As I have mentioned before, I’m currently writing my Master’s thesis — which I hope I’ll get the time to tell you about. The thing is, when I work on it all day, I really don’t feel like spending my evenings trying to write a post for my blog. At the latest, I’ll write up the ideas of the thesis when it’s done and over with. :-)
Anyway, because I’m writing my thesis I am re-reading a book I bought in the NYU book store in the fall of 2004 when I lived in New York City. The book is called The Elements of Style (by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White) and is about usage and style of well-written English. It is my absolute favourite book on the topic, it is short and it is to the point.
However, the point I want to make in this post is actually far from the subject matter of the book. But in the introduction to the book is an important point:
If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it out loud!
This sentence, one that William Strunk repeated over and over in his classes, is a metaphor or something bigger. Please don’t hide what you can’t do, because if you do, you’ll never learn.
December 14th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
I just experienced a woman who did exactly what he William Strunk asks for. In a recently launched Danish news channel the announcer was speaking about the latest results from Bear Stearns – pronouncing it Beer Stearns – I’m sure she will already have learnt the right pronounciation by now.