assimilation?!?!

[Alison Murie]

On Dec 10, 2009, at 12:26 PM, David Barnhart wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> Subject:      assimilation?!?!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I just heard during a pitch for money by an NPR affiliate the
> statement in
> part which I am sure was written as .
>
>
>
> ..Six CDs.
>
>
>
> However, I heard it, in my inimitably sarcastic frame of mind, .
>
>
>
> ..sick CDs.
>
>
>
> This is no doubt because of phonological juxtaposition of
> sibilants.  But,
> how is a translator (doing so simultaneously) going to know other
> than by
> context?
>
>
>
> I'm not up on this sort of thing (spending most of my energy and
> attention
> to new words). Have there been famous and humorous examples?
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> DKB
~~~~
Not particularly funny, but rather idiotic: the official  transcriber
at a hearing wrote "fallen into destitute"  when the actual words were
"fallen into desuetude." (I was at the hearing & thought, "Wow.
Haven't heard that for a long time."  Evidently the transcriber had
never heard it.)
AM

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