Can’t Take It Any More!
I thought “the cawff” would stop if I ignored it, but it didn’t. How long would the “cawff” remain hidden behind the alphabet, before someone speaks up?
Guess I’ll have to do it myself. It’s driving me crazy.
At first it was only fashions.
I could live with that. Too long, too short, too loose, too tight; who cares? If the image you see in the mirror doesn’t disturb you, make your own stylish statement.
Then it was the vehicles we drive.
What happened to the classy look of the Oldsmobile in the fifties? You could always define the brand by the look. Somewhere along the line they all began to look alike. I thought that was sad until the SUV’s came along and classy became “cool”.
It wasn’t long before the SUV’s agreed to share the road with the “Pick-ups” and the race was on! “That’s ok,” I said to myself, so I bought a pick-up.
Somewhere along the way, I began listening instead of looking. Changes in the language began to catch my ear; not my eye, but my ear.
The first words I noticed were people speaking of a childhood disease. I heard the words mentioned on television and assumed the person had misspoken. I waited and listened. (w)hoever the persons were; (w)hoever the persons are, they’re still pronouncing it incorrectly.
The words are….”whooping cough”.
Say it aloud. That’s right, say it now!
Did you just say “wooping cough”?
You’ve just pronounced it wrong.
I’m here to help.
Because it has become so important to me that the name of this particular childhood disease be spoken correctly, I’ve taken the time to look up some helpful facts.
The correct pronunciation is; “hooping cough”.
(say it aloud)
Did you notice anything? For the sake of time, let me point out the “W” is silent. Now repeat after me; (w)holesome, (w)hole, (w)hom,
hosoever.
Once more: hooping Cough
You’ll never understand what it means to me to have cleared this confusion for you.
May The Force be with you!
copyright@2021
Mary Anne Whitchurch Tuck
Memories, Friends, and Observations 