My grade 5 teacher, Mrs Folliot was very particular about spelling and pronunciation. Anyone who committed the sin of saying youse instead of you, or gunna instead of going to, or haitch instead of aitch, was singled out for attention. Mrs Folliot was one of my favourite teachers and I was never in trouble with her, no doubt because Mum got there first. She was a stickler for correctness. I have to confess that I have inherited this and I don’t like to see words misspelled or said incorrectly.
I am learning Italian – very slowly – and my pickiness about spelling now continues in 2 languages.
Italian words are used regularly in Australia, particularly where food in involved. I often see in butcher shops ‘osso bucco’. Where did the extra ‘c’ come from in buco? Prosciutto is not proscuitto. This would be pronounced proskooeeto. Cappuccino is another word that catches people out. Siena almost always gains and extra ‘n’ in Australia. Strangely, shop owners don’t like to have these mistakes pointed out. I can’t think why.
My son is a third generation picky person. His pet hate is the mispronunciation of bruschetta. This is an Italian word and it is pronounced broosketta, otherwise it is just toast.
The reverse happens in Italy. Menus are written in English without referring to an English speaker for verification. The best one I saw was in Lucca where a menu offered ‘am’ with ‘heggs and hasparagus’. A restaurant in our village advertised that their food was ‘simply cement the best’. It doesn’t bother me at all in these instances. I think it is hilarious.
I do realise that this is relatively unimportant in the scheme of things, but why not try to be correct? Do you notice incorrect spelling? Does it bother you? I can’t possibly be alone here. Feel free to point out any mistakes I make. I can take it.