Piric, peeric, pyric, pearique, pierick ???
Thomas Schenk
Phil McCracken wrote:
> I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
> context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>
> Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
The allusion is to Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus' victory in 279 B.C over
the Romans, won only at staggering cost to his own army:
``One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.''
The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
pie").
Best regards,
Tom
--
*******************
Dr Thomas M Schenk
Laguna Beach, California
Phil McCracken
H Gilmer
Phil McCracken (p...@teldar.com.au) wrote:
: I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
: Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
Maybe "Pyrrhic", as in "Pyrrhic victory", which means a victory gained
at terrible losses?
Hg
Albert Marshall
Phil McCracken <p...@teldar.com.au> wrote
>I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
>context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>
>Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
I *think* you may need "pyrrhic", usually linked with "victory" to
indicate a fight where the winner came out only marginally better off
than the loser.
Quoted from the Merriam webster part of my Infopedia CD ROM:
Your dictionary will tell you what pyrrhic victory means: "a victory won
at excessive cost." Bryson 1984 tells us that the phrase does not mean
"a hollow victory." But when you stop to think about it, a victory won
at excessive cost would indeed turn out to be hollow. More important,
perhaps, pyrrhic is a word to keep an eye on, for it is in the process
of changing its behavior in the language to some extent.
<snip the rest>
Quoted from the Funk & Wagnalls webster part of my Infopedia CD ROM:
In 281 BC the people of Tarentum (now Taranto), a Greek colony in
southern Italy then at war with the Romans, requested the aid of
Pyrrhus. Early in 280 BC he sailed for Tarentum with a force of 25,000
men and 20 elephants and in the same year defeated the Romans at
Heraclea, in the Roman province of Lucania, but at great cost to his
army; hence the expression Pyrrhic victory.
--
Albert Marshall
Executive French
Language Training for Businesses in Kent
01634 400902
Phil McCracken
H Gilmer wrote:
>
> Phil McCracken (p...@teldar.com.au) wrote:
> : I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
> : context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>
> : Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
>
> at terrible losses?
>
> Hg
Yes! That appears to be it. Thank you. Any ideas about the origin?
Truly Donovan
>The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
>pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
>The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>pie").
Most familiar to who? It's not a word one hears a great deal, true,
but still, when *this* one hears it, all it's i's are short.
--
Truly Donovan
reply to truly at lunemere dot com
Perchprism
Phil McCracken wrote:
>From: <p...@teldar.com.au>
>Date: Fri, Feb 20, 1998 00:37 EST
>Message-id: <34ED16...@teldar.com.au>
>
>I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
>context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>
>Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
You heard "Pyrrhic" (victory). Woulda never guessed that spelling in a million
years, huh?
GBL
"Quotation is the opiate of the intelligentsia."
Skitt
Truly Donovan wrote in message <34ed60fa...@news3.ibm.net>...
>On Thu, 19 Feb 1998 23:15:51 -0800, Thomas Schenk
><tmsc...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
>>The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
>>pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
>>The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>>pie").
>
>Most familiar to who? It's not a word one hears a great deal, true,
>but still, when *this* one hears it, all it's i's are short.
Truly! Not only one, but two boo-boos.
Skitt
Phil McCracken
Phil McCracken wrote:
>
> H Gilmer wrote:
> > Maybe "Pyrrhic", as in "Pyrrhic victory", which means a victory gained
> > at terrible losses?
> >
> > Hg
>
> Yes! That appears to be it. Thank you. Any ideas about the origin?
Courtesy of Microsoft Encyclopaedia :
In 281 bc the people of Tarentum (now Taranto), a Greek colony in
southern Italy then at war with the Romans, requested the aid of Pyrrhus.
Early in 280 bc he sailed for Tarentum with a force of 25,000 men and 20
elephants and in the same year defeated the Romans at Heraclea, in the
Roman province of Lucania, but at great cost to his army; hence the
expression Pyrrhic victory. In 279 bc Pyrrhus again defeated the Romans
at excessive cost, at the Battle of Asculum, in the Roman province of
Apulia.
