I'm Offended (ER)

[Scary Snarky toaD]

Watching ER -- one of my favorite shows, and I swear I hear Maura Tierney (Abby) refer to a patient's

FAIR'-NICKS -- (when referring to "PHARYNX") -- it's supposed to be pronounced
FAIR' INKS.

I gotta admit for 51 years I called it Fair-Nicks too. Only recently did I learn I had been saying it wrong. But I would have thought one of the medical consultants on the show would have made sure a character who has been a nurse for years and is almost a doctor now would not make that mistake.

Anyway, thanks for letting me get that off my chest, and remember, kiddies, you don't have a Fair Nix, you have a Fair Inks.

Yours truly,

The part time medical transcriptionist (and therefore established terminology expert) toad who suddenly realizes she has a duty to change the errors in the world's diction one word at a time, lol.

:laugh: :smile4:

[chacharamone]

Phooey. I've been a nurse for 15 years and I've never heard it called anything BUT FAIR-NIX. Maybe its a regional pronounciation?

[littlebitties]

That is annoying! But you know what really bugs me? Every time President Bush says "nucular" instead of "nuclear". To me, that's almost as bad as a "physician" mispronouncing Pharynx. :laugh:

[Scary Snarky toaD]

Phooey. I've been a nurse for 15 years and I've never heard it called anything BUT FAIR-NIX. Maybe its a regional pronounciation?

I think more of a regional MIS pronunciation, lol.

[pteilman]

[kdphipps]

My pet peeve is people who say Mammie-O-grams. The correct pronunciation is
Mammo-grams. oh and people who say lymph noids instead of lymph nodes.

[pteilman]

Hit that send button before I finished my reply! Anyway, I've been a nurse for 16 years and work in the OR and in otolaryngology and have mostly heard it pronounced "fair-inks"! No big deal though. I hear wrong pronounciation from time to time and everyone still knows what is being talked about.

Trish

[wavewoman55]

Ha ha. I am in the middle of a grueling medical terminolgy class! No only is it 'fair-inx", but "lar-inx" was pounded into my head as well!!

[Ravzie]

Well, if you AX me here in WARSHINGTON, I think it's INKS. :nana:


Toad, I was sure your comment was going to be about the taking of the baby....that's what offended me....

[chacharamone]

Well I'll be darned. I stand corrected.

[Scary Snarky toaD]

Well, if you AX me here in WARSHINGTON, I think it's INKS. :nana:


Toad, I was sure your comment was going to be about the taking of the baby....that's what offended me....


I hated that too, Ravzie -- that totally broke my heart! And that's why I believe gays should be able to marry so things like that can't happen!!

:soapbox:

[minbari]

That is annoying! But you know what really bugs me? Every time President Bush says "nucular" instead of "nuclear". To me, that's almost as bad as a "physician" mispronouncing Pharynx. :laugh:

It's SCARY too! :shocked2:

[Joyful_Sweeps]

Language is in flux. It is constantly changing. We have a modern idea that it shouldn't. But it does, and it will.

:duck:

[Hanoian]

Hi all, new to the site...had to chime in:)

My favorite mispronunciation is "misproNOUNciation" LOL! The word pronunciation is pronounced just the way it is spelled:) Don’t believe me? Do a spell-check.

Others:

Forte (as in one's strength) is not pronounced FOR-TAY or FOR-TUH. It comes from the French word meaning strength and is pronounced FORT.

It's annoying when people say "LI-BERRY" instead of LI-BRARY.

REAL-A-TOR instead of the correct REAL-TOR.

ZOO-OLOGY instead of the correct ZO-OLOGY

PROBLY instead of the correct PRO-BAB-LY

Not really a misspelling, but I hate it when people say "irregardless" instead of the correct "regardless." It is not a word. the "ir" is redundant. Unfortunately, it's becoming so common that some dictionaries are allowing it:(

EX-SPECIALLY instead of the correct ES-PECIALLY


Okay, can you tell this is a pet peeve of mine? LOL, don't worry, I don't go around correcting people, that's even worse than mispronouncing words:)

[LunaTIC]

Not really a misspelling, but I hate it when people say "irregardless" instead of the correct "regardless." It is not a word. the "ir" is redundant. Unfortunately, it's becoming so common that some dictionaries are allowing it:(

I don't think it's that SOME dictionaries are ALLOWING it. New additions/revisions of dictionaries are done constantly and if a word is said enough....regardless of it's correctness or not.....it BECOMES a word ADDED into dictionaries eventually. :smile9: I guess that's one reason why I can never have too many dictionaries. I need the newly revised ones in order to keep up with what people are saying and sometimes I still don't know. :laugh:

[Cyrano_de_Texas]

I think I'll go to the LIBERRY to look up the correct PRONOUNCIATION! :laugh:

[Tricia316]

My supervisor says baFFroom instead of BATHroom. Drives me nuts!

My mother also says "Intendo" instead of Nintendo and Furescent instead of Flourescent!

Tricia

[jklkj]

its funny when my aunt calls the bathroom a bafroom
and a sandwich
a samwich

could possibly be regional but never heard anyone else in the region use that pronunciation
aka pro nun c a shun

[mgkamish]

The fact that the language changes just because people are ignorant drives me crazy! Sure language changes but mostly it adds new words, it doesn't condone illiteracy. Harumph. People are just lazy.

