Error in Dr Bailly's pronunciation
published: Sunday | June 1, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I TOOK time out, Thursday, May 30, 2003, to watch Trudy McLeary compete for the Scripps Howard Spelling Bee award held annually in Washington D.C.
Trudy and her peers were all un-complacent competitors. She dug for the proper pronunciation of the word 'aplustre', from Dr. Jacques Bailly, the 'Pronouncer', but could not be assured by his interpretation of how the word should be pronounced.
Somewhere in her education of proper pronunciation of Latin and Greek terms transferred or evolved into English, she knew there were errors on the proctors' part. Dr. Bailly's mispronouncement of the word 'aplustre', ditched her into third place, however by her spelling 'aplustre', APLUSTRY, based on Dr. Bailly's incorrect pronouncement of the word.
He pronounced it 'A-plus-terie'. The word aplustre is akin to the word sound 'centre' Jamaican, and which is equal to 'center' in the U.S. English spelling. Trudy came out of this experience a much richer person, knowing well she had not erred.