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
On Fri, 20 Feb 1998 09:36:21 -0500, "Skitt" <al...@myself.com> wrote:
>
>Truly Donovan wrote in message <34ed60fa...@news3.ibm.net>...
>
>>Most familiar to who? It's not a word one hears a great deal, true,
>>but still, when *this* one hears it, all it's i's are short.
>
>
>Truly! Not only one, but two boo-boos.
>
The serger escaped.
>
>
N.Mitchum
Thomas Schenk wrote (about "Pyrrhic victory") :
-----
> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
> pie").
Most familiar, perhaps, to someone who has only seen the word in
print or heard it pronounced by such a one. Educated speakers
(and the dictionary) would inform him that the word is pronounced
pretty much as the subject title approximates: PIR-ick, with a
short i as it "sit."
--- NM
Mailed copies of replies always appreciated. (Mailers: drop HINTS.)
Ross Howard
>Thomas Schenk wrote (about "Pyrrhic victory") :
>-----
>> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>> pie").
>>.....
>
>Most familiar, perhaps, to someone who has only seen the word in
>print or heard it pronounced by such a one. Educated speakers
>(and the dictionary) would inform him that the word is pronounced
>pretty much as the subject title approximates: PIR-ick, with a
>short i as it "sit."
Could the likelihood of an American pronouncing "Pyrrhic" as /'paIrIk/
("PIE-rick") be related to the likelihood of their pronouning the
prefixes "anti-" and "semi-" as /'&ntaI/ ("AN-tye") and "SEM-eye"
('semaI)?
Ross Howard
****************************************************
There's a number in my e-mail address. Subtract four
from it to reply.
****************************************************
H Gilmer
Ross Howard (rho...@mx7.redestb.es) wrote:
: Could the likelihood of an American pronouncing "Pyrrhic" as /'paIrIk/
: ("PIE-rick") be related to the likelihood of their pronouning the
: prefixes "anti-" and "semi-" as /'&ntaI/ ("AN-tye") and "SEM-eye"
: ('semaI)?
Not in my case. I've always assumed "Pyrrhic" was pronounced with
the "short" i (probably based on the double "r"), but I think I go
either way on the prefixes, depending on context.
The more detached the prefixes, the more I go for the /aI/
pronunciation. If I pronounce them in isolation, they end in /aI/. I
think "semi-" is always /sEmI/ in combination. "Anti-" is /-I/ in
established combinations but /-aI/ if I'm creating a new one.
Hg
N.Mitchum
Ross Howard wrote:
-----
> > [...] Educated speakers
> >(and the dictionary) would inform him that the word is pronounced
> >pretty much as the subject title approximates: PIR-ick, with a
> >short i as it "sit."
>
> ("PIE-rick") be related to the likelihood of their pronouning the
> prefixes "anti-" and "semi-" as /'&ntaI/ ("AN-tye") and "SEM-eye"
> ('semaI)?
Perhaps you weren't really responding to my denial that most
Americans pronounce it "PIE-rick." Or perhaps I just didn't make
my point clear enough: most of us do say "PIR-ick."
There is little likelihood that anyone familiar with "Pyrrhic"
will mispronounce it, be he American or other. Neither are
Americans always given to pronouncing "anti-" or "semi-" with a
long i (as in "pie"); some do, some don't, and not with much
consistency either way, it seems to me.
Steve Barnard
Truly Donovan wrote:
>
> On Fri, 20 Feb 1998 09:36:21 -0500, "Skitt" <al...@myself.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >Truly Donovan wrote in message <34ed60fa...@news3.ibm.net>...
> >><tmsc...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>>The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
> >>>pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
> >>>pie").
> >>
> >>but still, when *this* one hears it, all it's i's are short.
> >
> >
> >Truly! Not only one, but two boo-boos.
>
> You probably don't have a license for that.
Which vernacular would that be? "To who" sounds grossly unvernacular to
my ear, and "it's" is beyond the pale.
Steve Barnard
Amicus Constantini
----------
In article <34EE32...@megafauna.com>, Steve Barnard
<st...@megafauna.com> wrote:
>
>Which vernacular would that be? "To who" sounds grossly unvernacular to
>my ear, and "it's" is beyond the pale.
