From Slashdot

[Barnhart]

American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> writes:
>
>If someone else mentioned this and I missed seeing it, then sorry. But...
>I
>have long wondered why we have a Secretary of de-FENSE and a Department of
>de-FENSE, but all sports have DEE-fense. I mean, this is universal, right?
>At a football game the crowd universally does not yell "de-FENSE,
>de-FENSE,
>de-FENSE", and Rumsfeld universally was not the secretary of DEE-fense.
>Yes?
>No?
>DAD
>

Well, I'm not sure I can express this succinctly. Here goes.

The emPHAsis on the first sylLAble in DEEfense is to EMphasize the
contrast with OFFense in the vicinity of the grid iron.

By the way, since Bush is so preemptively offensively minded, should we
not rename the DoD the Doo (pun on dog excrement intended)?

Regards,
David

barnhart at highlands.com

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