To make sense of this post, you need to first read the previous one, which asks you to identify the mispronounced word in a one-minute
video clip.
Next, my customary declaration for posts on “mispronounced
words”: The objective is not to
denigrate or ridicule someone. Instead, I feature such posts in the belief that
if a highly educated or sophisticated person is mispronouncing or misusing a
particular word, there is a high probability that at least a few of my blog
readers are making the same error. In other words, these posts are meant to
serve as “pronunciation/ usage alerts!” And the reason why I name the radio or
TV program and identify the speaker is solely to make this feature credible.
Answer: The mispronounced word is paean (at the approx. 48-second mark, when you hear Jeffery Brown say
“it’s read as a kind of paean to individualism,” mispronouncing paean, which
means a song or expression of joy, triumph, or praise, as pay-ahn). The correct pronunciation: pee-un.
The most disturbing
aspect of this faux pas: For as long as I can remember, Jeffrey Brown has been the
go-to guy on PBS “NewsHour” for interviewing authors of every level of
eminence. So, he must have used this word in several of his previous
conversations, each time mispronouncing it as pay-ahn!
Hence the following lament: Just as famous New York Times columnist David Brooks is likely to mispronounce imbroglio for years to come (see last
paragraph of this September 2013 post), Jeffrey Brown is destined to continue
botching the pronunciation of paean because
no co-worker, friend,or acquaintance is going to correct him. Such is society.
© Copyright
2015 V.J. Singal
EmailThis!
No comments:
Post a Comment