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ImageSMART TALK

by Dr. Parley Speake


ROUT 10: Yes, I know it's spelled ROUTE, but ROUTE should sound exactly like "root." A rout is a lopsided victory, or defeat, depending upon your allegiance, such as a final score of 44-0. Saying Rout 80 sounds about as classy as ain't.

This mistake makes the speaker sound even more ignorant when he or she pronounces "en route," a French phrase, as "N-rout" instead of "on root." Saying "N-rout" might make fellow citizens suspect you collect black velvet paintings and put spray cheese on everything.

Here at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, we know we may have lost this battle, because even GPS voices say rout. Just as an abbreviation on amplifiers made people think "mic" was the acceptable way to spell "mike," electronics have made the unthinking believe that "route" is pronounced "rout."

Perhaps because techies aren't always scholars of English, the computer network tool called the router is universally pronounced as if it were a high speed shop tool for shaping wood. So yes, we're losing this battle, but we refuse to let it be a rout. A beautiful language is at stake.

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