
My extended family seems to have more members born in
February, including me, than any other month of the year. And a new one was just added last week! February has the fewest days of all the months, although it probably has the
most ways to misspell it. I've found at least four of them in OhioLINK so far and there are likely even more than that:
Feburary (48),
Febuary (37),
Februray (18), and
Februay (3). As a librarian, you should definitely know how to spell this word correctly, but don't feel too bad if you can't quite say it right. According to
Wikipedia: "Many people pronounce ... [February] ... as if it were spelled 'Feb-u-ary'. This comes about by analogy with 'January' ... as well as by a dissimilation effect whereby having two r's close to each other causes one to change for ease of pronunciation. The Scots-language names for the month are
Feberwary and
Februar, the latter usually pronounced with a long 'ay' in the first syllable..."
Aarrgh, too many
R's are
harrd to
arrticulate. (Especially while having to say
Brrr at the very same time.) But, like the (mythical) Father of Our Country, I can not tell a fib: February is a fabulous month, with four separate syllables (let's call 'em the
Feb Four) that really are quite easy to enunciate if you just take your time. And, fortunately, it's spelled just like it sounds!
(Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 2, verso: February, from Wikipedia.)
Carol Reid
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