Sangent

submitted by Sang on 08.24.2005 in Life

Here’s something that has bothered me for years: why is colonel pronounced kernel?

Colonel comes from Old Italian colonello, commander of a column of troops, which in turn derives from colonna, column. It wasn’t always spelled the Italian way, though. Four hundred years ago English followed the Spanish practice and spelled the word “coronel,” sensibly pronounced the way it looked. Eventually this was corrupted to ker-nel, still not bad considering we’re talking about the British, who pronounce “Featheringstonehaugh” “Fanshaw.” But it couldn’t last. Some nameless busybody decided coronel ought to be spelled “colonel” to better reflect its Italian origin.

Now I know.

+snguyen

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