BIOPIC
Noun. Colloquial. Mid-20th century.
[from BIOGRAPHICAL + PIC noun.]
A biographical film.
Biopic annoys me a bit as a word. For as long as I can remember, I've pronounced it incorrectly
, firmly stressing the 'o' so that it rhymes (somewhat ironically) with
myopic. However, virtually every authoritative source gives its correct pronunciation as
bio-pick. Ever since I discovered the proper pronunciation, however, I've remained resolutely convinced that
my pronunciation is the superior one. Yes, it's true that it doesn't make as much sense (after all,
biopic means
biographical
picture), but it just sounds so much better.
Biopic (spoken my way) sounds so much grander, with so much more majesty, bigger and bolder, with tones of the
epic. The thing is - it
isn't just my pronunciation; after a modicum of research on the interweb, it seems that
others are also partial to my myopically-intoned pronunciation. So perhaps we're right, and to continue to deny so is simply ... ahem ... short-sighted?
How do you pronounce biopic? Is it just me and some other renegade internet weirdos? Or is something big starting here?
If you have any favourite biopics (pronounced my way), do feel free to share.
I pronounce it the myopic-way, too. I think the authoritative sources just don't know what they're talking about.
ReplyDeleteOh no! Another renegade internet weirdo, just like I feared! *sniggers*
DeleteWell, growing up in east Belfast WE have a tendency to pronounce words which ever way we want.
DeleteHowever Bi-OP-ic as I would say it, does feel and portray a somewhat legendary or Epic status.
I like Long Way Round and Long Way Down
Another motorcycle, educational, adventurous Epic Bi-OP-ic
Hope you 2 weirdos like the comment.
Regards,
A non weirdo :)
Great! It seems I'm in good company. If I get any more consenting voices, I might even dispatch a letter to the OED.
Delete@ The T 1 thousand: Don't try to sneak out of it, you're just as weird as any other person in this comment section. :)
DeleteHey! I'm not weird. Well, ok, I'm weird. But at least I'm consistently weird, most of the time. At least I'm occasionally consistently weird. At least I'm inconsistently normal on weird occasions. Nope, can't remember my objection - carry on.
Delete-clueless.
You're weird, C, and as evidence I cite your protestation: "I'm not weird." Anyone that ever feels the need to say that is indubitably weird.
DeleteIt DOES and SHOULD rhyme with myopic, but then I recently asked a teenager if they liked the band Kasabian, in a futile effort to seem cool, and pronounced it such that in a poem it would have sat nicely in a verse about Azerbaijan.
ReplyDelete-clueless
You must be some kind of rhyming wizard, C. I've gone over this numerous times in my head and I just can't make Kasabian and Azerbaijan rhyme, not in any way that is feasibly reasonable to think a person may have done it by mistake in their head. What kind of linguistic sorcery is this??
DeleteKaz er by an. I'm not proud.
DeleteIf you, native speakers, cannot agree on the pronunciation, what are we to do??
ReplyDeleteOddly, Evi, it seems we do agree, something I didn't anticipate *at all* on this post.
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the banter today.
ReplyDeleteI think a hearty well done old chap is in order for our founding blogger
I'm glad you enjoyed it, T1, and it's great to have you commenting here : o )
DeleteI pronounce it like myopic, too, and I just heard Oprah pronounce it that way, so that settles it. :-)
ReplyDeleteI feel more vindicated with every comment!
DeleteI have also always said "biopic" to rhyme with myopic, because it used to be said that way by many... often! I would actually say it's a biography in pictures yes? Using the word biography, it makes sense when pronounced like myopic.
ReplyDeleteIf we all persevere, eventually the beastly dictionaries will bend to the will of the common pronunciation : o )
DeleteBiopic is actually a contraction of biographical picture. Do you pronounce "cannot" differently than "can" "not"
ReplyDeleteI used to think that people who pronounced biopic like myopic were just ignorant of the meaning of biopic. But now I see they are stubborn too.
ReplyDelete