All the News That We’re too Proud to Check
Ah, hell, I’m getting tired of coming up with new ways of mocking the NYT’s arrogance.
languagehat is tearing his hair out over the paper of record’s refusal to consult a dictionary before offering its pronunciation advice:
I had just started the article “Those Ancient Incan Knots? Tax Accounting, Researchers Suggest” by Nicholas Wade in today’s NY Times when I had occasion to grind my teeth: “They believe they may have decoded the first word - a place name - to be found in a quipu (pronounced KWEE-poo)…” What the hell? Is the Times too proud to actually consult a dictionary? Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate, for instance, which says “Pronunciation: ‘kE-(”)p{u”}” …