Happy Friday! Today’s Dictionary.com Word of the Day is “cacoepy” [kuh-koh-uh-pee]. I had never heard this word before, but I have definitely heard more than a few cacoepies in my life.
They are like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard to those of us who take words, vocabulary and language seriously. They can also be amusing and goofy. Context is key. Cacoepy is defined as an “incorrect pronunciation or an instance of this; mispronunciation.
Dictionary.com had a lengthy etymology summary:
“Cacoepy comes from Greek kakoépeia “mispronunciation, incorrect language,” made up of the adjective kakós “bad, evil, worthless, ugly” and the noun épos (also dialect wépos) “word, speech, song.” The adjective comes from baby talk or a nursery word widespread in Indo-European languages, kakka- “to defecate, poop, shit.” The root appears in Latin cacāre (Italian cacare, Spanish cagar), Slavic (Polish) kakać, German kacken, and English cuck(ing stool). The Greek noun épos (wépos) comes from the Proto-Indo-European root wekw-, wokw- “to speak,” source of Latin vox “voice,” whose stem vōc- forms the verb vōcāre “to call.” Cacoepy entered English in the 19th century.”
I decided to Google mispronounced words. There are plenty. You may have heard them. You may have even used a few. Here’s a sampling:
expecially, pecific, expresso (coffee), nucular, irregardless, libary, miniture, orientate, perogative, prespire, probly, sherbert, supposably, upmost
I find it hard to take anyone who is fluent in cacoepies seriously. Usually I smile politely while they fracture the English language, biting my tongue to keep myself from correcting them.
You say potatoe and I say pototoe. Does it matter? Well, some linguists believe this is a natural evolution of words. It’s how language is refined and developed. While others, the purists, believe we should strive for proper diction and pronunciation, maintaining the integrity of the language.
For the fun of it though I’ll leave you with a few silly, goofy cacoepies. You may be familiar with these misinterpreted song lyrics. The question is, do you know the actual lyrics?
Here we go! Come on, sing along. You know the words! Maybe! 😜
“This is the dawning of the Age of Asparugus, Asparugus” – Aquarius – Fifth Dimension
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, Sayin a lie, Sayin a lie” – Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
“She’s mighty mighty, built like a mastodon” – Brick House – Commodores
“Let’s drink to assaulting the Earth” – Salt of the Earth – Judy Collins
“Oprah got no style!” – Gangnam Style – Psy
“Looks like we mated” – You’re Still the One – Shania Twain
“Joy to the visions that the people see” – Joy to the World – Three Dog Night
“Sweet dreams are made of cheese” – Sweet Dreams – The Eurythmics
“Or should I just keep chasing penguins” – Chasing Pavements – Adele
“All the lonely Starbucks lovers” – Blank Space – Taylor Swift
“Then I saw her face, now I’m gonna leave her” – I’m a Believer – The Monkees
“Kicking your cat all over the place” – We Will Rock You – Queen
“Got some electric boobs and a mohawk, too ” – Bennie and the Jets – Elton John
So there you have it. Our word of the day, cacoepy. I do like the way this word sounds. (I included the pronunciation above.😉) Here’s my Haiku then. Have a great weekend!
pecific leaders
with axes to nucular codes
cannot be trusted
cacoapies? …please!
when enunciated well
language is an art
~kat
June 24th, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Brava.. 🌹🌹😎
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June 24th, 2017 at 4:30 pm
Fun word!
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June 25th, 2017 at 12:22 am
“Looks like we mated” made me giggle out loud! Too funny. I’m like you, I cringe and try to keep shut when I hear a cacoepy. 😉
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June 25th, 2017 at 7:37 am
I have fractured a few song lyrics myself. Thank goodness for google! 😊
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June 25th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
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June 26th, 2017 at 4:57 am
[…] Source: Cacoepy Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku […]
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June 26th, 2017 at 5:19 am
Reblogged this on Read 4 Fun and commented:
I like languages and the clever use of them. In this particular case, we look at English. Blogger Kat Myrman writes that this language feature, mispronunciation, causes her to cringe when she hears it but out of politeness she listens while planning her escape. Although I agree in general, I am alert to the possibility that I might be in the presence of a struggling comedian.
This is a long post but be sure to scroll through to the fun part, the misinterpreted lyrics. These are followed by a scary politick le (sic) haiku and one more haiku to emphasize the new word learned.
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June 26th, 2017 at 6:17 am
Thanks for the reblog Ron. I agree with your comedian in the making part … it can be comical though the elocutioner may be unaware of their comedic prowess! 😉
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