The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful SpeakerHow do you pronounce affluent: AF-loo-int or uh-FLOO-int? Does it make a difference? Charles Harrington Elster believes that yes, it does make a difference (and that, for the record, one should pronounce the word AF-loo-int). Elster, the author of Is There a Cow in Moscow? and There Is No Zoo in Zoology, has chosen more than six hundred of our most commonly mispronounced words, arranged them alphabetically, and written entertaining essays that unapologetically offer his informed opinion as to why a word should be pronounced a particular way. Where pronunciations commonly vary or dictionaries disagree, Elster is an eager arbiter. Easy to use (there aren't any confusing diacritical marks), and with references from Will Shakespeare to Will Smith (for "aunt") and Jerry Seinfeld (for "clitoris"), this is an excellent argument-settler - and debate-starter. A Houghton Mifflin Paperback original. |
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Common terms and phrases
20th century accent adjective American College 1952 American dictionaries list American Heritage American speech anglicized Barnhart beastly mispronunciation Burchfield 1996 careful speakers ciation countenance cultivated speakers cultivated speech current American dictionaries current dictionaries current sources dominant pronunciation educated speakers educated speech entered English Everyday Reader's 1985 favor first-syllable stress four major current French Funk & Wagnalls give priority H. W. Fowler heard Holt Jones Kenyon & Knott labels language Lass & Lass last syllable Latin MAHS-koh major current American means Merriam-Webster Morris & Morris NBC Handbook 1984 Noah Webster nounced nunciation obelus Opdycke orthoepists Oxford Guide 1983 Phyfe plural preference of Lass Pronouncing Dictionary pronun proper pronunciation Random House recommended RHWC rhymes sanction schwa second syllable second-syllable stress sound spelling pronunciation Stress the second three syllables tion traditional pronunciation usage variant Vizetelly 1929 vowel Wagnalls Standard 1897 William Safire WNW Guide 1984 Worcester 1860