I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast. What made it all the more
remarkable was that this was a BBC broadcast, the very same organisation
that had employed that cowardly joker in the Received Pronunciation dept
who had issued his joke memo on how to (mis)pronounce this controversial
word all those many decades ago.

I mention this startling fact since the subject of pronunciation of
various words, including the word "controversy" has been discussed in
this NG from time to time over the past few years, typically as the
result of "topic drift", hence my marking the subject as O.T.

I was so impressed by this act of independent thought by Andrew in
regard of using the correct pronunciation of a word that has for so long
been systematically mispronounced by news readers and commentators in TV
and radio broadcasting that I felt impelled to alert all and sundry of
this momentous event.

[1] pid b00np25k for those using get_iplayer or this link to iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...rs-the-making-
of-modern-britain-1-a-new-dawn

Apologies if there's a line wrap issue with the iplayer link above.


--
Johnny B Good

I'm going to be controversial here and wonder if it really matters at all in
the great scheme of things. My screenreader voices depending on who made
them have different takes on many words and in different contexts too.
Brian

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"Johnny B Good" wrote in message
...
I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast. What made it all the more
remarkable was that this was a BBC broadcast, the very same organisation
that had employed that cowardly joker in the Received Pronunciation dept
who had issued his joke memo on how to (mis)pronounce this controversial
word all those many decades ago.

I mention this startling fact since the subject of pronunciation of
various words, including the word "controversy" has been discussed in
this NG from time to time over the past few years, typically as the
result of "topic drift", hence my marking the subject as O.T.

I was so impressed by this act of independent thought by Andrew in
regard of using the correct pronunciation of a word that has for so long
been systematically mispronounced by news readers and commentators in TV
and radio broadcasting that I felt impelled to alert all and sundry of
this momentous event.

[1] pid b00np25k for those using get_iplayer or this link to iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...rs-the-making-
of-modern-britain-1-a-new-dawn

Apologies if there's a line wrap issue with the iplayer link above.


--
Johnny B Good

In article ,
Johnny B Good wrote:
I was so impressed by this act of independent thought by Andrew in
regard of using the correct pronunciation of a word that has for so long
been systematically mispronounced by news readers and commentators in TV
and radio broadcasting that I felt impelled to alert all and sundry of
this momentous event.

It's because he's a Scot.

--
*Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 03/01/2018 02:08, Johnny B Good wrote:
I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast.

What is your authority for "the *correct* [sic] pronunciation"?

I ask because:

a. AFAIK the there is nothing equivalent to the Academie Francaise the
UK (or for England, Scotland etc);

b. the BBC (once the paragons of *received* pronunciation) recognise the
*traditional* pronunciation given by some dictionaries is not the one
used widely as recognised by eg Longmans

c. other dictionaries - including the OED online - have caught up with
modern usage and recognise both pronunciations which are common in the
UK as British English.








--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 11:18:47 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Johnny B Good wrote:
I was so impressed by this act of independent thought by Andrew in
regard of using the correct pronunciation of a word that has for so
long been systematically mispronounced by news readers and commentators
in TV and radio broadcasting that I felt impelled to alert all and
sundry of this momentous event.

It's because he's a Scot.

Perhaps that might account for him not getting "The Memo" (and thus
saved from the "Well Poisoning" effect of that memo). Even if he ever did
see that poisonous memo, being Scots educated, he would have known better
than to take such a memo seriously anyway. :-)

--
Johnny B Good

On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 12:36:06 +0000, Robin wrote:

On 03/01/2018 02:08, Johnny B Good wrote:
I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast.

What is your authority for "the *correct* [sic] pronunciation"?

I ask because:

a. AFAIK the there is nothing equivalent to the Academie Francaise
the
UK (or for England, Scotland etc);

b. the BBC (once the paragons of *received* pronunciation) recognise
the
*traditional* pronunciation given by some dictionaries is not the one
used widely as recognised by eg Longmans

c. other dictionaries - including the OED online - have caught up
with
modern usage and recognise both pronunciations which are common in the
UK as British English.

Given a conflicting choice, you'd naturally go for the one that offers
the best 'fluidity of the spoken word' rather than the one that
interrupts such fluidity with its cumbersome syllabic structure.

--
Johnny B Good

On 03/01/2018 14:41, Johnny B Good wrote:
On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 12:36:06 +0000, Robin wrote:

On 03/01/2018 02:08, Johnny B Good wrote:
I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast.

