Hold the tee

[muckefuck]

How many times have you thought you knew exactly what something was only to look it up and discover that there are more things in Heaven and Earth &c.? What prompted this particular Wikipedia jaunt was a friend's pronunciation of "bergamot" with a silent "t" (as if from the French; hélas, the actual French is bergamote). It's unlike her to be pretentious, so I assume she's merely the innocent victim of seeing something spelled on frou-frou packaging and never hearing it spoken aloud.

I had the opposite problem myself and mispronounced it "bergamont" for years, adding an intrusive "n" to make it fit the pattern of accustomed words like "Claremont" and "Belmont". So I gave her the benefit of the doubt and looked up the word to see if her variant was sanctioned only to find out...but before we get to that, let me ask you a question: What plant comes to mind when I say "bergamot"?

Comments

[sconstant.livejournal.com]

I knew this, only because of a previous jaunt through "bergamot" and "orange pekoe" - so what plant comes to mind when I say "orange pekoe"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Pekoe

[jhvilas.livejournal.com]

I also pronounced bergamot incorrectly until maybe three years ago. I also dropped the t. I have no idea where I picked up the erroneous pronunciation.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

the bergamot orange, no? (in Earl Grey tea)

I used to say "op" and "bop" for orange pekoe and broken orange pekoe, so I can't talk.

[aadroma.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the regional department store that is owned by the same company as Carson Pirie Scott...

But that's "Bergner's." So never mind.

Seriously, I know next to nothing about plants or flowers and would have pronounced it the same way you were (to have the same final syllable as "Belmont").

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

ohoho. Not so simple on the fruit side, I see. Still, I favour the pronunciation becoming a shibboleth, like valet: let it be bergamot among Anglophiles and bergamo (or bergamoe) in upscale American eateries.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Except you don't eat bergamot, so it would be upscale American spas and hotels. (My friend was actually talking about "orange-bergamot" scented soap.)

It's not so simple on the herb side either, as I'll explain presently.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

au contraire! I've had delicious lavender-bergamot sorbet, and not so delicious bergamot chocolate.

The entry on witchcraft uses on the wikipedia page is delightful: apparently it makes women fertile and men incompetent, which might explain the history of Calabria rather neatly.

...and now I really have to turn off my internet connection until late tonight.

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

I think of tea instead of bergamot. Isn't it a citrus of some kind? Now I will have to look it up.

[febrile.livejournal.com]

"Bergamot" refers to either a wine, a cheese, or a specific engineering feat of trebuchet design.

Either that, or an orange tea. Best I got.

[febrile.livejournal.com]

I just looked at the answer.

I still want a bergamot trebuchet.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

On the plus side, it would fit easily in a suitcase. Still don't think you could get it through security though.

[joliecanard.livejournal.com]

is it way too late to participate? it's a citrus, but if you showed me a whole fruit, I couldn't recognize it.