diphthong - dipthong

[James Smith]

I would take 'dipthong' in the reference to Sinbad to
be a comedic variation or expansion of 'dip', which in
my experience refers to someone whose actions indicate
a lack of thought or who simply isn't too bright.
'Dip', 'Dip ahead', 'Watch for dip in road', etc.
signs have always been good for a laugh with my
family.

Maybe the question should be which came first, 'dip'
or 'dipshit'.  I was using 'dip' long before I'd even
heard 'dipshit'.  To me the latter has always seemed
to be a vulgur embellishment of 'dip' with the intent
of making it more insulting.  But maybe my experience
has things reversed.

As Erin pointed out, 'dip(h)thong' is a pretty funny
sounding word all on its own: even though it's spelled
with 'ph', I think most people pronounce a simple 'p'.


--- Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> Erin McKean writes:
>
> >I think it can be explained by the fact that
> "dipthong" is one of the
> >funniest-sounding words in English. I'd bet that it
> would get a laugh in
> >any fourth-grade classroom in the country.
> >
> >Erin McKean
> >editor at verbatimmag.com
>
> Not to be a prescriptivist about it,  but I've
> always spelled it with a
> -ph- (as below) and pronounced that -ph- as an [f].
> This makes it somewhat
> less funny-sounding, I fear, and also less likely to
> serve as a plausible
> euphemism for 'dipshit'.  Perhaps the processing of
> it as "dipthong" is the
> first step on the route Lynne cites below.
>
> larry
>
>
> >
> >>Spotted today on a salon.com article on the Miss
> Universe pageant by
> >>Cintra Wilson:
> >>
> >>It was hosted by loudmouthed diphthong Sinbad.
> >>
> >>I take it that 'diphthong' is an alliterative
> alternative to 'dipshit',
> >>but trying to work out the metaphor here is a bit
> brain-bending.
> >>
> >>Lynne
> >>
> >>Dr M Lynne Murphy
> >>Lecturer in Linguistics
> >>School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
> >>University of Sussex
> >>Brighton BN1 9QH
> >>UK
> >>
> >>phone +44-(0)1273-678844
> >>fax   +44-(0)1273-671320
>


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