While driving around the other day I passed a building advertising "optometric" services. Optometric? I am very familiar with the the terms "optometrist" and "optometry" (being one of those people who daily sticks little pieces of plastic in her eyes in order to be able to see like a normal person). I know that "optometrist" is pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable (tom).
But how in the world does one pronounce "optometric"??? OP-to-met-ric? op-TO-met-ric? op-to-MET-ric? op-to-met-RIC? Seriously! None of these sounds right. Just try it; they all sound odd and awkward.
While this sparked a brief two minute conversation with my friend which was quickly forgotten, my mind kept whirling. It's been a while since I pondered the topic of emphasis. I love to play with the emphasis in words. And don't get me started on how cool it is that in the English language you can sometimes change a word from a noun to a verb just by changing which syllable is emphasized.
For example:
I RE-cord a re-CORD.
So cool!
And these are the things I ponder as I wander through life...
Oh - and according to dictionary.com it's OP-to-MET-ric (primary emphasis on the OP, secondary on the MET).
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