Show T 11 take ma word Is for it I 1 4 1 l by rr FRANK COLBY 1 SURPRISE OR overheard on a news broadcast twice within a few minutes the town was shaken by a trembler A trembler is one who trembles there is no such word describing an earthquake the correct word is temblor it is from the spanish phrase temblor de tierra meaning earthquake the accent falls on the second syllable which rhymes with more pore say tem an earthquake is often referred to as from the latin word of the same spelling and meaning a quaking first choice second choice TREE mer colby youre wrong san diego recently you made the Tion nonsensical assertion that it is quite all right to pronounce rather with a flat a it if you will consider the word father which always has the ah sound you ll 11 see how mistaken you are I 1 demand a retraction W T H answer Sl athers of such blather in my column make you lather I 1 gather altadena AI since you advise pro MUL MUI gate instead of the correct british promulgate PROM ul gate your pronunciation of propagate then must be propagate pro PA gate A P R answer sorry this column establishes no pronunciations it reports correct american usage as reflected by the con census of american dictionaries of seven american dictionaries all list as first or only choice pro MUL MUI gate two list promulgate PROM ul gate as british only one lists PROM ul gate as second american choice bell syndicate features |