168
Mrs. Bluezette's Grammar Guide
Wimbledon, consortium, defribrillator,
Vicente, Zedillo
Three words in the news are "Wimbledon," "consortium," and
"defibrillator."
The WIMBLEDON Tennis Championships take place in England.
"Wimbledon" is pronounced WIM-bul-dun.
You'll notice it has no "p" or "t" sound in it.
A CONSORTIUM is a cooperative arrangement among groups or
institutions.
It's pronounced con-SOR-shum.
For DEFIBRILLATOR, the electronic device that applies an electric
shock to restore the rhythm of a heart is dee-FIB-ruh-lay-tor.
And Gigi Graciette, who has worked for 14 years in Spanish-
language television, offers this reminder:
"The name of the current president of Mexico is Vicente Fox.
Vi - cente Fox. Not Vin-cente Fox. Another common mistake I
hear is the pronunciation of the double `L,' as in Ernesto Zedillo,
the former President of Mexico. Many times it comes out
sounding like Ze-dill-o when in fact the double `L' should sound
like `yo' as in `yo yo.' `Ce- d - yo.' With the number of
Hispanics on the rise here in the U.S., it might be a good idea for
stations to hold mini-seminars on pronunciation for their talent."
And Mrs. B adds that AP's "Pronunciation Guide" moves each day
on the Broadcast Wire at around 9:00 A.M. and 9:00 P.M., eastern
time.
You might want to make it a habit each day to print it out and post it
at your desk.
