- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK
by Dr. Verbos Metikulos
SWAT I SAID - POINT-SETTAS: We have a winter lecture series coming up at the Center for English as a First Language, so I drove into downtown Underbelly, dropped off my wife at the Sleeveless Vest, our only clothing store, and parked at the Hotel Inn. I needed to speak to Howard Johnson, the proprietor, about reservations for the speakers.
"Christmas is comin'," he remarked during our chat. "Gotta git some point-settas."
"Oh, you mean poinsettias?" I asked as politely as I could.
"Swat I said. Point-settas. Now. About them rooms. When didja wannem?"
I made the necessary reservations and left to pick up my wife at the Fluff 'n' Puff Salon. Why try to correct the man and make him feel ignorant? After all, he wasn't a patient.
But for the record, poinsettia is pronounced the way it's spelled, which may surprise many: poin-SET-tee-ah. Four syllables.
There. I feel better now.
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