[ms gail]

I'm from Bal ti More but locally they say balimore...balimer...or bmore. My parents would die if we said it in any of these forms and the word hon is really overdone here. My state is Maryland not meryland. The official state name was derived from two words Mary's land given to her by her father. They combined them and you know the rest of the story. So yes everything pronounced can be regional...local...or stately. I love long island peoples accent and those from Queens as well. Each bourough has a uniquesness that can to detected if you listen...isn't it great that we can have so much in common and yet be so different via language. :cool2: :laugh: :rolleyes:

[dolphee]

My favorite by George W. Bush - stra-te-gery Not strategy

I hate when people say pacific when they mean Specific, Febuary when its clearly February, or they are going to registrate their kid for something - it is not a word its register, or notate also not a word you note it on the account ! Arghhhhhh. I'm so anal! :bhead:

[reddy]

the one that I hear most often is...off-ten. :rolleyes:

[infinitybean]

I think I'll go to the LIBERRY to look up the correct PRONOUNCIATION! :laugh:

:rofl3:

Ah, good ol' "pharynx."
I can clearly recall the day in an anatomy class many years ago when I first heard "pharynx" correctly pronounced. Having only ever heard the mispronunciation, I gazed askance at the instructor, scrawled a little note to myself about it, and scurried home to scornfully consult the dictionary, only to find that indeed it was I - and everyone else I'd ever heard say it - who'd been guilty of mispronouncing "pharynx."

While it's certainly true that language is slowly and constantly mutating, a phenomenon I find fascinating and really kind of ("...really kind of...?" What's that supposed to mean?) wonderful, that doesn't mean it's a doggone free-for-all.
Granted, as evidenced by my "pharynx" anecdote, I've a proclivity toward abruptly dashing off to look things up (much to the irritation of others, I'm sure) but I thought this was worth a quick trip over to the bookshelf, wanting as I do to keep current and worried there may have been some change of which I remained unaware.
Language is, after all, mutable, and the last time I felt the need to look up the word "pharynx" was that day so many years ago. Anything could have happened since then!
So I managed to muster up the energy to climb out of my chair, go to the bookshelf, take out my little magnifying glass, flip through (and squint at) the pages, and locate "pharynx" in the definitive source, the OED.
The entry reads thusly:

pharynx
/farringks/

noun (pl. pharynges /farinjeez/) the membrane-lined cavity behind the nose and mouth, connecting them to the oesophagus.

(No alternate pronunciations are offered.)

Also:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=pharynx

Main Entry: phar·ynx
Pronunciation: 'far-i[ng](k)s
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural pha·ryn·ges /f&-'rin-(")jEz/; also phar·ynx·es
Etymology: New Latin pharyng-, pharynx, from Greek, throat, pharynx; akin to Old Norse barki throat and probably to Latin ferire to strike -- more at BORE
1 : the part of the vertebrate alimentary canal between the cavity of the mouth and the esophagus
2 : a differentiated part of the alimentary canal in some invertebrates that may be thickened and muscular, eversible and toothed, or adapted as a suctorial organ

("...thickened and muscular, eversible and toothed..." Now that sounds cool! So, if "eversion" refers to being turned inside-out, then... Hmm... Note to self: Look up "eversible." )


Granted, I'm a big ol' logophile, so I might be too much of a stickler about these things, but colloquialisms and creative usage aside, there most assuredly is a correct way to pronounce everything.

Note:
Logophilia notwithstanding, I still manage to thoroughly mangle the English language as often as, and occasionally to a vastly greater degree than, the next guy, so for Heaven's sake, one need not feel compelled to point out the zillion errors in grammar, spelling, syntax and particularly in punctuation, that pepper this post.
Muchas gracias.


A handful of links I like, both fun to read and useful in settling Scrabble squabbles and bar bets, for anyone who might be interested:
http://pw1.netcom.com/~rlederer/
http://onelook.com/index.html
http://www.theslot.com/carets.html
http://www.bartleby.com/68/
http://www.wordspy.com/index.asp
http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/


Cool thread, toad - sorry to crash it with all my bombast!
It's just that this - language - is my mega-ultra-favorite thing to think about.
And to talk about, apparently.
I just can't resist! Forgive me?

[dmllite]

Irregardless of my thoughts on mispronounciation, I would probly run off to the baffroom to hide if a doctor or medical practitioner of any kind tried to lay a hand on me after saying "pharnyx." :smile9:

[Kym]

That is so funny...I've only ever heard it pronounced correctly. I've never heard anyone say Fairnicks. If they did, I'd certainly have no idea what they were talking about. It must be regional or something.

I'm New York City area myself.

[ey_re]

In KY, I have heard FAIR NIX a lot... but I'm going to be careful and not slip!

LOL I love this thread!

[turtle61]

"Tenth of Care" instead of "intensive care". Sorry, I'm the only one that's ever heard of that one. :laugh:

[Glam]

its funny when my aunt calls the bathroom a bafroom
and a sandwich
a samwich

could possibly be regional but never heard anyone else in the region use that pronunciation
aka pro nun c a shun

In my neck of the woods a sandwich is something quite refined, such as a cucumber sandwich, or a tea sandwich. Quite tasty. Meanwhile, a samich (alas, no "w" as in your aunts pronunciation) is another thing entirely. A samich is a huge, sloppy affair that can include any number of meats, cheeses, pickles, lettuce, tomato, etc., and is often so tall that it has to be "smooshed" before it fits in the average mouth. Also quite tasty. Samiches are also known as "Dagwoods" after the comic book/TV character (Blondie and) Dagwood (he liked big samiches), but that's a term used mostly by people my age (40) and older. :cool2:

It's really funny that you brought this up Ms. Toad because I first heard the term "lar-nix" very recently, in a hospital, and I thought I had been pronouncing it wrong all these years. As soon as the nurse left the room I whipped out my pocket dictionary (I carry one in my purse, I'm a word geek) and confirmed that it was indeed "lar-inks". Of course after that I kept giggling every time the nurse said it, which made everyone else giggle, and we looked like the most evil family laughing through my mother-in-laws diagnosis. The nurse also kept saying "Esoph-lagus"! :laugh: