To Misle?
Mark Taranto
Please excuse me if this has already gone out.
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ewo...@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (eric andrew wolfe) writes:
>In article <JMC.91No...@SAIL.Stanford.EDU> j...@cs.Stanford.EDU writes:
>
>>but I think I was misled by it.
> ^^^^^^
>
>When I first read this word--misled--I never connected it with its
>infinitive--to mislead--because I mispronounced it in my head as I
>read: my'-zulled.
The first time I came upon this "mistake" was during the mid-70's on PBS.
MASTERPIECE THEATER was showinf a British production of HOW GREEN WAS MY
VALLEY. The youngest son read quite a bit -- and was finally able to
go off to a good school. When asked to read a passage, he pronounced
"misled" as "mizzled." The teacher made fun of him, at which time he
said something like "Some of us have read more English words than we have
heard." The teacher then caned him. Later, a friend of the family who
was a boxer came to the school & beat the shit out of the teacher.
I've not read HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, but would like to know if the
"mizzled" incident took place in the book.
I remember this incident, in part, because around the same time I was a
graduate student in Mathematics (and them Philosophy). There was a 12 year
old boy in one of my classes who would occasionally come up to my office.
On one of these occasions he pronounced "Euclidean" as "You-sillidian."
I corrected his pronunciation (in a nice way) & he replied: "Thanks, I've
never heard it pronounced before."
I then caned him :-) (only kidding)
Mark
Joy Haftel
Taranto) says:
>
>The first time I came upon this "mistake" was during the mid-70's on PBS.
>MASTERPIECE THEATER was showinf a British production of HOW GREEN WAS MY
>VALLEY. The youngest son read quite a bit -- and was finally able to
>go off to a good school. When asked to read a passage, he pronounced
>"misled" as "mizzled." The teacher made fun of him, at which time he
>said something like "Some of us have read more English words than we have
>heard." The teacher then caned him. Later, a friend of the family who
>was a boxer came to the school & beat the shit out of the teacher.
>
>I've not read HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, but would like to know if the
>"mizzled" incident took place in the book.
It didn't. _How Green Was My Valley_ is one of my very favorite
books, and I didn't remember it. I looked it up to be sure.
It's not there. There was great animosity between the teacher and
Huw, but the attack was mostly verbal. The only caning I can remember,
the boy got for fighting.
*****
Four quadratic equations he gave me, but Mr. Gruffydd and Davy had
drilled me too well. They were simple to me. Mr Jonas never lost
his smile.
"A model scholar," he said, and looking closely at the book.
"But your books are in a dreadful state, and your hands are
filthy. If you are thinking of becoming a scholar at this
school, you will have to adopt a more civilized way of living.
You must tell your mother that if you arrive in such a state
to-morrow morning you will be sent home. Your dirty coal-
mining ways are not wanted here."
******
Richard Llewellyn has always impressed me with the way he
writes so that you hear the Welsh phrasings coming through
into English.
Joy Haftel "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink
JKH107@PSUVM thy wine with a merry heart."--Ecclesiastes