This one is personal. I have always pronounced the L in “palm”. But a few years ago my girlfriend at the time insisted that the L is not pronounced, that it should be pronounced like PAHM. This sounds completely ridiculous to me, but so far every dictionary I’ve encountered has said the same thing: she was right and I was wrong. I grew up in Florida, and spent many weekends at PALM Beach. I never in my life heard anyone say they were going to PAHM Beach, except perhaps for the Kennedy’s.
Also maddening is that both the part of the hand and the variety of plant come from the same Latin root, palma, and after making its way through Old French and Old English, it came out just palm. So at some point in the past people definitely did pronounce that L. So why do I do it, but nobody else does? Am I some kind of half-wit throwback? I am from Florida, after all.
Comments 2
I think the correct pronunciation of palm is somewhere between polm and pom. Like you, I pronounce the L, but it’s an extremely subtle L which makes the word sound nothing like pom.
I hate hearing people pronounce the T in “often.” Whenever I hear it, I try to respond with a sentence where I can pronounce the T in “listen.”
Posted 11 Dec 2009 at 2:55 pm ¶In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when describing how to make his palms feel clammy, he says “I lick my PAHMS.” That always annoyed me.
Posted 24 Oct 2010 at 9:25 pm ¶Post a Comment