I have raised a very proper daughter. So proper I’m thinking she should have been born sometime during the 17th century or something. After all this is my 15 year old who prefers to listen to French operas and read Jane Austin than the Jonas Brothers and Twilight.
Her latest peeve is the way her younger brother pronounces the word “ugh”. I had no idea there was a proper way to say such a word. Apparently it is not to be pronounced “ug” (hard “g” sound), but a more softer “g” because of the “h” after it. How to describe this sound? Like something a French person would say maybe? “uggghhhh”. Kind of like the sound a cat makes when it’s barfing. Hard to explain without audio.
This is a big distraction for her. She really just cannot tolerate it when one of her siblings says “UG!” I have broken up two arguments in the past week over this particular word. I had no idea it caused her such distress when we abuse the English language.
But this is also the daughter after my own heart when it comes to proper writing. She refuses to resort to “chat speak” when writing a note or an email. The closest she gets to abbreviating words is the occasional LOL or ROFLOL. So I really can’t complain.
As I write this blog post she is entertaining her siblings with youtube videos of “Le Petit Prince”, the musical. In French, of course. She says it’s to follow up after reading them Antoine De Saint-Exupery’’s The Little Prince. 
1 comment:
That is pretty neat. I was the same way when I was a teenager. I loved listening to classical music and reading classics. Classic literature is still the only fiction genre I really enjoy. And I still get in my classical moods.
I really loved your post. I couldn't help but think of how some worry that unschoolers are not learning, and here your daughter is correcting the pronuciation of "ugh." I love it!
Kandy
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