Keri Williams writes:
>If I am not mistaken someone said a broadcast announcer prounounced Merrimack
>as Merry Mack and this WAS wrong? If this is what was said what is the correct
>way to prounounce it?
 
According to Webster's:
 
Mer-ri-mack \'mer-*-mak\ (emphasis on 1st syllable, 1st e as in 'bet',
* as in the a in 'abut', a as in 'ash') river 110 mi S N.H. and NE
Mass. flowing S and NE into the Atlantic.
 
The river is named after the local Indian tribe (or vice versa). The
school's named is derived from them. (Guess where the team name comes
from :-)
 
The Merrimack (River) Valley historically has been a blue collar
region with a large immigrant population. A largely uneducated and ESL
population is bound to bastardize the language. Bizarre idiom twists,
malaprops, and weak enunciation make conversation fun around here.
 
My own personal observation is that the females are more guilty than
the males--especially with the weak enunciation. The vast majority of
the 'Mary Macks' I hear are from women. Being from the accent-less
state of Maine :-), it's killing me to hear my six year old daughter's
developing accent. My eight year old son's been immune to it all. Go
figure.
 
OB Hockey: I like the HE shootout (but then again, I'm a recent hockey
convert...)
 
--
Rand P. Hall, Manager of Systems and Networking
Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, USA      [log in to unmask]