Chrysti The Wordsmith: The Letter D - 5

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. If you've tuned in to the last several editions of this series you've heard examinations of the terms dweeb dolt ditz dip and dunce. These are part of a tribe of disparaging terms that begin with the letter D. We don't have time to inspect the whole D-word family but some of them are doofus dork duped dope dullard drip and dingbat. These terms have two important elements in common. One is the first letter of their spelling of course and they all suggest mental inertness or social ineptitude. Think of the interjection dog. If someone replies to you with this withering little d bomb it means you've just said something so pitifully obvious it needs no comment. Da. Is it coincidence or is there something about the sound of that initial D that evokes the notion of mental sluggishness. Of course there are plenty of neutral Di words. Think diameter dispensary dine and

drift. So perhaps it's a matter of delivery. What if we were to say you diopter you. DOELEMAN had you docent Bender the DI heavy delivery of these innocuous words renders them ominous somehow. So it raises the interesting question for English speakers is d the ultimate sound we associate with ditzes dopes and doofus is. I'm Christi the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry Web dot com.