Monday, July 2, 2007

There's no wrong way to say a Reese's?

So many of you have heard about this debate already. Let me catch the others up to speed. People in Larissa's home town pronounce Reese's, Reesie's. It's something I used to tease her about and she mentioned it to Brittany and Ryan. Brittany said, "So what." I said "Larissa is saying it wrong, it should be said Reese's." This started a long and heated debate. Brittany said you can't say wrong or right, only standard or not standard-common or uncommon. Let me back up, to
The ironic begining: The Reese's debate began because Brittany and Ryan had been discussing the proper (more common) way to say tyrannical and asked our oppinion.
I agree that some words have more than one way for pronunciation. And sometimes there is a more common way to say a word but both ways are correct. Brittany said because this town in Ohio all say Reesie's that is right for them (colloqualism) and therefore I cannot say they are saying it wrong. In that area that's how it is said and it doesn't change the meaning. Good point but I must disagree. First let me say I understand Brittany's studies are in this area and she is more knowledgeable about some grammatical topics than myself and others. Let's put that aside considering this topic isn't of such great depth that others can't have an opinion or say on the subject. Please in your comments make a more valid point other than saying Tom is stupid and Brittany is the expert in this area, I know this may be a tempting argument for say Chris or Phil. Ok, as stated before I agree that langauge changes over time and we have to be sensitive to the different accents and or dialects of our fellow countrymen. We are not discussing other langauges or the english language in 50 years. The debate is, can you say someone is pronouncing a word wrong or right. On a philisophical level it is probably true that nothing is definite or wrong or right. But such arguments are seriously missing the mark. During this debate much has been argued and talked about, I will try to present my argument with two main points.
1) The candy is named after the man called Reese:
Do we have the liberty to change this man's last name because it's applied to a candy? Or does the pronunciation of his name stay in tact because the candy is named after him? I submitt that we cannot decide to say his name however we choose (well I guess we can do what ever we want) it is his name and we don't tell him how to say it. Are we to believe our simple brothers and sisters from Ohio will call this man H. Reesie? Of course not. Why does his name change because we add 'S to Reese. If our name was spelled with an "E" and we made a Clarke bar (I know Clark bar already exist) called Clarke's bar would anyone say Clarkie's bar? Some people probably, but would it not be incorrect if our name is not pronounced Clarkie?
2) The 'S show a possessive quality. IE, if you were to say "Look, there is Mr. Reese's car." Almost nobody would say Reesie's car. Larissa readily admitts she would say Reese's not Reesie's car. What's the difference between his car and his, shall we say buttrecups or pieces?
There are other points to debate and argue but this entry is already long. I know we've hardly scratched the surface, but tell me what you think. Is there no wrong or right way to say any word? Can we say words however we want but not last names? Do we not follow rules when speaking and writing (I know I don't when typing, please no comments)? What would things truly be like if everyone pronounced words however they felt like and we accepted that as correct english rather than accepting these words or phrases as colloqualisms?
An ironic end: Brittany said Ryan spelled ridiculous incorrectly (rediculous). Ryan a usually good speller said "No way you say it rediculous." Brittany chided him with a correction, "Ryan it's pronounced, ridiculous." But to me this whole debate his recockulous because that's just how decide I say it.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a very interesting debate. One thing I don't understand is why you say can pronounce words differently but not names. They are both made up of letters. People are pronouncing the letters differently, not the words. I agree with you in that it is weird that Larissa said she pronounces Reese's two different ways. I would think that people who pronounce words differently would be consistent. I am interested in hearing Brittany's side and some better arguments from you. Being able to pronounce words differently but not names is a little weak.

Anonymous said...

I thought Reese's cups were intended to bring joy to the world and yumminess to our bellies...who cares how it comes out of your mouth, just put one in your mouth:-)

Lord Baldemort said...

You anonymous coward, reveal yourself. If you call me Thomase Clerk, I'm going to correct you because that's not how to pronounce my name. Would you really feel justified arguing with me about how to pronounce my own name? I think not my anonymous amigo, adios muchacho.

phillyz said...

i do not know how to address comments from annonymous sources as I can not judge your credability

Brittany said...

Isn't this whole argument about not judging people as Tom wishes to do?

phillyz said...

i don't see it as judging others. I must say if people pronounced names any way they chose it would be frustrating and confusing, let the owner of the name determine how it is to be pronounced. some philips may want their name pronounced fill-lip others may say it's pronounced fill-up some may not care, but leave it to them to decide not everyone who uses their name. Reeses has told us that it is pronounced Reeses.

Lou said...

i agree with tom, the makers of reeses are the ones that named it and are stating it correctly, not some inbred rednecks

Anonymous said...

Inbred Rednecks? Quit talking about me in such glamorous terms!

Ok, I also wanted to point out that my family often calls me "Rissy," which may perpetuate us using the term "Reesie" because you just use the "E" sound instead of the "I." We even had a party once that was "Rissy's Reesie's birthday bash."

I know I'll be made fun of for that one...

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Phil. Let the owner of the name decide. And until they tell people to stop pronouncing it Reesie's I can't tell them they are wrong.

phillyz said...

they don't need to correct people who mispronounce it, they simply give the correct pronunciation time and time again in hopes that people will follow along.