Cat Found...

[Nanohedron]

Well, I know I'm not as cultured as some people on C&F, yet I've nonetheless been in a lot of places and met a lot of people and I have never met a single individual who pronounces the "o." Not one. I guess that's why I didn't think and I spelled it "possum" first when in retrospect I clearly meant "opossum."

Both words, while technically meaning different animals, are always pronounced the same in my experience. Sorry.

If it's any solace to you, when it comes to the American beast, I normally spell it "opossum", but always pronounce it "'possum". You can just almost hear the apostrophe.

I sidestep the issue of other related species by not uttering the word at all.

[anniemcu]

Well, as a 'possum, I can tell you that it's like any other name - it gets mis-spelled, mis-pronounced, and mis-used with alarming regularity.

If you had the privilege of growing up reading, or having read to you, the Mother Westwind Stories, you wouldn't be nearly so worked up over it. You would be more interested in whether the person who put up the posters grew up in a closet somewhere, or was having a bit of fun with the public at large.

[jkwest]

So....do you say, "That's an 'possum." or "That's a 'possum."

[jsluder]

So....do you say, "That's an 'possum." or "That's a 'possum."

"That is an opossum," pronounced, "That thar's uh possum."

[anniemcu]

So....do you say, "That's an 'possum." or "That's a 'possum."

"That is an opossum," pronounced, "That thar's uh possum."

Ayep. Ol' slude's got 'er down right.

Mostly, though, I say, "Oh sh*t!" and swerve... you know ... "the swear 'n' swerve" maneuver. Doesn't work so well with skunks or deer.

[jsluder]

"the swear 'n' swerve" maneuver

Ah yes. I remember my dad using that one in order to hit a rat that was running across the road.

[herbivore12]

Some years ago I worked as a volunteer at a wildlife rehab center. Once, I got a call from a woman who was hysterical, crying and drawing in ragged gasps of breath between quivering words. Finally I was able to make out from her stammer: "A -a -a...a rat! A hu-hu-hu-HUGE rat! In my garbage!" I tried to calm her down over the phone, but she remained very upset, and finally she said, "And it's MUTATED!"

"Mutated? A mutant rat?" I didn't know what to think

"Yes!" she replied. "It's HUGE, and grey, and IT HAS HUMAN HANDS! A BABY'S HANDS!" and started crying again. I told her to keep calm and I'd be right over. And yes, trapped there in the garbage can, was an opossum.

(For a moment, though, when the lady said the rat "had a baby's hands", I had visions of a big rat gnawing on the severed hands of a child, so I was very much relieved that all I had to do was fetch that marsupial.)

[gonzo914]

Well, I know I'm not as cultured as some people on C&F, yet I've nonetheless been in a lot of places and met a lot of people and I have never met a single individual who pronounces the "o." Not one. I guess that's why I didn't think and I spelled it "possum" first when in retrospect I clearly meant "opossum."

Both words, while technically meaning different animals, are always pronounced the same in my experience. Sorry.

If it's any solace to you, when it comes to the American beast, I normally spell it "opossum", but always pronounce it "'possum". You can just almost hear the apostrophe.

I sidestep the issue of other related species by not uttering the word at all.

Much the same here. I'll write it "opossum" unless there is some reason I want to use "possum" for dialectical, humorous or alliterative effect. In speech, when I'm socializing with the chaps at the country club or on the yacht, or when entertaining members of any faculty other than the University of Phoenix, or when talking with anyone who has as many or more teeth than I, I'll pronounce the first syllable. But since parts of my family are only about a generation removed from eating critter, I was exposed to the term "possum" throughout my formative years, and in moments of stress, such as when the dog dragged one into the house, it becomes not merely a "possum," but a "gawd-damned possum."

By the by, that is not a stressed or long "o" at the beginning, as in Paddy O'Possum; it is a schwa. Hear it here.

[jsluder]

... humerous ...

Funny bone.

[gonzo914]

... humerous ...

Funny bone.

Thanks. It's fixed. I would say that is how my people spell it, but no, it was a plain, garden-variety screw-up.

If you plug "humerous" into Merriam-Webster, you get an interesting assortment of words --

1. Homerus 2. humerus
3. humorous 4. humours
5. hummers 6. homers
7. humors 8. humoresque
9. humoured 10. humorless
11. humored 12. humerals
13. humoral 14. Hormoz
15. hamulus 16. hammertoes
17. honorees 18. whoreson
19. harrumphs 20. Hormuz

My favorite, or course, is "whoreson," but "hummers" is nice, too.

[jsluder]

... humerous ...

Funny bone.

Thanks. It's fixed. I would say that is how my people spell it, but no, it was a plain, garden-variety screw-up.

If you plug "humerous" into Merriam-Webster, you get an interesting assortment of words --

1. Homerus 2. humerus
3. humorous 4. humours
5. hummers 6. homers
7. humors 8. humoresque
9. humoured 10. humorless
11. humored 12. humerals
13. humoral 14. Hormoz
15. hamulus 16. hammertoes
17. honorees 18. whoreson
19. harrumphs 20. Hormuz

My favorite, or course, is "whoreson," but "hummers" is nice, too.

I like "harrumphs".

[cowtime]

So....do you say, "That's an 'possum." or "That's a 'possum."

"That is an opossum," pronounced, "That thar's uh possum."

Right you are!

but I say - "It's Uncle Billy" - from the book of my youth....

I once raised three orphaned baby possums. They are the only wild babies that I've hand raised that really never did "tame". I once met a couple though, who had a three year old pet possum and it was very docile, lay in their laps like a big cat.

[Jack]

A possum (not an possum).

[anniemcu]

A possum (not an possum).

If, as many folk do, you spell it with the "o'", it is then "an o'possum.

[Jack]

A possum (not an possum).

If, as many folk do, you spell it with the "o'", it is then "an o'possum.

The "o" isn't pronounced, so why would you say "an?"