Thursday, September 13, 2012

T-173 : Camerlengo Misled

In the book "Angels & Demons" there are constant references to the term "Camerlengo".  I'd been trying to understand it in context for the longest time.  I couldn't get "camera lingo" out of my head, though I knew that made no sense at all.  Today I finally looked it up and learned that it's basically an assistant to the Pope.  That's a completely different meaning altogether!

On a related note, there's a word "misled" that I'd for years thought was pronounced mah-ee-zulled.  It makes some sense, doesn't it?  We won't even get started on the lyrics I've misheard over the years.  At least I'm not alone in that one, though, as evidenced by the website: www.KissThisGuy.com; which is a reference to the Jimi Hendrix song in which he actually sings, "...excuse me while I kiss the sky...".  Sing it to yourself fast and you'll hear the resemblance.  Perhaps I'll share more of my mishearings in a later post.

Before you leave, though, here's an honest question.  How do you pronounce "wreak"; as in "wreak havoc"?  Is it "reek" or "wreck"?  I await your enlightenment.

4 comments:

Tara McLean Derricott said...

I pronounce it "reek". I always thought that pecans was pronounced "peckens", and got teased a lot about it!

Unknown said...

I almost forgot your "mealy" "melee"!

Beth said...

I would say "reek". When I was a kid I thought that Enya song "Sail Away" was actually saying "Slave away" and I would sing it while doing chores.

Unknown said...

Slave away, slave away, slave away! Sounds like verse 2 of the dwarves chorus!