Today while dropping Raelyn at daycare I heard a not-uncommon mispronunciation: “Aks”.
Seems as though every teacher and caregiver at her daycare center inverts the letters “s” and “k” turning a query into some kind of statement about Paul Bunyan.
Here, in image form, is a guide for those that are similarly afflicted with this tongue-twisting textual problem.
Ask:
“Aks”/Axe:
I hope this visual reference clears things up.
That is all.
You’re such a pronunciationist.
This reminds me of a trip to the Louvre a few years ago.
Youth 1 comes up and asks us – “Yo, where’s the Mona Lisa at?”
Youth 2 yells to Youth 1 – “Where’s it at?”
Youth 1 yells back with “I juss aksed him.”
Nice.
This is a major pet-peeve of my wife. What exactly are they learnin’ our chillen n’skool d’ese days.
Remember this headline from The Onion: African-American Neighborhood Terrorized By Ask Murderer.
Thanks for keeping things light, Andy.
It just annoyed me yesterday, as the people that take care of my daughter really do an awesome job. That word just sticks in my craw though.
I understand your craw’s feelings. I don’t have any kids, but edukation in Atlanta in turning into a minor obsession of mine.
I am with John, I would be pissed to find out my child is hearing this portrayed as actual correct english. I just hope Raelyn doesn’t pick any of it up!
For a few weeks she was definitely modeling this pronunciation. We had to keep correcting her.
Even today she slips up about 1/4 of the time and we remind her about it.
Regarding /aks/ vs /ask/ for “ask”:
Historically speaking, both pronunciations are valid and there are dialects of English where, yes, the /aks/ pronunciation is completely standard. When English spelling was standardized, well after the advent of the printing press, there was little effort to also standardize pronunciation – just a social trend to establish a hegemony of “posh” or “proper” pronunciation….
Sincerely,
RIchard