"To who" sounds perfectly vernacular to me, a native American. "To whom"
sounds pretty stilted, especially in casual conversation. Hearing "whom" in
a formal address would be mildly distracting, hearing it in casual
conversation would really make me wonder about the person using it (Does
this person think I'll be impressed by this word, or do they really talk
this way all the time?). I think then, for me, 'whom' is archaic. I can't
hear any difference between "it's" and "its".
Steve Barnard
"Whom" is archaic, eh? To who are you addressing this comment?
"Who is this most familar to?" sounds OK to me. "Most familiar to who?"
sounds just awful. I can't explain why, but that's the way I hear it.
As for "it's" vs. "its", of course you can't hear the difference! How
would you pronounce "'"?
Steve Barnard
Robert Lipton
Pyrrhus (also sometimes spelled 'Pyrrhos') is reported to have said
(translated and from memory): "One more such victory and I am undone!"
Bob
Phil McCracken
N.Mitchum wrote:
>
> Ross Howard wrote:
> Perhaps you weren't really responding to my denial that most
> Americans pronounce it "PIE-rick." Or perhaps I just didn't make
> my point clear enough: most of us do say "PIR-ick."
>
> There is little likelihood that anyone familiar with "Pyrrhic"
> will mispronounce it, be he American or other. Neither are
> Americans always given to pronouncing "anti-" or "semi-" with a
> long i (as in "pie"); some do, some don't, and not with much
> consistency either way, it seems to me.
Just for reference, the black actor (Samuel "I'm in almost every film
now") in the film I was watching pronounced the word peer-ic. "i"
pronounced like the "i" in Mir (space-station).
Truly Donovan
On Fri, 20 Feb 1998 09:36:21 -0500, "Skitt" <al...@myself.com> wrote:
>
>Truly Donovan wrote in message <34ed60fa...@news3.ibm.net>...
>>On Thu, 19 Feb 1998 23:15:51 -0800, Thomas Schenk
>><tmsc...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>
>>>The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
>>>pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
>>>The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>>>pie").
>>
>>Most familiar to who? It's not a word one hears a great deal, true,
>>but still, when *this* one hears it, all it's i's are short.
>
>
>Truly! Not only one, but two boo-boos.
Only one boo-boo. The other was a deliberate use of the vernacular.
You probably don't have a license for that.
--
Sean Holland
Thomas Schenk <tmsc...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
> pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
> pie").
>
Eeeeyew! You can't be serious! The pronunciation I've always heard
and used is something like "prick" with two syllables. Peer-ick. But
then I'm just a Canuck.
--
Sean
To e-mail me, take out the garbage.
Ross Howard
>There is little likelihood that anyone familiar with "Pyrrhic"
>will mispronounce it, be he American or other. Neither are
>Americans always given to pronouncing "anti-" or "semi-" with a
>long i (as in "pie"); some do, some don't, and not with much
>consistency either way, it seems to me.
That was my point. I agree that most Americans probably don't use [aI]
for "anti-" and "semi-", but wondered whether those (few?) who do
might be tempted to say "PIE-rick" more than those who don't.
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
>"Whom" is archaic, eh? To who are you addressing this comment?
>
>"Who is this most familar to?" sounds OK to me. "Most familiar to who?"
>sounds just awful. I can't explain why, but that's the way I hear it.
>
Proximity rules (or roolz) is why.
>As for "it's" vs. "its", of course you can't hear the difference! How
>would you pronounce "'"?
>
It's hard to stand still when reading some of the things here but
'whom the gods wish to destroy first they make mad' and divine purpose
ought not to be meddled with. I think I read that in Sci. Classics.
Keith C. Ivey
rho...@mx7.redestb.es (Ross Howard) wrote:
>That was my point. I agree that most Americans probably don't use [aI]
>for "anti-" and "semi-", but wondered whether those (few?) who do
>might be tempted to say "PIE-rick" more than those who don't.
It's possible, I suppose, but I really haven't seen or heard any
evidence that any Americans other than Thomas Schenk actually say
"PIE-rick".
The number of Americans who use [aI] in "anti-" and "semi-" in at
least some circumstances is more than a few.
Keith C. Ivey <kci...@cpcug.org>
http://cpcug.org/user/kcivey/
Washington, DC
Aaron J. Dinkin
In article <6cllnf$pg4$1...@mark.ucdavis.edu>, "Amicus Constantini"
<co...@novaroma.gov> wrote:
> "To who" sounds perfectly vernacular to me, a native American.
Pardon the expression.
> "To whom" sounds pretty stilted, especially in casual conversation. Hearing
> "whom" in a formal address would be mildly distracting, hearing it in casual
> conversation would really make me wonder about the person using it (Does
> this person think I'll be impressed by this word, or do they really talk
> this way all the time?).
Well, I do. Actually, I don't use "to whom"; I use "whom... to", as in
"Whom did you give it to?" - giving no credence to the old Thistlebottomism
about ending a sentence with a preposition.
Would you really "really wonder about" me? (See sig.)
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom
Albert Marshall
H Gilmer <gil...@uts.cc.utexas.edu> wrote
>Ross Howard (rho...@mx7.redestb.es) wrote:
>
>: Could the likelihood of an American pronouncing "Pyrrhic" as /'paIrIk/
>: ("PIE-rick") be related to the likelihood of their pronouning the
>: prefixes "anti-" and "semi-" as /'&ntaI/ ("AN-tye") and "SEM-eye"
>: ('semaI)?
>
>the "short" i (probably based on the double "r"), but I think I go
>either way on the prefixes, depending on context.
>
>The more detached the prefixes, the more I go for the /aI/
>pronunciation. If I pronounce them in isolation, they end in /aI/. I
>think "semi-" is always /sEmI/ in combination. "Anti-" is /-I/ in
>established combinations but /-aI/ if I'm creating a new one.
>
with.
Rather like the way people of my acquaintance tend to stress the
indefinite article by pronouncing it as "ay" (rhymes with "Bay") rather
than the usual (around here, anyway) short "a" of "cat".
In the UK a house which is attached to one of its neighbours is
described as "semi-detached" and usually referred to as a "semi" (short
"i"). This acounts for the confusion felt when one hears about an
American driving a "semi".
--
Albert Marshall
S.E. England
Markus Laker
Ross Howard wrote:
> >: Could the likelihood of an American pronouncing "Pyrrhic" as /'paIrIk/
> >: ("PIE-rick") be related to the likelihood of their pronouning the
> >: prefixes "anti-" and "semi-" as /'&ntaI/ ("AN-tye") and "SEM-eye"
> >: ('semaI)?
Interesting question. This Brit votes for /'pIrIk/ and /'sEmi/, by the
way.
Albert Marshall <alb...@execfrog.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Rather like the way people of my acquaintance tend to stress the
> indefinite article by pronouncing it as "ay" (rhymes with "Bay") rather
> than the usual (around here, anyway) short "a" of "cat".
Pronouncing the indefinite article as /&/ (with the same vowel as in
'cat') is somewhat unusual. The pronunciations given in COD9 are /@/
and /eI/ (second vowel in 'lemon'; diphthong in 'bay'), and those are
the ones I grew up with.
> In the UK a house which is attached to one of its neighbours is
> described as "semi-detached" and usually referred to as a "semi" (short
> "i").
I say /'sEmi/. The vowels are the same as in 'dead meat' but the 'i' is
shorter than in 'meat'.
Dammit, can't we just use ASCII IPA?
Markus
--
a.u.e resources: http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~laker/aue/
My real email address doesn't include a Christian name.
Ken Butcher
In article <34EE2B...@teldar.com.au>,
Phil McCracken <p...@teldar.com.au> wrote:
> Just for reference, the black actor (Samuel "I'm in almost every film
> now") in the film I was watching pronounced the word peer-ic. "i"
> pronounced like the "i" in Mir (space-station).
Hmmm. The Russian students at my college insist that they have _never_
heard a native English speaker pronounce "Mir" correctly. I certainly
can't manage it.
