- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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Smart Talk SMART TALK By Dr. Parley Speake
ROUT 10: The misspelling is intentional. Many people say it this way, and it has all the class of ain’t. At the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, we find that patients often don’t realize that rout, which rhymes with about, really is a word. It usually means a lopsided defeat, such as a 44-0 score.
But route should sound like root. Notice the spelling. Yes, it’s French. Saying Rout 10 sounds as if you have ten people on the run.
Bubba Johnson doesn’t get our joke when he asks for a rout to Austin. Anyone at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired instantly says, “Gol-lee, I don’t feel like chasing you that far.”
Rout also means to gouge, these days with a high-speed tool. When you buy a router, you’re buying that tool, not an electronic hub for your computer network.
But when you buy a router for your network, it should sound like rooter, even though it’s spelled the same as the other router, because it routes (pronounced “roots”) the signal to the proper component.
Yes, this language can confuse and confound. That’s why the Institute is here to help.
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