CLIK/CLEEK & NATIVE SPEAKER [was "FAG one last time"]

[Beverly Flanigan]

A similar "in" term is "niche"--as in "niche program."  I've generally
heard it pronounced "nitch" (a little table stands in a corner niche), but
recently, with the specialized usage in business and academia, "neesh"
seems to be preferred (I've even been "corrected" once).  Someone thought
that everybody must "know" the French pronunciation of words like 'clique',
but I'm not sure this is true.  "Niche" is by now a common Am Eng word and
has followed the usual rules of borrowing; I doubt that most people think
of it as French.

At 01:19 PM 3/15/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Yep.  And I say "click" and "clickish," but that does depend upon the
>company I'm keeping.  If I'm in some rarified academic atmosphere I would
>probably use "cleek" and in all likelihood totally abstain from any attempt
>at "clique-ish."
>
>bob
>
> > From: Lesa Dill <Lesa.Dill at WKU.EDU>
> > Organization: Western Kentucky University
> > Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:39:45 -0600
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: CLIK/CLEEK & NATIVE SPEAKER [was "FAG one last time"]
> >
> > Aren't Chic Jeans pronounced like"chick"?


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm