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Mickey Richaud

Mickey Richaud

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...did the pronunciation of the word "homage" change from hom'-ij or om'-ij to oh-mahj'?

I know - too much time on my hands. But every time I hear this my stomach churns. SHEESH! Main culprits, of course, are talking heads (especially the ones on the "entertainment news" programs) who seem to need to appear overly erudite.

OK, like Tom (Nutmeg), back to my cave...
 
I have many such words that I dislike (for a variety of reasons)... overused, re-pronounced, substituted when something simpler would be better.
My current pet peeve is the overuse of the word "curate" (for something as simple as "select" or similar). "Here we offer our specially curated collection of fine chocolates/wines/motor-oils." :p
​
 
In the military, one of the most overused words is people saying "concur" instead of "agree."
 
Basil said:
In the military, one of the most overused words is people saying "concur" instead of "agree."
Click to expand...


Yeah, but at least they pronounce it properly!
 
Basil said:
While I go to Target (Tar-get), some people go to Tar-jhey
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We enjoy "Tar-jhey" but then that's supposed to be a joke. ​
:eek:
 
Boink said:
I have many such words that I dislike (for a variety of reasons)... overused, re-pronounced, substituted when something simpler would be better.
My current pet peeve is the overuse of the word "curate" (for something as simple as "select" or similar). "Here we offer our specially curated collection of fine chocolates/wines/motor-oils." :p
​
Click to expand...

And for me, "curate" is a noun. :wink:
 
Mickey Richaud said:
And for me, "curate" is a noun. :wink:
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Oh, I thought you used it after the doctor tells you that you have an disease and you ask what the curate is.
 
Gliderman8 said:
Oh, I thought you used it after the doctor tells you that you have an disease and you ask what the curate is.
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actually, depending on the seriousness, you ask WHERE the curate is. :grin:

On the other hand I hope you concur that if mispronounced words is at the top of our list of peeves and frustrations, we have a pretty great life! (probably especially curated for us)
 
Mickey Richaud said:
...did the pronunciation of the word "homage" change from hom'-ij or om'-ij to oh-mahj'? ......
..... Main culprits, of course, are talking heads (especially the ones on the "entertainment news" programs) who seem to need to appear overly erudite.......
Click to expand...

Oh-mahj is the correct French pronunciation. Although they spell it hommage. So unless you have the script the talking heads are reading from, you can't really be sure they're pronouncing it wrong. The French sort of have dibs on art references. I've pretty much never heard the hom-mij pronunciation used when talking about art, literature, theater, etc.

In school, my art professor (with his native Brooklyn accent) used oh-mahj for art references. My History professor used hom-ij referring to vassal lords paying off the king.
 
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One of my least favorites is when the talking heads use "begs the question" when they mean "raises the question".
Harrumph.
Bob
 
Ah yes ... I remember when I earned spending money by mowing Aristotle's lawn. Back then, *impact* was a noun - *affect* was a verb.

"The increase in taxes impacted the economy."

yeesh

And journalists were Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, H V Kaltenborn, Edward Murrow. The "news readers" followed.
 
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Basil said:
In the military, one of the most overused words is people saying "concur" instead of "agree."
Click to expand...

Bas, I completely concur.

I think that using a more continental pronunciation for words like homage instead of our American pronunciation is more than just an attempt to sound more erudite since it is the way most French people pronounce it. Mirriam Webster does still list a-mij as the correct pronunciation still but also lists o-mazh as acceptable as well.
 
The one that bugs me is when people start what they are going to say with "I mean..." when the haven't said anything yet. Nails on a chalkboard to me. Also "these ones" or "those ones" I mean...
 
And how 'bout the word "like" -

So, like, I was downtown the other day, and, like, there was a girl, like, behind me, who was, like, speaking quickly and like, using the word like, like it was going out of, like, style. She, like must have used the word, like at least, like, 10 times.

It was like driving me crazy.

yeesh
 
bobhustead said:
One of my least favorites is when the talking heads use "begs the question" when they mean "raises the question".
Harrumph.
Bob
Click to expand...

One of my non-favorites is when talking heads, politicians, etc., say "at the end of the day..."
 
And I am SO SICK of the phrase "on the ground." Yeah, it started with "boots on the ground" but now it used by everyone to mean something like "being there" (boots are otherwise).
 
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