xpensive dog

[boxofdelights]

Well, they all do get expensive if they live long enough. Aiko's allergies have gotten so bad I'm trying a grain-free dog food. What I have learned so far is that both dogs think it smells fantastic. I need to put it somewhere I can get it and they can't. Right now it is on top of the washing machine, but I'm going to have to use the washing machine someday. Unfortunately I don't have a dryer.


Does it make you uncomfortable to correct other people's pronunciation? Does it make you uncomfortable to have yours corrected? Is there any way you can make correction less uncomfortable? These questions brought to you by my SF book group's discussion of The Quantum Thief. Book and discussion were both very good, but I kept being bothered every time someone said "Sobornost" with the stress on the first syllable (instead of the second) and rhyming the last syllable with "lost" (instead of "toast").

Comments

[lilysea]

I don't mind being corrected *once*.

But if you correct me and I keep mispronouncing, it's because I can't say it the right way.

A friend kept correcting me every 5 minutes once "It's not dash-hund it's *dax*-hund"

I can't say dax-hund - sod off!

[boxofdelights]

That would be hard to tolerate.

Sometimes when someone keeps telling me the same thing, I can get them to stop by making eye contact and saying, "I understand."

They might stop, or they might snap, "Well why don't you do it then?" but I would rather be snapped at than snap.

[bibliofile]

Wait, isn't it "docks-hund"?

(Me, I'd just call them wiener dogs; I know I can pronounce that. YMMV, of course.)

[the_siobhan]

I don't mind being corrected. I don't frequently correct other people, but I will if it bothers me.

(I have never seen the word Sobornost before and I am amused by the fact that I would have pronounced it correctly. Benefits of having multi-lingual friends I guess.)

[wild_irises]

According to the linguistic analysis elisem's sister did of fannish speech patterns some years (decades?) ago, being pleased to be corrected is a trait that sets fans apart from many other sociocultural groupings. According to Karen, it has to do with whether you are more interested in getting it right or not being challenged. Me, of course, I love being corrected.

[boxofdelights]

Me too. But it can sting, depending on how it's offered.

I wonder whether that sting is intrinsic or a learned response.

[bibliofile]

Doesn't it depend on how the correction is delivered? A Chicago fan named Bill Higgins (on LJ as beamjockey, IIRC) is very good at gentle corrections. So many geeks would rather not be wrong that corrections can certainly be welcome. Like when my friend B and I saw a movie at a film festiveal. B was amazed at how it was quite optimistic for a Russian film (it was depressing, just not RUSSIAN depressing). I observ3ed as how maybe that was because it was a Greek film, which had B and I and two people behind us laughing.

[brigantine]

I'm always hesitant to correct someone I don't know very well. However, I know all my friends want to pronounce things correctly, so correcting them is no problem. I do have one friend, and my dad, who honestly have trouble pronouncing languages other than English, so I don't keep correcting them after the first time, unless they ask me to.

I don't mind being corrected, as long as people are nice about it, and I'm confident they know what they're talking about.

[krait]

I take it that the correct pronunciation of "Sobornost" is referenced somewhere in the book?

Oooh, which reminds me of a pet peeve I developed through years of exposure to fantasy novels: 'indexes' of the made-up words where the pronunciation is given poorly! Be consistent, authors - if "ear-ON" and "grell-AHN" have identical end syllables, then render your phonetic pronunciations identical! (Likewise, please remember vowels are tricky; in something like "SORR-a-bu" there is no way for me to distinguish what that middle sound is supposed to be!)

I've corrected someone twice that I can recall; one was my friend's younger brother, who somehow mangled Siuan Sanche's first name into "Sue-Ee-Ann" - which doesn't even match the vowel order! (And also sounds like one is trying to summon a pig, but never mind that.) The second was a longtime college friend whom I introduced to the works of Lois Bujold; when discussing the Miles Vorkosigan series, his consistent use of "VOR-ko-SIG-an" prompted from me a gentle, puzzled, "I'd always thought it was "vor-KO-sig-an". (Word of God says I'm right, but while I continued to use my own pronunciation I didn't ever correct his beyond the one suggestion.)