The correct pronunciation of Dr. Seuss is Soice or Zoice, rhyming with “voice.” Seuss anglicized his mother’s maiden name for his pen name, and added “Dr.” to please his father. Other mispronounced words include Mount Everest, Lord Voldemort, and zoology.
Everyone knows the Grinch stole Christmas and that Horton heard a Who, but how much do we know about the man who created those iconic characters? It turns out that we don’t even know how to pronounce his pseudonym correctly. “Dr. Seuss,” which most people pronounce to rhyme with “moose,” should actually be pronounced Soice or Zoice, to rhyme with “voice.” Renowned children’s author, artist, and political cartoonist was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1904, to parents of German descent. His pen name, which came from his mother’s maiden name, became anglicised in American pronunciation. Dr. Seuss left this slide aside, as that pronunciation came naturally to his readers and perhaps because it connected well with the beloved storyteller Mother Goose. As for the “Dr.” part of the pseudonym, there is a simpler explanation: Seuss did it to please his father, who had always wanted him to get a medical degree.
You can say it again:
Mount Everest is named after the Welsh geographer and surveyor George Everest and should indeed be pronounced Eve-rest – with the emphasis on ‘Eve’.
Author JK Rowling says her readers are all pronouncing the villainous Lord Voldemort’s French-inspired name incorrectly: The “t” at the end should be silent.
As bestial as it sounds, the word zoology should be pronounced ZO-ology.
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