Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 11:19:37 -0700

From: William King wfking[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU

Subject: Re: WOTY



On Tue, 7 Jan 1997, Wayne Glowka wrote:

Wayne, wasn't the winner "(hyphen)mom"?

Yes, it was, although the hyphen was David's joke. The Chicago Sun-Times

got the story wrong and the error was spread by AP. Peter Jennings should

be told that "the phrase" is accented like a compound word despite its

spelling.

Jennings had the pronunciation correct, and I'm sure that he knows

what a compound noun is. That said, his point was that the word of the

year is two words. He then said that at least it wasn't some phrase that

I can't remember. It is several words long, new, and common enough to be

recognized by a wide audience.

Bill King

University of Arizona