February

[michelle4142]

Does anyone else (apart from me!) pronounce the word February as it is spelt ('Febrewary') rather than the more usual 'Febuwary' & which is correct?

[Ewood27]

Yes and ours.

[vittoria]

I pronounce it like you do, but my Daniel Jones "English pronouncing dictionary", 14th ed., publ.by Everyman, gives both pronounciations; first Febrewary, then Febuwary.

[Quizmonster]

Neither The Oxford English Dictionary nor Chambers is as forgiving as Vittoria's Daniel Jones - which I've never actually heard of - one is. They offer only the 'correct' pronunciation which includes two letters 'R'.

But the single-R version is just another of the sloppy pronunciations now common, even in places where one would expect better. How often do you hear 'vunrable' on the BBC News, for example?

And yes, I do know language is a living thing which is constantly changing. Doesn't mean we've got to like it, though, does it?

[andy hughes]

As usual, Quizmonster puts his finger on the point here. Pronunciation does tend to corupt words, even, as QM points out, within the BBC. My pet hate is their reading of 'secretary' as 'secetary' which always puts my teeth on edge. Nice to discuss these finer points in life though, with one's equals.

[thecooler]

Quarter, which I have always pronounced 'kwarter', now appears to be 'korter' if the BBC is anything to go by.

[vittoria]

I always thought that Daniel Jones was the authority on English Received Pronounciation - but perhaps it is descriptive rather than prescriptive. I was surprised it recorded both. As for vunrable, korter and secetary, they put my teeth on edge, too.

[Bert]

I agree with previous replies. My "favourite" howler is the pronunciation (note spelling, vittoria) of "dissect" to rhyme with "bisect". I wrote to the BBC to suggest that they ask their staff to pronounce the word correctly. My reply said, as Quizmonster remarked, that English is a living and changing language. As an example I was informed that "balcony" used to be pronounced to rhyme with "baloney". It seems that, as soon as 51% of the population pronounces a word incorrectly, the incorrect pronunciation becomes correct so now 51% of the population is pronouncing the word correctly! I find it annoying that ignorance should be rewarded in this way.

[Janetex]

Well said QM.