Word Rant - Is Your Ideology Idiotic?
The folks on television, especially the network Sunday news shows are supposed to be experts in one way or another. They should also be able to pronounce words properly, put together sentences that actually make sense and otherwise sound as if they really are educated people.
Today's rant is on the proper pronunciation of the word "ideology" a noun defined by the Oxford American Dictionary as 1. the principal idea or beliefs that characterize a particular class, group or movement and 2. the ideas that form the basis of an economic or political theory, etc.
As you can see ideology refers to ideas. The word idea is pronounced with a long I not a short i. According to the dictionary so it ideology. There is no second listing for pronunciation as sometimes occurs but even in those cases the first listing is the preferred choice.
This morning on Meet the Press several (I didn't count could have actually been half) of the round table guests pronounced the word with a short i instead of the proper long I. Concerned me enough that I went to look ideology up thinking hey, maybe I'm wrong... nope.
Now perhaps this clever word play. By pronouncing it with a short i could these "experts" be implying that the ideology in question was idiotic? After all, idiot in all its forms is pronounced with a short i.
Just because lots of people mispronounce something doesn't make it all right for everyone else to mispronounce the word too. And don't even get me started on the appalling use of "irregardless"... that's another rant for another day.
Today's rant is on the proper pronunciation of the word "ideology" a noun defined by the Oxford American Dictionary as 1. the principal idea or beliefs that characterize a particular class, group or movement and 2. the ideas that form the basis of an economic or political theory, etc.
As you can see ideology refers to ideas. The word idea is pronounced with a long I not a short i. According to the dictionary so it ideology. There is no second listing for pronunciation as sometimes occurs but even in those cases the first listing is the preferred choice.
This morning on Meet the Press several (I didn't count could have actually been half) of the round table guests pronounced the word with a short i instead of the proper long I. Concerned me enough that I went to look ideology up thinking hey, maybe I'm wrong... nope.
Now perhaps this clever word play. By pronouncing it with a short i could these "experts" be implying that the ideology in question was idiotic? After all, idiot in all its forms is pronounced with a short i.
Just because lots of people mispronounce something doesn't make it all right for everyone else to mispronounce the word too. And don't even get me started on the appalling use of "irregardless"... that's another rant for another day.
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