Props to Malaprop. The Possum, among some longer and highly amusing posts, has a short note expressing some irritation at his bosses' mangling of innocent words:

Cervically.

I would do this, except all my bosses do it without prompting. I have one fellow who pronounces caveat kah-VAHT. One of my coworkers uses the word "prolithic" for "prolific". You'd think they hadn't gradumicated from college.

I just love these things, and am sure that I have a few sprinkled all unawares through my vocabulary. (That's in addition to the words whose syllable stress I suspect I regularly misplace.) I especially like "prolitihic", as it's one that you can force into sense, if you try. A prolitihic writer or speaker turns you to stone with boredom. Yeah, that's it.

A while back we had a loaf of french bread among our groceries; our checkout girl called out for a price on our "briquet". Or, as I prefer to think of it, our "brickette", and assume that she was just musing on its possible future state of extreme staleness. Maybe it was a warning on the quality of the merchandise.

But what is it with bosses? I had one who had quite a fondness for "aficionado", using it regulary. Except with him it was "aficiando". We were too evil ever to correct him, tactfully or otherwise. Who would want to change in any way a man who would intone that "consistency is the hobnob of small minds"?

Posted by Moira Breen at August 05, 2003 04:34 PM