I was planning on writing a clarifying follow-up post anyway, but this recent comment pushed me to make it now instead of later this week.
“Might I suggest you get on the Pronunciation 2.0 bandwagon with the rest of us 21st century libraians?[sic]”
Considering this comment was made anonymously I’m not sure how seriously to take it. The “pronunciation 2.0” part makes me laugh (I’m assuming a certain level of sarcasam in such a label,) but the anonymous nature of the comment and the rest of the comment’s content makes me think this individual is seriously suggesting that I give up caring. Well, that leads me to what I was going to clarify anyway…
I will admit that I’m fighting a loosing battle, nor any battle at all really, since I’m not necessarily trying to correct anyone (i.e. telling them to stop mispronouncing the word) but do not mispronounce it myself thereby encouraging the practice. The big issue for me is that I’m a trainer & teacher and I believe that one of the core roles of a teacher is to provide accurate information. If someone wants to take the accurate information and do something else with it, that’s out of my hands once they leave the room. So, in my blogging workshops, I tell my students that it’s correctly pronounced “we blog” and then continue informing them that most people pronounce it “web log” anyway. (Mostly since, as the commenter pointed out, many have “have never in my life heard ‘wee blog’ and honestly it just sounds silly.”) I then continue to use the word “blog” and its derivatives and say neither “we blog” or “web log” the rest of the class. Nor do I ever correct anyone during class. (Maybe I should but then I’d be fighting that battle I’ll never win.)
What caused my rant was my listening to the first group of ALA Library 2.0 program podcasts in which the instructors kept saying “web log” over and over again. (I’m only listening to the podcasts so I have no additional comments regarding the other complaints that have been made about the program as a whole.)
I’ve always said that I do what I do because I want to know “how” and “why” things work, which has led me to the firm belief that understanding the “hows” and “whys” of something along with the story of where something came from makes everyone better able to understand how to use that something to its fullest potential. As part of that, I believe that I must as an instructor, provide accurate information, even if “everyone else” is doing it another way.
If that puts me in the minority, so be it. (I’m used to it.) But being in the minority is rarely a good reason to change when the facts back you up.
My friend, I thought you were kidding with that first post. Guess not!
Looks like the OED is against you though: I can’t link because it is a paid site, but the pronunciation information clearly shows that the “e” should be pronounced like the “e” in “dress.”
I’m not sure why one person’s pronunciation of the word (even if it was the guy who coined it) should outweigh millions of other people’s pronunciation plus dictionary documentation of how it is usually pronounced.
Not that I’m wanting to pick a fight over it 🙂 .
I think this is a bit silly but interesting. Of course “We Blog!” was my first thought. Pronunciation changes as time goes on. One of the ones I dislike immensely is “achs” for ask. I was called a racist in a joking way by one of my students for objecting to it. I now just ignore it.
It’s what someone called “soft terminology” in the dark days before Pearl Har… sorry, in the dark days when I was at Library School. I support you wanting to give the correct etymology and support you saying “but lots of people say…” and then leaving it.
Bill Drew – (a)”axe” not ask seemed commonplace in Liverpool (!) and (b) don’t you just hate “ekscape” – one of k.d. lang’s finest – which gets onto the street every so often.
This is probably not the time to say this, but the battle you’re fighting is a losing battle. Unless something else is coming loose.
If I thought it was a battle I could win, I’d not have labeled it a rant. I do believe in my “cause” but posted more to get people talking about it than to actually change minds.