Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Enjoying the "How Do You Pronounce" Threads

I don't know if you hear this south of the 49th, but up here it's quite common for people to say or write "an" history instead of "a" history, as in "an history of WWII" or whatever. Whenever something crossed my desk with "an history" the "an" was always edited out. The only way I would allow it is if somebody was quoting a person with a heavy Cockney accent who didn't pronounce the his or her "H's." In which case, the quote would be "... an 'istory of the Tower of London..." to indicate the H was silent in the person's speech.

� and "oinj" for orange, "mfg" or "mfgr" for manufacturer or mfr, "I yern" for iron � and I think that I've already mentioned "Floyda" for Florida and "a-THOY-tees" for authorities.

I've even seen 'mfged" and "mfgd" for manufactured.

(If you feel the urge to puke, go right ahead.)

Voere would probably be pronounced (rougly): fir'reh. The "oe" sound has no equivalent in English. Sometimes, though, the o and e are pronounced separately. To be certain, you'd have to ask a German or Austrian hunter.

Niedner looks to be a German name and would be pronounced need'ner. Perhaps he anglicized the pronunciation. Nighd'ner would be Neidner.

I got it backward (knew better but remembered wrong).

Niedner (NEEDner) is correct � "Neidner" (NI-dner) is wrong.

How about Trijicon?

Miguel Raton = Mickey Mouse

Mee gill Ra tone

Some of my pet peeves [committed by broadcastng professionals!]

"Sosh' Security"

"Suhtistics" [for "statistics"]

"Prezobama" [the pronunciation AND the individual]

also from TV professionals �

"Mute point" for moot point

"Melk" for milk

"Golf" for gulf

"Demure" for demur

"Centurion" for centenarian

also from TV professionals �

"Hone in on" for home in on

"Hard road to hoe" for hard row to hoe

"I could care less" for I couldn't care less

A few years ago, during the Winter Olympics, a well-known female morning show anchor,[now network news anchor]described the luge competitors "hurling down" the luge course-- a priceless mental image! Still gives me a chuckle.

If some of you are eagle-eyed prose stylists, you may have noticed that I still use the classic old-style "serial" comma, which modern stylists have outlawed (the comma before the and in a series of three or more).

Eliminating this comma often gives us such nonsense as this sentence from a major feature article in America's most successful magazine �


" � intravenous users of drugs and Haitians." What a mental image that gem brings to mind!

I'd write it � or edit it � to read like this �

Ken, you are absolutely correct. I will join you in that fight to the bitter end. "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in rhe fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..." It is no more all right to leave out that comma than it is all right to use the bastard child named alright. Best, John

I throw the comma in always. While there, I noticed in Britain it's usually left out.

"Shirts are available in red, blue and white and green" can be "red, blue and white, and green" or "red, blue, and white and green."

I've not seen the new "rule" for commas written down, but I gather it's okay to leave it out when there is no ambiguity. In the other example, it looks to me the comma could be left out.

� The writer already knows what he means, and thinks that he's saying it clearly, so he's the least qualified to see where an unintended misunderstanding may lurk.

� The reader doesn't already know what the writer means, so he must puzzle it out from only what he sees.

� The simpler and more straight-forward the "rule," the easier it is to communicate by the printed word (which is already more than most people can handle with any facility and accuracy). Exceptions clutter and complicate.

� Ambiguity is less often a problem than unintentional misstatement. (The latter abounds.)

All the Montanans on the forum and we haven't discussed crick vs. creek yet?

Ken,

We tend to agree on matters of the written word. I learned the English language in grade school. No "rule" adopted since has helped my understanding of the written word, nor that of my audiences. I am a Controls Engineer by education and trade, which means I translate words from other Engineers and people into ones and zeros for the purpose of training machines to do our bidding quickly, accurately, and repetitiously. Doing so requires at least a working knowledge of several languages. Just don't ask me the reason for this post.

Ken-
In some writing and editing circles, that comma is called the "Chicago comma" because its use is recommended in the Chicago Manual of Style.

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/Commas/Commas_questions01.html

(Oopsie in your post: it should read "the comma after before the and . . .)

--Bob

Oh, so right you are!

Glad you noticed! Thanks!

(Corrected it.)

I edit every document, protocol, proposal, and whatever else crosses my desk to include the comma before the "and," as you've described. It irritates me to see it omitted.

As a full fledged hick I own a heavy barreled L579 Say-Ko and two Man-licker Show-Nowers. I don't have a clue to proper pronunciation but I do take them up the "hollers" in WV to hunt. Also, my neighbor "fount" a hunting knife one day in the woods.