Re: Yahoo has no nucular staff tech writers

[Kevin McLauchlan <kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>]

On Thursday 10 October 2002 22:43, Bruce Byfield wrote:
> Bonnie Granat wrote:
> > There is a change of spelling involved in the
> > "mispronounciation" of the word "nuclear". It doesn't
> > seem to be a regional variant, but a misapprehension of
> > the word itself.
>
> I think that you're also missing the point. What is
> correct depends on the era, geography, culture, and even
> the class of the speaker. The fact that Standard English
> has the backing of educators in no way makes its
> conventions the correct ones; it just gives this
> particular variant a certain amount of power to define
> itself and other dialects. In fact, from a linguistic
> viewpoint, the idea of correct usage is meaningless,
> except in context.

My point, some time back, was that a formal speech 
to the world, by the president and top-cop is not the 
correct context for Ebonics.  And that, if I recall was 
mentioned only in support of another point.

> As Dick pointed out, the shift in pronounciation that's
> involved is very common. 

Yes. There's a technical term for that.  It's called 
dumbing-down.

For properly attentive and conscientious speakers 
and writers, the thing to do is to correct such mis-
apprehensions when they are brought to your attention.

> It's simply one of the way that
> English mutates, and all the grammatical Canutes in the
> world can't keep the tide back. 

You are aware, of course, that King Canute was not 
trying to hold back the tide?  He was essentially being 
sarcastic on a grand scale with his fawning courtiers, 
whom he saw as hopelessly sycophanitc and blinkered.

I don't recall whether his gesture was ultimately effective, 
but fawning courtiers and other political animals being 
what they are, I doubt it...  :-)

[...]
> > Were there such a word in existence as "nucular", I
> > would pronounce it just like Dubya.

> No, you wouldn't. There already is such a word, and you
> don't. In your dialect (and mine), that's not the way the
> word is pronounced.

I believe that the point was that there is a perfectly good 
word "nuclear" that, if you paid the tiniest bit of
attention during your education, you understand as 
deriving from "nucleus". (That'd be the generic "you", 
and not "you" personally.)  If you were insufficiently 
intelligent, or so univolved in your basic education that 
you never clued in that "nuclear" derives from "nucleus", 
then, in your "I'm a proud proponent of the general 
dumbing down" status, you would say "nucular".

Bonnie is probably taking the reasonable position that 
there is not yet a word "nucular". There is a word "nuclear" 
that has a common mispronunciation that sounds like 
"nucular".

It can be argued that if/when a word "nucular" does come 
into existence, it will be a different and lesser word than 
"nuclear", because it will not have the benefit/value of 
deriving from the concept of "nucleus". It will be a lesser 
word, carrying less richness of meaning and implication.

So, how many manuals have you written in Ebonics, lately?
And, why not?

"Duh, it's like... nucular, man. Y'know?"

Say what you like.  It *is* only one word, but it's 
indicative of a trend, and I find that to be a trend worth
resisting.


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