f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., the commanding general of multinational and

U.S.forces in Iraq, was a fairly typical Administration talking head on ABC’s

This Week yesterday (all-tautologies-no-apologies). With one BIG difference

that made him an instant hero for Prof. Yabut: he knows how to pronounce

‘Iraq’ correctly — with the “I” pronounced as in “irritate” or “Iroquois,” not as

in “irate.”  Think ear-raq, instead of eye-raq.

 

I hope Gen. Casey truly has a “plan and a strategy” to complete

America’s mission in Iraq quickly, with as little additional death and destruction

as possible.  But, I’m not at all sure he can manage that.  However, one thing

he can do immediately is instruct his spokespersons and all of our armed

forces in the Iraqi theatre to start pronouncing Iraq correctly — at least, when

they are being recorded for the public.  This may undo some of the damage

already done to American English since the current Administration took office.

 

Here are some ways to remember the correct pronunciation of “Iraq,” 

keyed to your preferred learning style:

For the Auditory Learner: Listen to the pronunciation provided

by American Heritage Dictionary.

 

For the Visual/Written Word learner:  Here is the  

American Heritage‘s pronunciation guide:  -rk, -r

Comments (2)