For those of you unfamiliar with the reference Reggie is quoting the final line of the poem Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling. It has fallen out of cultural shorthand over the last half century. Many people pronounce it as it is spelled. It would be correctly pronounced ad Gunga Dean. You can tell because of the rhyme scheme. The Line I used as the page title precedes the first usage of Gunga Din in the text. I’ve actually heard the poem recited using both pronunciations and one, obviously, sounds incorrect. My paternal grandmother was an English teacher and because of this my father’s family tended to reference literature regularly. Many of the references passed into my parlance via osmosis and only later on did I discover the sources. In retrospect I realize that my grandmother pronounced it correctly, but everyone else did not. It’s possible they did that because in English, outside of the context of poetry, Gunga Dean sounds odd to our ears. It’s also possible that since the incorrect pronunciation has proliferated through pop culture so thoroughly that they simply chose to conform, as to avoid the discussion I’m presenting to you now. In the grand scheme of things it’s not all that important, but there is a correct way and an incorrect way, regardless of how you feel about it. Language evolves and that can’t be stopped. At best all you can do is pick a hill to die on and defend it so that your version of your mother tongue doesn’t deviate too far from the version you learned during your lifetime.

Well, I accidently hit the publish button, but it’s almost time anyway and I’m not likely to say anything else important along these lines going forward. I suspect many of you are drained as this new week begins. Remain strong if you can. Lean on those who are stronger if you can’t. I will do my best to meet you here again on Wednesday. Until then, light the beacons. Help will come.

2885 A-servin’ of ’Er Majesty the Queen.

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