WORD CHALLENGED

Stalker  was chatting this month to an avid reader, an unusual occurrence it has to be said, when the reader challenged Stalker  to pronounce quinoa.

Of course Stalker  employed a faux mid-Atlantic drawl, but still managed to repeatedly mispronounce the word.

Stalker 's interlocutor smirked and proudly enunciated the "proper" way to pronounce it, his peaty bog tones softened by manys a long year in London.

Stalker  demurred slightly, but was heartened by a recent bit of academia which roundly condemns any received or proper modes of pronunciation.

You say tomat-o, I say tomat-a, you say quin-o-a, I say quin-ae. Let’s call the whole thing off.