Monday, December 24, 2012

Seven Swans a-Swimmin'

This past weekend, a young woman lost her winnings of $4000 on a game show.  She had the correct answer to the question, but mispronounced "swimming" by dropping the final g.  Even though the show is about solving a clue by uncovering letters on a board, the show producers disqualified the young lady because of mispronunciation. 

The importance of speaking correctly cannot be overemphasized in terms of appearing well educated, professional, and successful.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Complement vs. Compliment

Once again, we come across a situation of sound-alike words in conversation, which mean something entirely different when seen in writing, depending on their spelling.

Complement (n) means to enhance, to complete something, to match and agree with something, as in, "That scarf really complements your outfit." Or, "White chablis may be a good choice to complement a lobster dinner."

Compliment (n) means to praise, to offer adulation, to say something nice, as in "I compliment you on your promotion!"

Lose vs. Loose

The problem here is not only spelling, but pronunciation.

In the English language, an S sometimes sounds like a Z - as in the word "sometimes," where the initial S sounds like SS, yet the final S sounds like a Z.  Either because of coloquial differences or other reasons, the Z sound is being substituted regularly for an SS.  This is not only wrong-sounding, it also leads to errors in understanding, as well as errors in writing.

So it is with the two words above.

Lose (v.) is pronounced with the Z sound, as in l-o-o-z-e.  It means to miss something, to have something not available.

Loose (v.) is pronounced with the SS sound, as in l-o-o-ss-e.  It means not tight.

These two words are NOT synonyms, yet I cringe each time I read such things as "If I leave now, I will loose my place."

There is a movement afoot to allow school children to practice "creative spelling."  Such invitation to laziness would reinforce illiteracy - the inability to read properly, and understand what is being read, not to mention understanding how to pronounce the language correctly.

Oral vs. Aural

Here, the issue is spelling, because the pronunciation, for all intents and purposes, is identical.  The words mean something entirely different, based on their spelling (and of course, the spelling would be based on context).

Oral (adj) is anything that is spoken.

Aural (adj) relates to the ear.