Oct. 28, 2007 - 16:04 MDT

PRINTED OR PRONOUNCED

Language and definitions can be a puzzle to everyone I guess, at least it is to me at times. The whys and wherefores that some words should be as they are written are not at all clear.

At least in the English we don�t have the masculine and feminine for all words, as is in the German - - - - of course, even in our language we refer to ships as �she.� But from what I have read our English language is a conglomerate conflagration of most languages, bundled together every which way.

I was reading Ed Quillen�s column in todays The Denver Post, titled, �IS IT A ROCKIE OR A ROCKY ?, wherein he discusses at length the pros and cons of plurals concerning the baseball team.

Seems much like the �a or an� question and also whether written or spoken. Spoken, whether Rockys or Rockies is meant it all sounds the same.

His one pertinent question was, �Why is a team player called a Rockie instead of a Rocky ?�

I wonder why a player on that team is not called a �Rock� ?

And then he discusses our stretch of the mountains here. QUOTE, �Mountain range� is an imprecise term. We use it to describe all 3,000 miles of Rockies, but we also use it for smaller stretches: Front Range, Park Range, Gore Range, Sawatch Range, San Juan Range to name a few.� UNQUOTE Which in many ways belabors the discussion with spells of boredom.

I am sure there are rules in English establishing whether something should be referred to as �a� or �an� but for the most part it seems to me that whatever sounds right rules - - - - maybe not but the meaning can be gathered not matter which is used. And so it is with the Rockies � whether it is Rockys or Rockies, we know darn well who is being talked about, and we love �em - - - hope they win the game tonight, or the Series ends here.

More or less academic, how spelled, PRINTED OR PRONOUNCED . . . . . . . . . . . .

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