April 12, 2017
by gpointon
0 comments
I had started to think that someone in the BBC hierarchy had issued an edict that the Syrian president’s name should be pronounced by all journalists in accordance with the Pronunciation Unit’s recommendation, with stress on the first syllable of … Continue reading
February 2, 2017
by gpointon
6 Comments
Whenever I hear a word that is new to me, or is used in a new way, I now take the precaution of looking in the OED before claiming in these posts that it is either a mistake or a … Continue reading
September 12, 2016
by gpointon
8 Comments
I don’t usually watch the BBC’s science programme “The Sky at Night”, but last night I accidentally caught the beginning, and was hooked for the full half hour. What struck me, apart from the science, was the number of ways … Continue reading
May 11, 2016
by gpointon
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Until the end of the 19th Century, when, in Britain at least, we began to have universal education, most people, however intelligent they were, didn’t have access to as much knowledge as we have today. The ‘educated’ classes tended still … Continue reading
March 24, 2016
by gpointon
0 comments
The wheels of international justice grind exceeding slow, and eight years after his arrest, Radovan Karadzić is eventually being sentenced today. I commented in 2008 (here) on the confusion between at least two pronunciations of his family name, and it … Continue reading
March 3, 2016
by gpointon
2 Comments
A Franco-British summit is being held in Amiens today. The name is pronounced in French /amjɛ̃/, which is often misinterpreted in English as /ˈæmiɑ̃ː/. The BBC’s recommendation is the closer /æmˈjæ̃/. Chris Aldridge, Radio 4’s Chief Announcer, had obviously not … Continue reading
January 3, 2016
by gpointon
6 Comments
My friend and co-author Stewart Clark has drawn my attention to this BBC blog, which discusses the ‘correct’ pronunciation of the dinosaur’s name. Apparently the Natural History Museum, which is moving its model, stresses the third syllable: /ËŒdɪpləʊˈdÉ’kÉ™s/ on the … Continue reading
April 19, 2015
by gpointon
1 Comment
It gets worse! Walt Disney couldn’t even spell his nom-de-plume. This is a still from the beginning of the cartoon version of the book.
December 18, 2014
by gpointon
4 Comments
When did the name Aaron start to be pronounced /ˈarÉ™n/? John Wells has included it as a pronunciation for the modern personal name since the first edition of the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (1990), and the 15th edition of the English … Continue reading
October 24, 2014
by gpointon
5 Comments
Martin Ball writes: “Did anyone hear Jonathan (I think rather than David) Dimbleby pronounce ebola as /ˈɛbÉ™lÉ™/ on Radio 4 the other day? Is this pronunciation somehow nearer to that of West African languages?” I didn’t hear Jonathan Dimbleby say … Continue reading