Friday 22 June 2012
Merlin's Beard!
'The Pixie's Word of the Moment'
Torpor (noun)
Definition: Lethargy - sluggish inactivity or inertia
Example: In its constant state of torpor, I wonder if the droning land slug would notice if I shoved a gallon of scalding maple syrup into its gaping maw to quiet the monotonous sound for but a moment - or even be able to lift its bulbous head in scant objection to being bundled into the back of a van, set upon by wolves and unceremoniously left in a shallow grave by the side of the M32.
'The Pixie's Guide to Words that are not Really Words and probably Shouldn't be used as such'
Aks (verb used with object)
Definition: Mispronunciation of the word 'ask.'
The Issue: The mispronunciation is such that it is actually harder to say. It does not make you sound like a bad boy yardy, it makes you sound like an idiot - stop it.
Thank you for your time.
The Pixie's Thesaurus of Rant was brought to you today by the letter à and the number 2,764 and the flagrant abuse of the following websites: Thesaurus.com and Dictionary.com
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Now you see, one of my secrets interests is etymology - the mispronunciation of 'ask' is actually the older, original way of pronouncing it from Old English. It survived longest in the UK in rural areas, particularly in Scotland. The majority of the original slave-masters employed in the Caribbean in British colonies were from Scotland and Ireland, who retained these older forms of pronunciation and it was from the slave-masters that most African slaves learnt English from. The descendants of the those slaves have retained this form of older pronunciation, despite it largely dying out in white urban areas. I believe there are examples of other anachronisms in African American Vernacular English also.
ReplyDeleteAh but you see, I am not suggesting an issue with ebonics, descendents of slaves or ancient etymology here - I am suggesting a problem with the silly white urban population who deliberately pronounce a word in an alternative manner in an attempt to sound 'gangsta'....
DeleteI'd probably find it equally silly if suddenly the word 'forsooth' came back into youthful vernacular.