A quote from me was in Merriam-Webster's "Word of the Day" podcast on Sunday, about the word "gravamen," which, it turns out I have been mispronouncing my whole life. On the other hand, Merriam-Webster mispronounces *my* name, so maybe we're even.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/gravamen-2023-04-23
"GRAHH-vah-men" sounds much more substantial, imho
@calebcrain I pronounced it that way too! This is one of the biggest surprises since my grad school writing teacher insisted that “sloth” had a long o and the dictionary _backed him up_.
@pauline The OED says "slowth," which I guess makes the etymology clear, anyway. How awful. But fortunately MW says the long o is only an alternate pronunciation, so maybe it's a British thing?
@calebcrain The etymology does make things clearer! Whatever dictionary was in the seminar room in Iowa in 2002 had both pronunciations, but the long o came first (because of historical priority? who knows) which the prof took as vindication. Maybe it’s just that objects in classrooms take a while to catch up with the arc of history, like my friend who taught in Oakland in the nineties next to a globe that showed Africa divided up between British and French colonies.
@calebcrain @pauline Where are we on gibberish with a hard g? That’s how Evelyn Waugh pronounced it and I assume it’s the traditional British pronunciation?
@pauline No, that can't be true. That's worse than the correct pronunciation of "dour"