QA
"controversy", which I stress on the 2nd syllable & which British newsreaders insist on stressing on the 3rd syllable.
I hear different people in UK stressing syllables 1,2,or 3 (or 1=3) in this word. I think we have to accept that some words will be pronounced differently in different countries or social groups. But I agree with you that the "incorrect" pronunciation of some words produces an inordinate and maybe irrational antipathy.
My son learnt to read very early and was a voracious reader. As such he learnt many words first from print and would very often surprise us with a new word pronounced by example from others similarly spelled. Not a strategy designed to produce great accuracy in English. He would sometimes have to write the word down before we could understand what he meant. I can't think of many examples (it was many years ago now) but I do remember taking him in a rowing dinghy when he was about 5. We got about 3 yards from shore and he asked "Daddy, is this the su-blit-oral zone?"
Rod
