Beatify/Beautify

[Bethany K. Dumas]

>> Twice in the past week I have heard someone in conversation ask whether Rome
>> will "beautify" Pope Pius XII.  In neither case was it a play on words.
>>
>> Is this a common malaprop?  Or have I just been listening to a couple of
>> clumsy speakers?

I have not heard <beautify>, but I have heard <beetify>.

Bethany

>>
>>         - Jim Landau
>
>I've never heard "beatify" pronounced that way.  I'd guess it's an
>unusual misconstruing of the word.  Your interlocutors musn't have
>been Catholic, eh?
>
>
>>
>> :) said Tom, parenthetically.
>
>
>Joanne M. Despres, Senior Editor
>Merriam-Webster, Inc.
>jdespres at merriam-webster.com
>http://www.merriam-webster.com
>

Bethany K. Dumas <dumasb at utk.edu>, http://www.BethanyKayDumas.org
Professor of English & Chair, IDP Linguistics Committee
301 McClung Tower/The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0430 USA
Telephone: 865-974-6965, 865-974-6926 (FAX)
English Dep't: http://web.utk.edu/~english/
Linguistics: http://web.utk.edu/~germslav/lingdefault.html