Word Of The Day

[Altobelli]

CACOEPY noun (kuh-koh-uh-pee)

noun

1. incorrect pronunciation or an instance of this; mispronunciation (opposed to orthoepy). Also, Older Spelling, cacoëpy.

Quotes

The Latin language itself ... has been poisoned by the noisomeness of the English cacoëpy and cacography.
--*Charles Kraitsir,*Glossology: Being a Treatise on the Nature of Language and on the Language of Nature, 1852

The American who will ask for ung bong romong in the streets of Paris may have to repeat his question an indefinite number of times; he who will call for unn bonn romann will "get there" in a canter, although his cacoepy differs only in degree from the other's.
--*"The French Nasal Sounds" American Notes and Queries, May 2, 1891



Origin

Cacoepy comes from Greek kakoépeia “mispronunciation, incorrect language,” made up of the adjective kakós “bad, evil, worthless, ugly” and the noun épos (also dialect wépos) “word, speech, song.” The adjective comes from baby talk or a nursery word widespread in Indo-European languages, kakka- “to defecate, poop, ****.” The root appears in Latin cacāre (Italian cacare, Spanish cagar), Slavic (Polish) kakać, German kacken, and English cuck(ing stool). The Greek noun épos (wépos) comes from the Proto-Indo-European root wekw-, wokw- “to speak,” source of Latin vox “voice,” whose stem vōc- forms the verb vōcāre “to call.” Cacoepy entered English in the 19th century.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Alf on the beer...CACOEPYifed!

[Altobelli]

Alf on the beer...CACOEPYifed!

Our alf likes his drink BT