Pedants' Paradise

[french frank]

The above wedˈnz-dā includes the d but would actually be two syllables: wedns - day

I would contend that the cluster dns is virtually impossible to articulate fully, and what you get is a sort of glottal stop before the n which is where the d would be, hence the OED's only pronunciations are Brit. /ˈwɛnzdeɪ/ /ˈwɛnzdi/ U.S. /ˈwɛnzˌdeɪ/ /ˈwɛnzdi/

In the etymologies, among 20 odd examples of early (written) forms, only one (Old Frisian) contains the cluster dns. In the rest, either the d is omitted or, in some, a vowel (e or i) is inserted between the d (or th) and the n, not between the n and the s:

Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Frisian, wednesdei , wernisdei , wensdei , wōnsdei , wornisdei , etc. (North Frisian weensdi , weensdai , West Frisian wênsdei , woansdei ), Middle Low German wōdensdach , woensdach , gōdensdach , Middle Dutch woensdach , wenesdach (Dutch woensdag ) < the genitive of the Germanic base of the name of the god Woden (see note) + the Germanic base of day n.,[ … ] Compare post-classical Latin dies Wodenis (a1142 in a British source). Compare also Old Icelandic Óðinsdagr, Old Swedish oþinsdagher, odensdagher, onsdagher (Swedish onsdag), Old Danish othensdag, onsdag (Danish onsdag), apparently after forms in West Germanic languages.

I would think that English Wednesday, with the d pronounced, originally had four syllables.

[Pabmusic]

...I would think that English Wednesday, with the d pronounced, originally had four syllables.

Possibly, though it seems Old English had three(ish): wodnesdæg (unless I've forgotten everything, this should be wodn-es-dæg, with the 'n' as a swallowed part of the first syllable). And from there further truncation occurred by the 15th century. Here's the Online Etymological Dictionary, which I generally find very good:

[The] fourth day of the week, Old English wodnesdæg "Woden's day," a Germanic loan-translation of Latin dies Mercurii "day of Mercury" (compare Old Norse Oðinsdagr, Swedish Onsdag, Old Frisian Wonsdei, Middle Dutch Wudensdach). For Woden, see Odin.

Contracted pronunciation is recorded from 15c. The Odin-based name is missing in German (mittwoch, from Old High German mittwocha, literally "mid-week"), probably by influence of Gothic, which seems to have adopted a pure ecclesiastical (i.e. non-astrological) week from Greek missionaries. The Gothic model also seems to be the source of Polish środa, Russian sreda "Wednesday," literally "middle."

[cat]

This reminds me of February, which I hear various people say with two, three, or four syllables. If it hadn't been for the printing press slowing down the evolution of spelling, it would probably be written as Febry by now.

[kernelbogey]

This reminds me of February, which I hear various people say with two, three, or four syllables. If it hadn't been for the printing press slowing down the evolution of spelling, it would probably be written as Febry by now.

It's even both written and spoken now as Feb, along with Jan, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec: the malign influence of the keyboard.

[Sir Velo]

This reminds me of February, which I hear various people say with two, three, or four syllables. If it hadn't been for the printing press slowing down the evolution of spelling, it would probably be written as Febry by now.

I prefer (and frequently use) plain "Feb" - at least you don't get the diction mangling of "Feb-ewe-erry" with the inevitable distress it causes.

[french frank]

I prefer (and frequently use) plain "Feb" - at least you don't get the diction mangling of "Feb-ewe-erry" with the inevitable distress it causes.

I was just checking the OED for 'veterinary' - five different pronunciations for that (excluding 'vet').

[Bryn]

I considered placing this in the pronunciation thread but decided this was where it better belonged. Have others here noticed rather too frequent Spooneristic/malapropistic juxtapositions of eligible as illegible on the BBC of late? Is it a teleprompter problem or simply a poor grasp of English on the part of some newsreaders?

[Padraig]

I considered placing this in the pronunciation thread but decided this was where it better belonged. Have others here noticed rather too frequent Spooneristic/malapropistic juxtapositions of eligible as illegible on the BBC of late? ?

I haven't noticed, Bryn, but trying out various utterances I imagine that it could be a careless mispronunciation of 'eligible' you hear rather than a poor grasp.

[Bryn]

I haven't noticed, Bryn, but trying out various utterances I imagine that it could be a careless mispronunciation of 'eligible' you hear rather than a poor grasp.

I've been hearing it quite a lot in broadcasts, of late. Admittedly, it is a rather well know and common error but one might hope the BBC's own would know better.

[french frank]

No. 1 on the BBC's 'Most Watched' clips: I wonder if, like me, people were just intrigued as to what the headline meant. Was it even English?

'Way more' playing as Wrexham in Football Manager

Was 'Way more' the nickname of a player? a manager? Why 'playing as' not 'playing for ... as..' ? Ah, well, it took less time - about 5 secs - watching than I 'd spent puzzling over it. Obvious really.

PS I see it has a new headline: "Wrexham scores more players on Football Manager" and it makes complete sense. Now.

[oddoneout]

I haven't noticed, Bryn, but trying out various utterances I imagine that it could be a careless mispronunciation of 'eligible' you hear rather than a poor grasp.

On TV and radio it's difficult to know for certain if it's a pronunciation issue or an error, but written versions suggest the latter is responsible in many cases. Two that I've been noticing in recent times are diffuse=defuse and detract=distract. In some contexts it doesn't matter too much I suppose; it alters the sense but not enough to cause problems. It does sometimes send me off into musings along the lines of "what would diffusing(sic) a tense situation lead to?"
One instance that has stuck in my memory was a programme presented by Dan Cruickshank in which "dissolution" [of the monasteries] was consistently rendered as "disillusion". I have to assume in that case it was careless pronunciation, but it does illustrate perhaps how errors can occur.

[Padraig]

One example I've heard a couple of times recently is the misuse of 'flaunt'/'flout'. No mispronunciation excuse there I'm afraid.

[Serial_Apologist]

On TV and radio it's difficult to know for certain if it's a pronunciation issue or an error, but written versions suggest the latter is responsible in many cases. Two that I've been noticing in recent times are diffuse=defuse and detract=distract. In some contexts it doesn't matter too much I suppose; it alters the sense but not enough to cause problems. It does sometimes send me off into musings along the lines of "what would diffusing(sic) a tense situation lead to?"

The energy running out of an argument, analogous to the spending of a river'e energy as it splits into a delta on approaching the sea?

One instance that has stuck in my memory was a programme presented by Dan Cruickshank in which "dissolution" [of the monasteries] was consistently rendered as "disillusion". I have to assume in that case it was careless pronunciation, but it does illustrate perhaps how errors can occur.

One might imagine that the monks would have been pretty disillusioned at the time though!

[french frank]

Another of today's BBC headlines didn't meet with my approval: 'Woman held over brothers killed in fire bailed'. ('Woman bailed over brothers' fire deaths'?). I know people get used to journalistic headline cliché so perhaps I'm just slow to catch on.

[Serial_Apologist]

Another of today's BBC headlines didn't meet with my approval: 'Woman held over brothers killed in fire bailed'. ('Woman bailed over brothers' fire deaths'?). I know people get used to journalistic headline cliché so perhaps I'm just slow to catch on.

Too many subtexts compressed into that headline for it to make sense. I suppose Shakespeare could also be accused of this, sometimes?