Oh why can't the English learn to--
Set a good example to people, who's English, is painful to your ears.
The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears!
There are even places where English completely disappears,
Why, in America they haven't spoken it for years.
- Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady
Say the word warm out loud. Go ahead. Like in slow motion. Feel the way your lips and tongue deliver each letter. Do you say the word war-m or w-arm? Does your pronunciation rhyme with form or farm? OK, now, show of hands, who says warm the right way? Fascinating word, the word warm. I've been thinking about it all morning, maybe because I haven't been warm since last October. But no, it's probably because I got called out this morning for saying it wrong. And no, not the word it, the word warm.
A friend of mine, who shall remain anonymous, but whose name rhymes with look, as in 'look how Amy says the word warm,' asked me to repeat myself several times, resulting in what I can only describe as hysterics. As I tried to see the humor in the moment, it occurred to me that maybe I do say warm wrong. But then that would be weird because I'm never wrong.
The linguistics of the whole matter intrigues me. Honestly all words, their usage and etymology just make me swoon. (Nerd Alert!) One of my most favorite podcasts to listen to while running is called A Way With Words. Here's the link www.waywordradio.org . You should listen to it too. It's one hour of verbal yumminess. Martha and Grant really know their onions, if you know what I mean. If I dug deep enough into their discussion boards I'm sure I could find a validating opinion but really a quick look in the dictionary is probably all we need. The OED's pronunciation guide says warm is pronounced /wôrm/. A quick look at a pronunciation key and we learn that ô can be, but is not limited to, the following sounds: o rbit (ôr´bit), fa ll (fôl), or saw (sô). That's right folks, the vowel sound in warm is open to interpretation. WE'RE ALL RIGHT! Isn't American English great! You know, I'll bet in Boston warm rhymes with Mom.
Please enjoy the fabulous Rosemary Clooney summing up today's post:
