google for each of the following words (with the quotation marks, to avoid variations) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

  • “pronounce” — 11,700,000 matches
  • “pronunciate” — 817,000 matches

This tells me that Web authors have written the correct word vs. the incorrect word by a ratio of 14.3-to-1, which is not good, especially given nearly a million matches for the incorrect word.

Solution:
“Pronounce”

Six thousand dollars to correct eleven misspellings

Misspellings

I once supervised a software developer who told me that he was not an English major — and therefore had no liability to correct misspellings — when I pointed out a misspelling in an application that he was developing.

His comment astounded me because spelling is a BASIC skill to me.

He almost responded as if I were asking him to write a book about the history of the English language.

No matter what your walk of life, the ability to spell correctly does matter, and I plan to write some blog posts about the importance of spelling words correctly, as well as what can happen because of misspellings.

Here is my first example.

The city of Livermore, California, paid Miami (Florida) artist Maria Alquilar forty thousand dollars to create a sixteen-foot circular mosaic.

Alquilar designed the mosaic for the Livermore public library.

Unfortunately, the mosaic made the city famous in a bad way because the artist originally embedded eleven misspellings in the mosaic’s tiles, including these misspellings of famous people:

  • “Eistein”, spelled E-I-S-T-E-I-N, instead of “Einstein”, spelled E-I-N-S-T-E-I-N, for Albert Einstein;
  • “Gaugan”, spelled G-A-U-G-A-N, instead of “Gauguin”, spelled G-A-U-G-U-I-N, for Paul Gauguin;
  • “Shakespere”, spelled S-H-A-K-E-S-P-E-R-E, instead of “Shakespeare”, spelled S-H-A-K-E-S-P-E-A-R-E, for William Shakespeare.

Apparently, the artist’s original response was that she was not responsible for correcting the misspellings because she was using artistic license.

Livermore eventually spent another six thousand dollars, plus airfare, some three years ago this month — in August, 2005 — to have the artist travel back to Livermore and correct her misspellings.

If the airfare was $600, then Livermore paid SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS PER MISSPELLING for the corrections.

What is the most expensive misspelling about which you have ever read? If you have one that you want me to share with other readers, please contact me. Be sure to include a link to the Web page where the misspelling is described.

“Scull” vs. “Skull”

Misspellings, Nouns, Verbs, Versus

I saw the first word repeatedly while watching telecasts of the 2008 Olympics.

Problem:
Because these two words are homophones, context is required to distinguish them in speech.

Explanation:
A “scull” — spelled S-C-U-L-L — as a noun is an oar, often with a cupped blade, and often mounted on a fulcrum at a small boat’s stern.

It is this S-C word that repeatedly was spoken and displayed in the TV coverage of the 2008 Olympics.

A “skull” — spelled S-K-U-L-L — as a noun is the bones that make up the head of an animal.

Each of these words can also be used as a verb.

The word “scull” — spelled with a “c” — as a verb means to propel by means of one or more sculls.

The word “skull” — spelled with a “k” — as a verb means to strike a blow to the head.

Although some lexicographers believe that both words come from the French word “escuelle”, which means dish, many others believe that “scull” — with a “c” — comes from the Middle English word “sculle” and that “skull” — with a “k” — comes from the Old Norse word “skalli”, which means bald head and also is spelled with a “k”.

Solution:
Think “rowing oar” when you see “scull” with a “c” or when the spoken context implies a reference to rowing. Think “head” when you see “skull” with a “k” or when the spoken context implies a reference to the head.