banal
How do you pronounce banal? www.dictionary.com says:
Usage Note: The pronunciation of banal is not settled among educated speakers of American English. Sixty years ago, H.W. Fowler recommended the pronunciation (rhyming with panel), but this pronunciation is now regarded as recondite by most Americans: it is preferred by only 2 percent of the Usage Panel. Other possibilities are (rhyming with anal), preferred by 38 percent of the Panel; (rhyming with canal), preferred by 46 percent; and (the last syllable rhyming with doll), preferred by 14 percent (this last pronunciation is more common in British English). Some Panelists admit to being so vexed by the problem that they tend to avoid the word in conversation. Speakers can perhaps take comfort in knowing that any one of the last three pronunciations will have the support of a substantial minority and that none of them is incorrect. When several pronunciations of a word are widely used, there is really no right or wrong one.
I always pronounce it the second way.
This leads me to the true topic of this blog entry: being anal.
Five minutes after typing that last sentence: Holy crap, I just deleted a bunch of stuff I had written about being anal, then realized that I had already posted on this very topic already. I don’t remember when, but I know I did. This isn’t really happening to me. Oh dear.
I would say the “canal” one is #3. “Anal” is sadly fittingly at #2.
Anal’s the way to go. Take that however you want to.
I could write something highly inappropriate and tarnish my image and reputation forever, but instead I’ll simply say that I pronounce it as seen in version two. Truthfully, I’ve never heard anyone say it any other way. I wonder if it’s a regional thing?
– Becky
To be fair, I don’t think I use the word outside of typespeak and even then, it’s rare.
The dekester is hacking blogger accounts left and right!
…
I’ve always pronounced it the British English way.
I used to pronounce it like “anal”, but then I realized it sounded like “anal” and started pronouncing it like #2.
Or should I say, “canal.” Sometimes the 14% one.