Proper pronunciation can disturb, distress, and discombobulate (good word?) me. I suspect all of us have been surprised by hearing for the first time a word we have read for years, mentally pronouncing it quite differently. I find this especially true in medical terms, which even the pros pronounce differently, especially with accents.
Since most med terms are Latin, I tend to think Spanish pronunciation, but it doesn't always hold true. Is it angina, with accented long "i" or angina, with accented first short "a." Then there are medicines: metropolol, which I first thought accented the "po" with long "o," but later head the second syllable stressed with long "o." Etc.
Pronunciation
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 3333
- Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
- Location: RUSTON, LA
- Contact:
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
I've found it doesn't matter how it's pronounced as long as the pharmacist gets the right pill in the right bottle!
Our pharmacy (Safeway) includes the pronunciation on the patient explanation of the drug.
Oh, yeah; two examples I remember from my academic past:
-- a nun back in grade school correcting someone by saying, "You have the em-FAH-sys on the wrong si-LAH-ble."
-- Mr. Cullen, our Latin I teacher in high school, telling us (complete with his Irish brogue), "It's pronounced a-GRI-co-la, not a-gri-CO-la; it's not some kind of a soft drink.!"
[Note for the Latin-challenged: agricola is the word for farmer, whence comes our English word agriculture.]
Our pharmacy (Safeway) includes the pronunciation on the patient explanation of the drug.
Oh, yeah; two examples I remember from my academic past:
-- a nun back in grade school correcting someone by saying, "You have the em-FAH-sys on the wrong si-LAH-ble."
-- Mr. Cullen, our Latin I teacher in high school, telling us (complete with his Irish brogue), "It's pronounced a-GRI-co-la, not a-gri-CO-la; it's not some kind of a soft drink.!"
[Note for the Latin-challenged: agricola is the word for farmer, whence comes our English word agriculture.]
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests