RE: Your Pronunciation

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Top > Education > RE: Your Pronunciation

27/Jun/2012 01:30:11 AM PDT
re latin joco english +

RE: Your Pronunciation

Settling the debate on the correct pronunciation of RE, as in RE: Your Brains. You're welcome, Scarface.
by chicazul

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RE: origins of re: see 1915 Handbook of Business English. Both "reply to" & "in re" suggested openings. @hishenchman http://t.co/wANd9aHF

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chicazul 26/Jun/2012 11:19:10 PM PDT
RE: etymology likely a corruption of formal use of reply/in re—assuming it a formal abbreviation of a logical "re-" word @hishenchman

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chicazul 26/Jun/2012 11:36:45 PM PDT
Smithsonian Evolution of the Memo contains no historical examples of "re:". Wonder when style manuals began suggesting it. @hishenchman

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chicazul 26/Jun/2012 11:49:18 PM PDT
@chicazul If it were the ablative of res, it'd mean "By/with respect to the thing." That makes no sense. S'gotta be short for "regarding."

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Nesos 26/Jun/2012 11:53:02 PM PDT
@Nesos No evidence for that in the text. See my prior screencap—in re was commonly used in business correspondence.

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chicazul 26/Jun/2012 11:54:17 PM PDT
@chicazul Well, "regarding" or "response." In either case, "ree" is absolutely right.

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Nesos 26/Jun/2012 11:54:53 PM PDT
@chicazul But in re, in English correspondence, could be short for "in response" or "in reply." In which case still "ree," not "ray."

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Nesos 26/Jun/2012 11:56:44 PM PDT
@Nesos Likely bureaucrats who didn't know Latin taking it for an abbreviation rather than a loan word.

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chicazul 26/Jun/2012 11:57:17 PM PDT
@chicazul I'm still inclined to say it's short for "in response," not "in re." Does it show up in business _before_ English? That's key.

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Nesos 26/Jun/2012 11:59:01 PM PDT
@chicazul If "in re" pre-dates English, then it's definitely Latin. If not, I think it's Classicists trying to make their degree relevant.

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:00:05 AM PDT
@Nesos 1915 source is scrupulous about placing periods after abbr. In re is legit use of Latin, still used in legal docs.

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chicazul 27/Jun/2012 12:02:23 AM PDT
@chicazul Hmm...Compelling, but I'm not entirely convinced. I'd like to hold up for some Pre-English use before I believe. :p

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:04:21 AM PDT
@chicazul I mean, most Latin abbreviations in use in English, as far as I know, were in use before even Old Modern English.

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:04:57 AM PDT
@chicazul Random House dictionary cites usage as far back as the 1700s, and gives "ablative of res" as the etymology. "Ray" wins. :p

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:09:19 AM PDT
@Nesos Except that "re:" form likely originates in error, and modern English prefers "ree". Linguistic prescription never wins.

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chicazul 27/Jun/2012 12:16:56 AM PDT
@chicazul Oh, I just meant in terms of the original pronunciation. I'd say ree because it's more readily understood/common, rest assured. :p

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:19:20 AM PDT
@Nesos My theory is: uneducated thought in re meant "in reply/regard to" & then "fixed" the grammar. Gradually became standard.

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chicazul 27/Jun/2012 12:25:25 AM PDT
@chicazul A legitimate and persuasive conclusion, but without seeing it occur in pre-English letters, I'm hesitant to jump on board.

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:27:21 AM PDT
@Nesos Why? In re as a Latin construction is and has been commonly used in English business letters. That's not at issue.

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chicazul 27/Jun/2012 12:28:56 AM PDT
@chicazul But what's the first source to say "'In re' is Latin?" If it doesn't appear in a non-English document it could be an English abrv.

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:31:15 AM PDT
@chicazul Like, some scholar assembling a compendium of terms may have _assumed_ it was Latin, when it was English, and written it that way.

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:32:29 AM PDT
@Nesos Shouldn't OED cite the first known use?

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chicazul 27/Jun/2012 12:35:22 AM PDT
@chicazul ...dur. Ok. Going there now. :p

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:36:01 AM PDT
@Nesos Free online dictionaries cite 1877 as first use, but legal dictionaries are adamant about it being Latin.

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chicazul 27/Jun/2012 12:38:11 AM PDT
@chicazul OED cites an English letter by Thomas Hearne: "Amused by Charlett's trick re Tacitus."

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Nesos 27/Jun/2012 12:39:30 AM PDT
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