Trivial note on pronunciation: forehead

[David A. Daniel]

My fifth grade teacher, this in Southern California, circa 1960, told us that only ignorant people said for-hed, that proper pronuncation was for'ed. My fifth grade teacher was an idiot. However, here's a bit of linguistic schizophrenia for you. Merriam-Webster lists for'ed before for-hed and has two little speaker thingies to click on, one for each pronunciation. But the order is reversed. The first speaker thingy says for-hed, and the second says for'ed, the opposite of what they show in text.
DAD



an. Doctor recommended.
www.exergen.com

    * Main Entry: fore·head
    * Pronunciation: \ˈfär-əd, ˈfȯr-; ˈfȯr-ˌhed


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We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Tom Zurinskas
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 6:24 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Trivial note on pronunciation: forehead

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Forrid for forehead?  Not in USA I would think.  Sounds UK.  They do a lot of word squeezing over there, dropping "h" "r" "c" and other sounds and syllables in words.  My least favorite is "fat" for "fact".

Down south USA "head" is two syllables in some places. HEY-yud ~heyud, expanding it one syllable.  I don't think UK does expansion.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
see truespel.com



----------------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 22:46:43 -0400
> From: hwgray at GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: Trivial note on pronunciation: forehead
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>
> Exactly. That's where I learned the pronunciation in the first place.
> Needless to say, we're not the only two people in the English-speaking
> world who learned this rhyme as children. Nevertheless, after people
> learn how to read, many of them switch to the spelling- pronunciation.
> And, if a peron grows up in a 4head-speaking family, it may very well
> be the case that, for such a person, "forrid" does not have a
> real-world referent.
>
> I once discussed this with a 4head-speaker. She argued that "4head'
> has always been the proper pronunciation. The pronunciation "forrid"
> is merely a distortion necessary to make "forehead" rhyme with
> "horrid."
>
> Well, that's a reanalysis of the history of the pronunciations that's
> impossible to refute in a casual conversation.
>
> -Wilson
>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Why, it must, for the rhyme to work:
> <
>> There was a little girl
>> Who had a little curl
>> Right in the middle of her forehead.
>> And when she was good,
>> She was very, very good
>> And when she was bad she was horrid.
>>
>> Dave Hause, dwhause at jobe.net
>> Waynesville, MO
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Wilson Gray"
>> To:
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2009 8:19 PM
>> Subject: Trivial note on pronunciation: forehead
>>
>>
>> I notice that "Ducky" (David McCallum) of NCIS properly :-) rhymes
>> "forehead" with "horrid." Of course, he's even older, by four years,
>> than I am.
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> –––
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -----
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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