Exspecially…
You’ve heard of SAT test coaches and college admissions coaches, roight? Did you know you can pay $3-$6K to coach your budding young debutante daughter to get into the college sorority of her choice? Yes, yes, you can. Well, except these coaches don’t guarantee entry into her preferred sorority or any sorority.
Never was I was ever interested in joining a sorority. I was not that kind of gal. I may have wished I was but I just couldn’t get to that point. Was I pretty enough? Yeah, I probably was. I am not bragging here. When I was a young teenager, it felt like the only card I had to play. What I am NOT is SOCIAL enough. I had the idea that sorority girls were flibbertygibbets who cared only about clothes and make-up and engaged in superficial conversations. I know that was not universally true. I also know that *I* cared a lot about clothes and make-up. Superficial conversations not so much. I much preferred hanging around with “interesting” people. Like “hippies” or whatever. Although I was *never* a hippie myself. Highly trained, focused 1st seat flute musician who practiced MANY hours and still aced my non-music classes? Yes. Not bragging, just simple truth.
NPR ran a segment on All Things Considered yesterday where they interviewed someone about these sorority coaches. These kinds of topics interest me so I tuned my ears in. Among other things was that these coaches are particularly sought after in southern schools, think Ole Miss and ‘bama if you will. Okay, that kind of thing seemed stereotypical to me. But then… Apparently many northern gals (like meeeee) are seeking out some of those schools because of the sorority culture, not that we don’t have sorority cultures up in the Great White North because we sure do.
The main thing that bothered me about the NPR segment was that the interviewee said “exspecially” umpteen bazillion times. Yes, there is an “x” inserted into “especially”. The first time, I thought I had mis-heard. But nope. Over and over and over again. My ears felt like they were being pierced by an ice pick. Does this woman really work for the New York Times or did I mis-hear that too? Exspecially, exspecially, exspecially. Jeebus.
“Exspecially” brings me to the end of this rambling, incoherent rant. I hope I haven’t insulted any “Greek” (frat) folks. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it wasn’t for you. Also I am mashing a whole bunch of unsorted crapola from various stages of my life together into one blahg post so in a way, it’s all gibberish.
In other news, I was just about to nod off last night when… Yikes! Someone has droven in! Bright lights behind Cygnus X-1. I freaked out for about a millisecond, but I knew PDQ I was being Porterized by benign aliens. I welcomed them in and managed to find them a couple beers and it was a good time and I got to bed on time for a “school” night.
Love y’all, KW
August 21st, 2025 at 10:48 pm
That pronunciation would grate on every nerve! I was a sorority girl and was even president of my sorority. For me, a shy type from a smallish town, it was a way to gain friends and stretch my wings socially. Southern sororities are very, very different.
August 22nd, 2025 at 7:10 am
Oh yeah, I’ve got a lot of peeves about pronunciation, which I try to keep to myself because I know I’m not sin-free in that area — probably. My current peeve is people who use status quo wrong. I never took Latin (a late life regret) so I can’t explain how it’s used incorrectly but I know it is. A co-worker used to say supposably instead of supposedly. Fingernails meet blackboard. I found this interesting bit on the interwebs (and note that it mentions expecially):
Members of an online forum have collected the simple words they hear mispronounced the most often. How many of these have you been guilty of saying wrong?
Espresso
For certain words, a letter may sound different than it looks. But for others, like espresso, the pronunciation is exactly like what you see on the tin. Instead of pronouncing the “s” at the beginning of the word, many have heard it replaced with an “x.” So instead of “espresso,” we get “expresso.” This flip-flop can go for other words that start with “esp,” too. For example, one user shares that their wife and her entire family say “expecially” instead of “especially.”
Supposedly
This is another instance of letter swapping. Instead of pronouncing the “d” as a “d” at the end of the word, it will become a “b.” Funnily enough, pronouncing it this way makes it a whole new word. So, instead of saying “supposedly,” which means something is generally accepted or believed, it becomes “supposably,” which means it may be assumed. To put it in simpler terms, “supposedly” = “allegedly” and “supposably” = “possibly.”
No sorority for me. I didn’t have the $$ or the social standing, which probably led to my general disdain for Greek Life. The idea of auditioning to become a member of an exclusive club and possibly being rejected would have stopped me even if I had the money and desire. And I worked while in college to pay for tuition, rent, food, etc. I was just not Greek material!