Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Was Mrs. Whitney Wrong?
I had the same teacher for fourth and fifth grade, and she made a big impression on me. Mrs. Whitney was kind but stern, and I always knew I was her favorite. She taught me many things, most of which I can't remember that it was her who taught them to me. But I can remember some things she harped on that no other teacher in my life has emphasized at all. Interestingly, most of them have to do with pronunciation.
It's pronounced FebRuary (remember the R in the middle).
It's pronounced AntarCtica (remember the C in the middle).
And it's pronounced lah-yer, not loy-er.
I left Mrs. Whitney's classroom and eventually made it to Harvard Law School, and my world shattered.
For my first year, I continued to perservere, true to Mrs. Whitney's principles. My classmates and professors kept talking about loy-ers, and I insisted on talking about lah-yers. After all, it made more sense--the word is based on "law," not "loy." But no one else at all talked about lah-yers. They thought I was talking about liars.*
But I looked it up in a dictionary. It turns out both pronunciations are acceptable. Mrs. Whitney's aura of infallibility was tarnished. Every once in a while I started purposely pronouncing the word the other way, and I would feel dirty. It was as though I was swearing. Sometimes I would purposely use the word "attorney" simply to avoid the issue.
Slowly, though, I began saying it more and more. I blended in better with the people around me. Now, I say loy-er all the time. I don't even think about it.
I don't know what Mrs. Whitney is doing now, or if she's even still alive (she was pretty old 20 years ago). But I want her to know that despite it all, I still put the R in February and the C in Antarctica.
* Insert your own wisecrack here.
It's pronounced FebRuary (remember the R in the middle).
It's pronounced AntarCtica (remember the C in the middle).
And it's pronounced lah-yer, not loy-er.
I left Mrs. Whitney's classroom and eventually made it to Harvard Law School, and my world shattered.
For my first year, I continued to perservere, true to Mrs. Whitney's principles. My classmates and professors kept talking about loy-ers, and I insisted on talking about lah-yers. After all, it made more sense--the word is based on "law," not "loy." But no one else at all talked about lah-yers. They thought I was talking about liars.*
But I looked it up in a dictionary. It turns out both pronunciations are acceptable. Mrs. Whitney's aura of infallibility was tarnished. Every once in a while I started purposely pronouncing the word the other way, and I would feel dirty. It was as though I was swearing. Sometimes I would purposely use the word "attorney" simply to avoid the issue.
Slowly, though, I began saying it more and more. I blended in better with the people around me. Now, I say loy-er all the time. I don't even think about it.
I don't know what Mrs. Whitney is doing now, or if she's even still alive (she was pretty old 20 years ago). But I want her to know that despite it all, I still put the R in February and the C in Antarctica.
* Insert your own wisecrack here.
Comments:
So this post got me thinking about Mrs. Whitney, and I googled her. Here's her obituary. Might I add my belated condolences and appreciation to one of the most influential teachers of my life (the topic of this post notwithstanding).
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