query re "con"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Wed, Nov 08, 2006 at 11:48:28PM -0500, Bethany K. Dumas wrote:
> I received a message beginning with this sentence:
>
> > Katherine's got the con.
>
> (referring to the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church - our
> first female PB)
>
> I asked what "con" meant in that sentence. The reply was:
>
> >As I understand it, it's a nautical term, short for control, what the
> >captain of a ship either has or designates to an exec, etc.
>
> My question - is it pronounced "con" as in con man, etc. or as the first
> syllable of "control"?

I'm not sure how you would pronounce the first syllable of
"control" stressed; but the word you're looking for is usually
spelled _conn_, and it's not short for _control_. It's pronounced
identically to "con" as in "con man", yes.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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