wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] Michael Timm from Cold Spring (Putnam County) March 21, 2007 - 12:38PM

  Please comment on the use of "problematic" to mean "troublesome".

  It grates on me.

  
  
• [2] Jackie from NYC March 21, 2007 - 01:29PM

  Please ask Ms. O'Conner to comment on this sentence, which Verizon uses as an automated message in its voicemail system:

  "You have X messages whose retention time is about to expire."

  Many thanks!!

  Jackie

  
  
• [3] Libby Kessman from about fumfer March 21, 2007 - 01:34PM

  From Wiktionary:

  to fumfer

  A Yiddish word meaning to "mumble", most often used to mean to be evasive; can also mean to putter aimlessly or to waste time.

  1. to stammer; to mutter nervously or confusedly;

  Some common spellings: 'phumpher' and 'fumpher', to a lesser extent 'pfumpher' and 'pfumpfer', and very rarely, 'pfumfer'. Never 'phumfer'. The most common is 'phumpher', followed closely by 'fumfer'.

  
  
• [4] julia from minnesota March 21, 2007 - 01:34PM

  taxi from Greek tachis (tachys) meaning fast swift. I think.

  My grandmother visiting greece said people hailed cabs shouting 'Tachsi! '

  
  
• [5] Ann Roberti from Long Island March 21, 2007 - 01:48PM

  I have been bothered by hearing people saying height with a th sound at the end too. I have been noticing this creeping into people's speech over the last several years. Years ago, I never heard anyone say it, and now I hear it all the time. I was wondering if the proliferation of Home Improvement shows could be spreading this mispronunciation.

  
  
• [6] Jeff Miller from Brooklyn NY March 21, 2007 - 01:51PM

  "Taxi" refers to the metering device.

  
  
• [7] Larry Raffaele from Queens March 21, 2007 - 01:51PM

  My Oxford Pocket American Dictionary of Current English lists both pronunciations of February [febrooeree and febyooeree]

  
  
• [8] Jeff Miller from Brooklyn NY March 21, 2007 - 01:54PM

  also...re: taxi, I think it refers to an old word for travel but was used by the inventor when the modern meter was developed.

  
  
• [9] julia from minnesota March 21, 2007 - 01:54PM

  cacophony is Greek kako= ugly

  
  
• [10] Estelle from Long Beach March 21, 2007 - 01:54PM

  Leonard, you're not alone. I also say FeBRUary

  and it irks me that people on TV and radio don't.

  Also, REALTOR vs REAL A TOR - You hear it in real estate commercials all the time pronounced REAL A TOR

  
  
• [11] David Ellertson March 21, 2007 - 01:55PM

  Cowlick - I think it refers to the way in which a calf's hair is often left swirled when the cow licks it clean immediately after birth.

  
  
• [12] Cornelius from Mount Sinai March 21, 2007 - 01:57PM

  taxi comes from an earlier Eng. form was taxameter (1894), used in horse-drawn cabs.

  
  
• [13] Ina Reilly from NJ March 21, 2007 - 01:57PM

  Kerfuffle is not a neologism.

  From Merriam Webster:

  Etymology: alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled

  chiefly British : DISTURBANCE, FUSS

  
  
• [14] Charol Shakeshaft from Laurel Hollow New York March 21, 2007 - 02:11PM

  I was troubled by your patter on the use of the word Miss. If you believe in gender neutral language, then you don't differentiate by a person's marital status or age, unless you do it for both sexes.

  Mr. Ms

  Sir Madam

  
  
• [15] valentin lyubarsky from carroll gardens March 21, 2007 - 02:27PM

  I was surprised to hear Patricia O'Connor calling cacophony a Latin word. It is a Greek one, in its both components.

  Val Lyubarsky

  
  
• [16] Paul Richer from Long Island City March 19, 2008 - 02:31PM

  I'm often appalled at the improper use of the pronoun "you." Frequently I hear it used when "I' or "me" is called for. Are you aware of this, and if so, does it bother you as much as it bothers me?