--
__ __ ___________
|_/ / _ |__) Ken Butcher
| \ \__| |__) ___________ kbut...@argonet.co.uk
(So glad to be an Acorn User)
Albert Marshall
Markus Laker <fredd...@tcp.co.uk> wrote
>
>Albert Marshall <alb...@execfrog.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Rather like the way people of my acquaintance tend to stress the
>> indefinite article by pronouncing it as "ay" (rhymes with "Bay") rather
>> than the usual (around here, anyway) short "a" of "cat".
>
>Pronouncing the indefinite article as /&/ (with the same vowel as in
>'cat') is somewhat unusual. The pronunciations given in COD9 are /@/
>and /eI/ (second vowel in 'lemon'; diphthong in 'bay'), and those are
>the ones I grew up with.
Careless of me, but I couldn't think of a suitable example. You are
right of course.
>
>> In the UK a house which is attached to one of its neighbours is
>> described as "semi-detached" and usually referred to as a "semi" (short
>> "i").
>
>I say /'sEmi/. The vowels are the same as in 'dead meat' but the 'i' is
>shorter than in 'meat'.
>
>Dammit, can't we just use ASCII IPA?
If you want to, Markus, but don't be surprised if my attempts come out
like a Klingon with a laryngitis. That's why I avoid the beer thing.
Cretin Deneuve
On Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:43:05 +0800, Phil McCracken <p...@teldar.com.au>
ha scritto:
>H Gilmer wrote:
>>
>> Phil McCracken (p...@teldar.com.au) wrote:
>> : I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
>> : context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>>
>> : Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
>>
>> Maybe "Pyrrhic", as in "Pyrrhic victory", which means a victory gained
>> at terrible losses?
>>
>> Hg
>
>Yes! That appears to be it. Thank you. Any ideas about the origin?
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, made war against Romans in III century b.C.
In the beginning he won, but "at terrible losses", so in the end he
was defeated.
Ciao.
---
Remove "XXX" from my address to reply.
Togli "XXX" dal mio indirizzo per rispondere.
cw...@gmx.net
>H Gilmer wrote:
>> Maybe "Pyrrhic", as in "Pyrrhic victory", which means a victory gained
>> at terrible losses?
>>
>> Hg
>
>Yes! That appears to be it. Thank you. Any ideas about the origin?
In the year 279 B.C. King Pyrrhus of Epirus fought the Romans in a
long drawn-out battle, Pyrrhus won, but he lost so large a part of his
army, and his surviving soldiers were so exhausted that, according to
Plutarch, he exclaimed, "One more such victory over the Romans and we
are utterly undone."
Mark Odegard
[Posted, e-mailed] **Please note Spam Trap** On Tue, 24 Feb
1998 06:22:17 GMT, s.m...@ix.netcom.com (Polar) in
<35026658...@nntp.ix.netcom.com> wrote
|(Here's where phonetics would come in handy..!)
|
|The "i" has to be "eeee", and the "r" has to be like a Spanish or
|Italian "r". Now try it! See...easy, wasn't it?
I have all those books that suggest I pronounce certain vowels
as in Italian. I don't know Italian. Or French. You work
yourself around such suggestions, looking over your shoulder,
hoping you won't be called igonorant.
I've written John Lawler *demanding* that he (or one/some of his
students) speak into their computer and send the results to
Markus Laker.
--
Mark Odegard. (Note change in domain name but not ISP)
Emailed copies of responses are very much appreciated.
L.I. Endell
Steve Barnard wrote:
: As for "it's" vs. "its", of course you can't hear the difference! How
: would you pronounce "'"?
Well, I generally pronounce it "'" but I'm rightpondian. There may be a
transpondental difference here :-).
Linz, gd&rvf...
--
Lindsay Endell li...@cam.ac.uk & li...@earthling.net
Ooh, not exactly a pedant as such, I wouldn't say...
Amicus Constantini
In article <adinkin-ya0231800...@news.nii.net>,
Yes, as a matter of fact, I am at present really wondering whether your
elders and peers used 'whom' when you were, say, three years old (assuming
you are a native speaker of English). Or did you adopt this usage later?
