"You Can" get away with this

[deckardcanine]

I confess to reading what is reportedly the least-read part of the Washington Post Sunday comics: "You Can, with Beakman and Jax." It is written with children in mind, but it answers kids' science questions with such extensive detail that I still learn from it almost every time.

The last installment, however, contained glaring misinformation that you don't have to be very language-oriented to notice: for the word "molecule," they gave the pronunciation as "mol-AH-kuhl."

Yes, I checked multiple dictionaries to be safe, and they all give none but the same pronunciation that I've always heard. Even if we did put the accent on the second syllable, how do you get "ah" from E? I considered writing to Jok Church, but there have surely been other letters by now, and anyway, what can be done about the error at this point? There wouldn't be a correction notice in that space, and I don't feel like getting a fellow editor dismissed.


While on the subject of words, I contemplated the origin of "devour." The "de-" prefix usually indicates removal. Logically, the noun "vour" would refer to the state of not being eaten. :)

Comments

[-fairest.livejournal.com]

Oy! You're making me dizzy!!

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

You mean with my etymology? :)