Another one bites the dust?

[Wilson Gray]

Has anyone every heard or read an instance of the Latin pronunciation
intermixed with the English pronunciation of the same word that was
not disambiguated, instead of  ambiguated, by context?

Though this has nothing to do with the validity of your argument,
FWIW, Radcliffe College has been defunct for about a dekkid, now being
designated as the Radcliffe "Institute" and, in any case, Radcliffe
College was made co-ed some time ca.1972, at which time all of its
graduates were designated alumni or alumnae of Harvard College. (The
legal name of what is commonly referred to as "Harvard University" is
The President and Fellows of Harvard College, which claims to be the
oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere.)

-Wilson


On 9/6/07, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Another one bites the dust?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>         It's harder than you're letting on.  If I say, "Here is where we
> will have the dinner for the uh LUM nye," do I mean the Harvard alumni
> (anglicized pronunciation) or the Radcliffe alumnae (Latin
> pronunciation)?  Similarly, if I say, "The after-dinner program for the
> uh LUM nee will be in the other room," do I mean the Radcliffe alumnae
> (anglicized pronunciation) or the Harvard alumni (Latin pronunciation)?
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Wilson Gray
> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 10:03 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Another one bites the dust?
>
> Well, you'd think that, if a random graduate of an academic backwater
> - as it was once described by a UC Berkeley alumna with whom I foolishly
> tried to commiserate after she whined, as so many bleepheads do, "Well,
> that's not the way they do it where I come from!" - like UC Davis can
> learn the distinctions, you'd think that any random Harvard grad could
> also learn them, motivated by nothing more than idle curiosity.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 9/6/07, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Another one bites the dust?
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---------
> >
> >         I think the avoidance of the masc./fem./plural issue is quite
> > conscious.  I recall that at my own alma mater there was a certain
> > amount of chagrin that the respective Latin and English pronunciations
>
> > of alumni and alumnae are homophones, as are their respective English
> > and Latin pronunciations.  It sounds confusing even to describe the
> > problem.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Beverly Flanigan
> > Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 1:12 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Another one bites the dust?
> >
> > The growing favorite seems to be "alum," with the plural "alums."
> > This avoids the masc./fem./plural issue, though probably not
> consciously.
>
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