Gene Weingarten on the pronunciation of "what"

[Beverly Flanigan]

Who is this guy?  Has he nothing better to do than to agonize over the
pronunciation of "what"?  (And how about that aspirating the 'w' and then
reducing it to a vowel--or whatever.)

At 01:27 AM 9/17/2006, you wrote:
>-----
>Washington Post, September 17, 2006; Page W56
>
>Say What?
>You can't be serious . . .
>By Gene Weingarten
>
>I AM A "WORD PERSON." My vocabulary is extensive, my command of
>grammar and syntax almost without error. I can accurately conjugate
>most any verb, including "to lie," which gets pretty complex in the
>pluperfect. I understand the difference between epistemology and
>hermeneutics.
>
>And so it came as something of a surprise and shock to me the other
>day when I learned that, at 54, I apparently do not know how to
>pronounce the word "what."
>-----
>
>Read the rest here:
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301610.html
>
>
>--Ben Zimmer
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org