Ask The Editor: Elocution missteps

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday March 1st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next, Ask the Editor. Today, a few recent observations from listeners about the way we talk. Here is WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER: A number of emails we couldn’t squeeze into last week’s Listener Feedback segment all include variations on a perennial complaint: people talk funny. It’s true. We do.

Sometimes our elocution missteps stem from how we were raised. Perhaps you grew up like me thinking “snuck” was the proper past-tense form of the word “sneak.” It wasn’t until college when I met the woman who is now my wife that I learned that there were two types of people in the world—those who sneaked by—and those who didn’t. Whew! Glad I snuck into her life!

Well, here at WORLD we refer to the AP style guide as a starting point for questions like these, and AP says “the preferred past tense of sneak is sneaked.” Adding: “Do not use the colloquial snuck.” So as an editor, I do what I can to make sure those don’t sneak through.

The online Merriam Webster dictionary isn’t quite as hard-nosed about it. It explains: “snuck began to be used as an alternative past tense form in the 1800s, and is now very common.” Essentially saying: “get over it. People use it.”

So that brings me to last month’s emails. One listener pointed out a recent diction violation when one of our reporters mispronounced “realtors” and “realty”—inserting an additional vowel in both words. After hearing from quite a number of listeners, our reporter said she was glad to finally learn the proper pronunciation of those words she had said incorrectly for much of her life. I confessed to her that I still struggle with the word “nuclear.” Even when I try to say it correctly, it comes out like I’ve got marbles in my mouth—which some of you have written in to point out. So I try to use “atomic” whenever I can to avoid the word altogether.

But sometimes the pronunciation issues are less cut and dry.

Even though I was born in the second month of the year, I’m glad to see “February” in the rear view mirror. It’s a tough one to say. Some people say “Feb-u-ary” others say “February.” One listener insisted that we eliminate the sloppy pronunciation that she hears.

Let me just say, if these sorts of variations in our speech from time to time bother you or distract you, I’m sorry about that. But here’s where we come down. We agree with the saying that comes from our voice coach Jessica Hansen. There are lots of different flowers in the garden. Not everyone needs to say everything exactly the same way. Let each flower bloom. We try to have lots of grace and make room for regionalisms, common usages, and physical limitations.

My wife and I had a question we’d ask our kids when they were younger, and I think it’s a good reminder here, “Is it more important to be right, or to be loving?” Of course those aren’t the only two options. We can be both, but that’s the point. Be right, and be loving.

Jesus was full of grace and truth. As His followers with His Spirit within us, let us be characterized by that as well. And let me suggest that as Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 19:11, it’s ok to overlook an offense once in a while. Resist the temptation to go nuke-u-ler and correct everyone when they say something that you know isn’t quite right.

In the meantime, we’ll also strive to be as accurate as possible.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

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