Debacle
Yesterday, I finally managed to win an old battle that I have been fighting for ages - the pronunciation of the word 'debacle'. I have given in to many correct pronunciations as time went on, from alias to deity to bestowed, but I have been fighting debacle for years. The issue was first raised back in AP Literature, when everyone claimed that it was pronounced de-BAH-kul instead of DE-buh-kul. I disagreed then, even though the simple high school dictionary we had on hand appeared to side with them. But I still never gave up my conviction.
My stubborn nature finally won. While perusing through the official Merriam-Webster dictionary site, listening to the narrations of different words, I happened to stumble upon my old nemesis again. And so I checked through all of the phonetic pronunciations... and there was my DE-buh-kul, at the end. So I listened to the narrations, and what was the last one they used? Yes, it was MY pronunciation. I was right! It may not be the normal pronunciation, but it is still legal!
Now that I have earned this linguistic victory, I will claim success with all of my other ongoing language wars: root is pronounced like boot, not foot; you drink a can of SODA and you POP a balloon; the proper name for those little rodlike flavoring on cake and ice cream is sprinkles, not jimmies. Just give up, people. I've won my first big victory, and it won't be long before I've won all of the others.
My stubborn nature finally won. While perusing through the official Merriam-Webster dictionary site, listening to the narrations of different words, I happened to stumble upon my old nemesis again. And so I checked through all of the phonetic pronunciations... and there was my DE-buh-kul, at the end. So I listened to the narrations, and what was the last one they used? Yes, it was MY pronunciation. I was right! It may not be the normal pronunciation, but it is still legal!
Now that I have earned this linguistic victory, I will claim success with all of my other ongoing language wars: root is pronounced like boot, not foot; you drink a can of SODA and you POP a balloon; the proper name for those little rodlike flavoring on cake and ice cream is sprinkles, not jimmies. Just give up, people. I've won my first big victory, and it won't be long before I've won all of the others.