Words—and the way they are pronounced—can be such funny things. And people are often passionately attached to their own interpretation, even if they’re … well … wrong. Like the pronunciation of Van Gogh. (Look it up; you may be surprised.)
The Irishman and I have done some pleasant business with a company called Celtic Marble and Granite right here in (ahem) the geographical center of the state. The storefront downtown is this fantastical, swirling, hippie-looking façade and I just love it, love going inside and running my hands over the samples of gorgeous stone. The business is owned by the Fretwells; she’s English, he’s Welsh (very, very Welsh).
Which doesn’t really matter, but I was out driving one day and remembered I needed to call them about our current project. I didn’t have the number, so I called information and asked for Celtic Marble and Granite. I pronounced it “KELL-tick.” Wouldn’t you? It never crossed my mind to pronounce it any other way.
The operator told me there is no such number.
Now … I knew there was. 🙂 So I smiled and said: “Oh, of course there is! I do business with them! C-E-L-T-I-C (see-ee-ell-tee-eye-see).”
Long pause. “You mean SELL-tick, then.”
Hahahahahahahhaa. My mistake was that I didn’t get it at first: I was wrong, she needed me to know that. But that just flew right over my head. “No, it’s KELL-tick,” I said without thinking. I didn’t really mean to argue with her, I just didn’t understand I wasn’t playing the appropriate role. 🙂 It made her mad, I could tell. (After the fact. Sorry, BellSouth operator lady! Really!)
But what about the Boston Celtics? you might well ask. Or, if you’re Irish: But what about the Glasgow (Scotland) Celtic? Excellent questions. I was trying, some time ago, to locate a succinct explanation of the origins of the Gaelic language, a language that, written, looks absolutely nothing like how it sounds (would you have guessed the word taoiseach—meaning prime minister, as in “Bertie Ahern, at age forty-five, was Ireland’s youngest ever taoiseach”—would be pronounced “TEE-shock”? Neither would I), when I stumbled upon this, which explains the situation: What is a Celt and who are the Glasgow Celtics?
… It is interesting to note that when the British Empire was distinguishing itself as better and separate from the rest of humanity, it was decided that British Latin should have different pronunciation from other spoken Latin. Therefore, one of these distinguishing pronunciational differences was to make many of the previously hard ‘k’ sounds move to a soft ‘s’ sound, hence the Glasgow and Boston Celtics. It is the view of many today that this soft ‘c’ pronunciation should be reserved for sports teams since there is obviously nothing to link them with the original noble savagery and furor associated with the Celts.
And that, I believe, is the final word on that! Here’s wishing you a Celtic-flavored Paddy’s Day, friends. But stay away from that green beer.
(*From “The Ballad of the White Horse” by G. K. Chesterton: “For the great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad, for all their wars are merry …”)
Tweet: Words—and the way they are pronounced—can be tricky. How do YOU pronounce Celtic?
Tweet: Folks are passionately attached to their own pronunciation, even if they’re … well … wrong.
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Sell-tic always grates on my nerves when I hear it. My former agent (a Boston Celtics fan) still pronounces my book title that way. Oh, well. What are ya goin do? 🙂
Only what we can, my friend. One BellSouth operator at a time. 🙂
I want to make love to this post.
Or just drench it in hot fudge and caramel, wallow in it, and eat it.
Which, being from Carmel, would be about right. (That worked better in my head.)
And thank you. 🙂
Ha! Hubby and I have had this exact discussion, especially since we just moved to Celtic Court. (What about the Boston Celtics?, he asks. 🙂 I gave up and started calling it Sell-tic within the first couple of weeks. When in Rome . . . 😉
Well, now you have ammunition. 🙂
I have the same problem with “Monticello,” which is the name of a famous Jefferson property but it’s also the name of a street in a city I used to live in. It grates on my nerves to hear people call it “Monty-sell-o.” But who knows? Maybe the street is named after some guy and that’s how you pronounce his name? Still annoys me.
Oh my, that would definitely set my teeth on edge! And might really spoil my enjoyment of, you know, limoncello. (Or not.) (OK, definitely not. But still.) There’s definitely a lot of this sort of thing going around, especially in place names. Here in the Volunteer State we have a lovely town called Lafayette, which is pronounced (wait for it) La-FAY-it.
Love the quirks of our language! My husband and I have a long standing argument about how to pronounce sumac. I grew up in Appalachia where it’s “shoe-make” he prefers the lowlander way of saying “sue-mack.” The “make” probably is a mountain idiosyncrasy, but honestly–who says sue-gar?
No doubt whole books have been written about this sort of thing. 🙂 Interestingly, I’ve always said “sue-mack” but you’ll be elated to know that the dictionary I use most (because the publishers I work for require it: Merriam-Webster Collegiate, 11th edition) says “shoe-mack.” You can get a free version of M-W online (very handy) but a few years ago I upgraded to a version I pay for, which includes the complete Collegiate 11th. But even the free version gives you a verbal pronunciation: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sumac!
Great post, brilliant to read someone from the US that is actually familiar with my tiny little country!
One teeny little quibble though, it’s Bertie Ahern, not Bernie. You must be confusing him with Bernie Madoff 😛
So sorry! And I KNEW that (somewhere, buried deep in the folds of my mind). Fixing it right now. 🙂
Btw, you should stick around: I’ll be traveling to the Happy Green Island soon and every post during that time will have an Irish connection. 🙂