"Whom did you give it to" sounds very stilted and affected to me, almost as
much as 'ye' or 'thou'. Though in those cases I would wonder "Why is this
person using these archaic forms?", while with 'whom' I think, "Oh, yeah,
that's supposed to be 'correct'."
David C. Larkin
Mark Odegard wrote:
>
> I have all those books that suggest I pronounce certain vowels
> as in Italian. I don't know Italian. Or French. You work
> yourself around such suggestions, looking over your shoulder,
> hoping you won't be called igonorant.
>
Don't worry. "Igonorant" is not a word in Italian.
Dave Larkin
Michael Cargal
"Amicus Constantini" <co...@novaroma.gov> wrote:
>I am at present really wondering whether your
>elders and peers used 'whom' when you were, say, three years old (assuming
>you are a native speaker of English). Or did you adopt this usage later?
>"Whom did you give it to" sounds very stilted and affected to me, almost as
>much as 'ye' or 'thou'. Though in those cases I would wonder "Why is this
>person using these archaic forms?", while with 'whom' I think, "Oh, yeah,
>that's supposed to be 'correct'."
I am a native speaker of Texan, and I learned Californian as a second
language. My parents taught me to say "Whom did you give it to," and
my teachers reinforced it (though they added some nonsense about not
ending a sentence with a preposition). It thus sounds natural to me.
"Who did you give it to" also sounds natural to my ear, though it
doesn't flow easily off my tongue. I accept the use of "who" in the
objective case as a linguistic change, and it doesn't bother me. What
does bother me is the use of "whom" in the nominative case.
Michael Cargal car...@cts.com
Marjorie Neumann
Steve Barnard wrote:
>
> As for "it's" vs. "its", of course you can't hear the difference! How
> would you pronounce "'"?
>
I believe team proofreaders pronounce it "pos."
M. Neumann
mne...@american.edu
P&DSchultz
Polar wrote:
>
> ...
> Good thing you don't have to read the LA Times every day; you'd have a
> coronary at the way they routinely reverse "who" and "whom". For
> their writers (and editors, proof-readers, all down the line) object
> of a preposition is "who", and subject of a dependent clause is
> "whom". *Major* Feh!
Well, at least they follow a rule, even if it's backwards. The
Washington Post changes its mind about who/whom about twice a week.
//P. Schultz
Amicus Constantini
In article <6d0a9o$hfd$1...@mark.ucdavis.edu>, I wrote:
>In article <adinkin-ya0231800...@news.nii.net>,
>adi...@commschool.org (Aaron J. Dinkin) wrote:
I use "whom... to", as in
>>"Whom did you give it to?" - giving no credence to the old
Thistlebottomism
>>about ending a sentence with a preposition.
>>
>>Would you really "really wonder about" me? (See sig.)
>
>elders and peers used 'whom' when you were, say, three years old (assuming
>you are a native speaker of English). Or did you adopt this usage later?
>"Whom did you give it to" sounds very stilted and affected to me, almost as
>much as 'ye' or 'thou'. Though in those cases I would wonder "Why is this
>person using these archaic forms?", while with 'whom' I think, "Oh, yeah,
>that's supposed to be 'correct'."
Oh dear. I hope no one gets the idea that I think Mr. Dinkin is snobby or
stilted. That is not what I meant. I hereby apologize to Whom it may
concern. The usage he describes does sound stilted to me, but I would not
judge his character based on one word. I could say the same thing about
using 'one' as a third person pronoun, except that I occasionally use it
myself, in situations wherein I do not wish anyone to take what I say
personally, which might occur if I were to use 'you' in this context.
Anyway, I've come to realize that there are situations in which 'whom' does
sound right to me, while 'who' will not do. Besides stock phrases like 'to
whom it may concern', 'for whom the bell tolls', I find 'whom' to be
necessary, in the phrase, 'both of whom' and acceptable when immediately
following a preposition. But 'whom did you give it to/ get it from', etc.
just sounds plain wrong to me. I assume this comes from early exposure to
fanatical English teachers insisting that the use of 'who' as an object was
just plain ignorant.
