Category: Writing and Publishing

After another post, considering how words are used—and misused—my thoughts turned to how words are pronounced—and mispronounced.

I, for one, have a “flexible” pronunciation style. For any word possessing more than two syllables, I am seemingly able to enunciate it in at least two different ways—sometimes within the same sentence. Amazingly, I have not had to practice this skill; it just comes naturally. In fact, placing emphasis on the wrong syllable occurs so effortlessly that when I try to avoid alternate articulations, I often invent a third utterance.

In this regard, the letter “r” is of special interest to me. When I was a lad, I pronounced “wash” by inserting an “r” in the middle, as in “warsh.” Most of the time this was’’t a big deal; I think there was a local predilection to “warsh” things.

However, at age 10, we moved a scant 15 miles west. There, nobody wanted to “warsh” anything; I faced all manner of ridicule and humiliation over my proclivity to “warsh.” Although it took a concerted effort, I was eventually able to lose the “r” and I began to “wash” like everyone else.

Other people habitually interject an “r” into idea, as in “idear.” This usage is as odd to me as my “warshing” was to my friends growing up.

Then there are those folks who have a penchant for dropping “r”s.  For example “car” becomes “ca” and “bar” becomes “ba.” For example, did you drive your “ca” to the “ba”? Personally, I admire the concise brevity of this approach, though I have yet to adapt that style.

It could be that the misplaced “r”s in the “cas” got used when they were “warshed.” There’s a certain symmetry here that I can appreciate.

Any “idear” where it’s extra “r” came from?

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

On my last post, I admitted a struggle with the writing process. Not so much with the end results, but instead with the speed of getting there. Therefore, I will be working on “writing rightly,” that is writing with efficient effectiveness.

Along with that, I have established some personal blogging guidelines for “writing rightly.”

My plan is to do three or four entries a week. In order to maintain a proper balance between work and play and service (this blog is a combination of all three), I will try to post in the evenings and only on weekdays. (Notice that this entry is not in the evening and the prior one was not on a weekday. This gives me two more goals to shoot for!)

Each post will be fairly short—about 200 to 300 words is the goal. I want each entry to be long enough to convey something of merit, but not so long that people bail out at the mere sight of its length. Personally, I do that often with articles I read and emails I receive; I want to spare you from that. Brevity is the watchword!

Lastly, though I will unashamedly plug businesses and websites that are meaningful or interesting to me, know I will not accept any payment or consideration to do so. This blogger cannot be bought!

Onward!

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.