Re: irregularities

Robert Hailman wrote:
>"Did you meet Napoleon?"
>"Met him! I /Et/ him!" where /Et/ is "ate."
>
>Of course, that's a strech, I doubt anyone on the show says that
>regularly - but if that's possible in a joke, /rEt/ is probable
>elsewhere. It certainly does fit the pattern.

True:  read/read /rEd/ :: meet/met :: eat/Et.  One of the things that sets
my ears on edge in the imported British shows on our TV, is the use--
apparently by the Upper Classes!!-- of /Et/ for "ate" (and eaten??).  In my
grade school days, that pronunciation was considered SO ignorant that
teachers went ballistic, which  must have been a nice experience for the
poor country kids who were guilty of using it.