"Draconian" - "Sentient" - "Voldemort" - "Knut" - "Bezoar"

[Rita Winston]

Rebecca wrote:

<< You don't pronounce the word "draconian" as "DRAY-koh-nee-ann", do
you? >>

About half the time I do: it depends on my mood.

Amy Z wrote:

<< (you get this word a lot in Buddhist scripture, and not too many
other places that I know of). >>

I had no idea that 'sentient' was a big word in Buddhist scriptures -- I
am very familiar with it from science fiction, and almost resigned to my
sf cohorts using it to mean 'intelligent' (meaning, is people not
beast), which I REALLY think should be 'sapient' instead.  

Amanda wrote:

<< My husband thinks the T is silent as well. Must be a man thing. >>

A male I am NOT, but I always took it for granted that the T was silent
until joining the list and being amazed to find that some people think
it isn't.

Sam wrote:

<< Incidentally, there was a guy in my Professional Writing class who
was from Norway, and his name was Knut, pronounced 'kah-noot'. I didn't
know that it was a name.>>

I can NEVER remember whether the coin is named KnuT or KnuD, both of
course it's a name. I eat cottage cheese from Knudsen Dairy, and King
Canute who ordered the tide not to come in was really Knut. I always
wonder if JKR meant to name the coin after him.

I had started to reply to Hagridd's original post, by saying that almost
all his pronunciations are wrong if mine are right, when I guiltily
realised that being as how BEZOAR is a real word, I can pronounce it
bezz-zoh-are all I want, but I should check a dictionary before
admitting to doing so. I had Lee check the dictionary for me, as SHE can
understand those codes that dictionaries use to mean pronunciation. I
was outrageously horrified that the American dictionary indicated that
the preferred pronunciation is BEEEzer (like "one who beezes) with
BEEEzor as second choice, and the UK dictionary said BEEEzor. Lee was a
bit horrified herself, and looked up the etymology, and found that
'bezoar' came into English from a Spanish word bezz-zo-are which came
from something Arabic which came from Persian (Farsi) pad-zar meaning
'antidote to poison' which came from Persian zar meaning poison. We have
a friend who changed her name to Zara (because it's so pretty, not for
religious reasons) and Lee decided to tell her that her name means
'poison'. I already nitpicked Lee (Zara is Sarah) so you-uns don't need
to do so. 

------------------------------------------------------------------
Pepperwood, thunderbird featherdown, seven inches 
Ravenclaw class of 1976
character I most resemble: Mrs. Figg
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