What is your authority for "the *correct* [sic] pronunciation"?

I ask because:

a. AFAIK the there is nothing equivalent to the Academie Francaise
the
UK (or for England, Scotland etc);

b. the BBC (once the paragons of *received* pronunciation) recognise
the
*traditional* pronunciation given by some dictionaries is not the one
used widely as recognised by eg Longmans

c. other dictionaries - including the OED online - have caught up
with
modern usage and recognise both pronunciations which are common in the
UK as British English.

Given a conflicting choice, you'd naturally go for the one that offers
the best 'fluidity of the spoken word' rather than the one that
interrupts such fluidity with its cumbersome syllabic structure.


"None" would have been shorter



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 02:08:18 GMT, Johnny B Good
wrote:

I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast. What made it all the more
remarkable was that this was a BBC broadcast, the very same organisation
that had employed that cowardly joker in the Received Pronunciation dept
who had issued his joke memo on how to (mis)pronounce this controversial
word all those many decades ago.

I mention this startling fact since the subject of pronunciation of
various words, including the word "controversy" has been discussed in
this NG from time to time over the past few years, typically as the
result of "topic drift", hence my marking the subject as O.T.

I was so impressed by this act of independent thought by Andrew in
regard of using the correct pronunciation of a word that has for so long
been systematically mispronounced by news readers and commentators in TV
and radio broadcasting that I felt impelled to alert all and sundry of
this momentous event.

[1] pid b00np25k for those using get_iplayer or this link to iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...rs-the-making-
of-modern-britain-1-a-new-dawn

Apologies if there's a line wrap issue with the iplayer link above.

I heard the word 'kilometer' pronounced correctly in a news broadcast
recently.

On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 19:54:09 +0000, Scott wrote:

====snip====


I heard the word 'kilometer' pronounced correctly in a news broadcast
recently.

Do you mean when the *first*, rather than the penultimate syllable is
stressed? :-)

--
Johnny B Good

On 03/01/18 19:54, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 02:08:18 GMT, Johnny B Good
wrote:

I was watching the first episode of this six episode miniseries today
and at 40 minutes and 20 seconds in[1], was staggered to hear, for the
first time in decades, the *correct* pronunciation of the word
"Controversy" in a television broadcast. What made it all the more
remarkable was that this was a BBC broadcast, the very same organisation
that had employed that cowardly joker in the Received Pronunciation dept
who had issued his joke memo on how to (mis)pronounce this controversial
word all those many decades ago.

I mention this startling fact since the subject of pronunciation of
various words, including the word "controversy" has been discussed in
this NG from time to time over the past few years, typically as the
result of "topic drift", hence my marking the subject as O.T.

I was so impressed by this act of independent thought by Andrew in
regard of using the correct pronunciation of a word that has for so long
been systematically mispronounced by news readers and commentators in TV
and radio broadcasting that I felt impelled to alert all and sundry of
this momentous event.

[1] pid b00np25k for those using get_iplayer or this link to iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...rs-the-making-
of-modern-britain-1-a-new-dawn

Apologies if there's a line wrap issue with the iplayer link above.

I heard the word 'kilometer' pronounced correctly in a news broadcast
recently.

American? It's even better when the word 'kilometre' is written correctly

On Thu, 04 Jan 2018 06:57:17 +0000, Richard wrote:

On 03/01/18 19:54, Scott wrote:

====snip====


I heard the word 'kilometer' pronounced correctly in a news broadcast
recently.

American? It's even better when the word 'kilometre' is written
correctly

I *did* notice the spelling but deliberately concentrated on the
pronunciation aspect to avoid any further controversy. :-)

--
Johnny B Good

On Thursday, 4 January 2018 13:15:59 UTC, Johnny B Good wrote:
On Thu, 04 Jan 2018 06:57:17 +0000, Richard wrote:

On 03/01/18 19:54, Scott wrote:

====snip====


I heard the word 'kilometer' pronounced correctly in a news broadcast
recently.

American? It's even better when the word 'kilometre' is written
correctly

I *did* notice the spelling but deliberately concentrated on the
pronunciation aspect to avoid any further controversy. :-)

--
Johnny B Good

Yeah well in america they give guns to almost anyone, so killer-meters is really a form of valid self defence if you should get attacked by a meter.
Or it's a new sci-fi film from spielberg Invasion of The killer-meters from space, Episode 4 part 1.