Part of speech: noun Pronunciation: meel-YOO Definition: the physical or social. With the jacket buttoned up, no one could tell the difference. Phew English is the language with most words. Lichfield, short of funds, lacked a fresh shirt, so simply wore the shirt front assembly, all tucked beneath his formal jacket. At the time, a gentleman wore a shirt with no collar, on top of which was placed a separate stiff shirt front, with detachable collar and cuffs. The photographer (and British aristocrat) Patrick Lichfield had been invited to dinner with Denmark's King Frederick IX. The BBC broadcaster Sandi Toksvig tells a great story about true etiquette in her native Denmark. It's about holding the ladder up against the wall, and helping someone over, rather than pushing it away.ĭon't get too uppity in the end you'll fall into one of our traps. It's about making people feel more comfortable, not less. Real etiquette, of course, is pretty much the opposite of all this. Why? We can make up some explanation about not wanting to splash our shirt front, but again it's just a code. When eating soup, it is acceptable to tip the soup bowl away from you in order to retrieve the final spoonfuls. Why? Who knows? It's just a code, designed to make it easier to spot the social origins of those with whom you are sharing a table. You should break up your bread roll with your fingers, rather than cutting into it with a knife. It's not only words that are used to deter interlopers in this way etiquette is the other weapon. The pronunciation police are not ''protecting the language'' as they sometimes claim they are just pushing a ladder away from the castle wall.
That's why pronunciation errors are seized with glee by those already in the citadel. The fancy word mispronounced signifies an inspiring journey that's under way, as opposed to a person who is just sitting still. It's a mark, if you like, of a person in the process of freeing themselves from the limitations of their upbringing and arriving in a world that suits them better - using nothing but brains, time and access to good books. Melingo About Us Hebrew dictionary Terms of use. In fact, to know the meaning but not the pronunciation of a word like ''aegis'' is usually a sign that someone has read a lot, but hasn't been surrounded from birth by people who make use of such words. Word pronunciation and usage examples are provided by Merriam-Webster. We can't allow someone like that to be, well, under our aegis. How dare you use a relatively obscure word such as, for example, ''aegis'' then ruin it all by saying ''ay-jis'' rather than ''ee-jis''. The pronunciation police find pleasure everywhere, of course, yet here's where their pleasure is at its most intense: when they get to correct someone who uses a fancy word but gets it wrong. You'll be invited to dinner with the Cholmondeleys, without realising that it's pronounced ''Chumley''. You'll be invited to a house party in Berkeley Square and then ruin everything by not pronouncing it as ''Barkli''. Don't get too uppity in the end you'll fall into one of our traps. It's using the English language - this beautiful, flexible, shared gift - as a way of policing social class.
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