My God! I have an irrational prejudice! Oh, well.
freeconfiden...@gmail.com
>
> > I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
> > context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
> >
> > Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
>
> the Romans, won only at staggering cost to his own army:
>
> ``One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.''
> The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
> pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
> pie").
>
>
> Tom
>
>
> --
> *******************
> Dr Thomas M Schenk
> Laguna Beach, California
relating to or regarding vampires
micky
freeconfiden...@gmail.com wrote:
>On Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, Thomas Schenk wrote:
>> Phil McCracken wrote:
>>
>> > I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
>> > context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>> >
>> > Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
>>
>> The allusion is to Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus' victory in 279 B.C over
>> the Romans, won only at staggering cost to his own army:
>>
>> ``One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.''
>>
>> The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
>> pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
>> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>> pie").
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>> --
>> *******************
>> Dr Thomas M Schenk
>> Laguna Beach, California
>
>relating to or regarding vampires
Please say where you live, or what
area's English you are asking about.
So your question or answer makes sense.
. .
I have lived all my life in the USA,
Western Pa. Indianapolis, Chicago,
Brooklyn, Baltimore.
![Peter Duncanson [BrE]'s profile photo](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/ALV-UjU1GGYFBCZgBCNB-pRgkosMu-ej0qpnECw3jc8uGYOTiF8a=s40-c)
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
wrote:
>On Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:35:22 -0800 (PST),
>freeconfiden...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>On Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, Thomas Schenk wrote:
>>> Phil McCracken wrote:
>>>
>>> > I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
>>> > context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>>> >
>>> > Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
>>>
>>> The allusion is to Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus' victory in 279 B.C over
>>> the Romans, won only at staggering cost to his own army:
>>>
>>> ``One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.''
>>>
>>> The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
>>> pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
>>> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>>> pie").
>
>I never heard PIE rick Only PEER ick.
The OED gives the same pronunciation in both AmE and BrE:
p - i - r - i - k
IPA Sounds like
p p as in pine (main stress)
? i as in pit, hill
r r as in run, terrier
? i as in pit, hill
k k as in card, park
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Athel Cornish-Bowden
> On Sat, 14 Feb 2015 09:57:05 -0500, micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:35:22 -0800 (PST),
>> freeconfiden...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> On Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, Thomas Schenk wrote:
>>>> Phil McCracken wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
>>>>> context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
>>>>
>>>> The allusion is to Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus' victory in 279 B.C over
>>>> the Romans, won only at staggering cost to his own army:
>>>>
>>>> ``One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.''
>>>>
>>>> The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
>>>> pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
>>>> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
>>>> pie").
>>
>> I never heard PIE rick Only PEER ick.
>
> I've only heard the "y" pronounced the same as the "i" in "ic".
> The OED gives the same pronunciation in both AmE and BrE:
>
> p - i - r - i - k
> IPA Sounds like
> p p as in pine (main stress)
> ? i as in pit, hill
> r r as in run, terrier
> ? i as in pit, hill
> k k as in card, park
--
John Varela
wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:35:22 -0800 (PST),
> freeconfiden...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >On Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, Thomas Schenk wrote:
> >> Phil McCracken wrote:
> >>
> >> > I heard this word in a film script last week and I presumed from the
> >> > context that the meaning is : false, hollow, spurious.
> >> >
> >> > Anyone know the word I'm looking for and its spelling?
> >>
> >> The allusion is to Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus' victory in 279 B.C over
> >> the Romans, won only at staggering cost to his own army:
> >>
> >> ``One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone.''
> >>
> >> The adjective is Pyrrhic (usually capitalized to distinguish it from
> >> pyrrhic, a type of metrical foot).
> >> The most familiar pronunciation in the US is 'pie-rick, (as in "apple
> >> pie").
>
> I never heard PIE rick Only PEER ick.
--
John Varela
Mike Barnes
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
mattgoon...@gmail.com
Horace LaBadie
mattgoon...@gmail.com wrote:
> Thanks!!!
Another such victory and we are lost.
Pyrrhic.
Snidely
/dps
--
I have always been glad we weren't killed that night. I do not know
any particular reason, but I have always been glad.
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain