My pride as a language major has just been dealt a crippling blow. I've suffered a defeat at the hands of the word "segue."
I spelled it wrong, and my husband, who has only the most basic knowledge of spelling, knew that I had spelled it wrong.
My mistake was not for lack of having encountered the word before. I had read plenty of written examples of a word that meant "transition" and was spelled "segue," and I had heard plenty of spoken examples of a word that meant "transition" and was pronounced "segway."
Yet, somehow, I had never figured out that the two were the same word.
I had assumed that the word that was pronounced "segway" was spelled "segway" (I don't think it was because of the vehicle; I think my misconception of the spelling dates back to before the vehicle existed). And I assumed that the word that was spelled "segue" would be pronounced "seg," or "seeg," or "sayg."
The latter was because, to my knowledge, all words in the English language that end in "gue" pronounced it as a simple hard G. Spanish and French, two languages from which English has gotten many words, follow the same rule. Up until then I had found no exception to that rule in any language, and supposing that "segue" might be pronounced "segway" would require assuming an exception.
So my misconception was caused by my knowledge of a somewhat obscure spelling rule-- while my husband, who knows only the most basic spelling rules, had figured out the correct pronunciation of "segue" by sounding it out phonetically-- a technique that any literate fourth-grader knows you can't trust in this language.
I feel I've been punished for knowledge, and my husband has been rewarded for ignorance. I can't help but think life has been unfair to me. But I guess it just means I have to keep gaining more knowledge.
