December 27, 2021

"Finally, here comes omega (ω). Everybody knows it signals the end. Although we are still near the middle of the alphabet, albeit on the downhill side, people are noticing that Greek has two 'O's."

Writes Mary Norris, in "A Linguistic Look at Omicron/What is this penchant for using Greek to designate disasters?" 
Omega means “big O.” (Get it? O-mega?) Omicron means “little O.” O-micron. The Greek micro, or “small,” has given us “microbes,” “microscopes,” and “microminis.” Mega, Greek for “big,” has come into English in “Mega Millions,” “mega-threat,” and “megalopolis.” If the repercussions from little old omicron have been so catastrophic, what are we to expect from big bad omega? 
Before panic sets in, a note on pronunciation: “small O” and “big O” refer less to the size and shape of the written letters (omega is an omicron with big feet: Ω) than to their sounds. They are vowels with short and long values. Though there is no universal agreement about it, many American classicists pronounce omicron with a short “o,” as in “om,” and omega with a long “o,” like an Irish surname: O’Mega. 

Norris links to a Mother Jones article from a few weeks ago, "I Asked Seven Classics Experts How to Say 'Omicron.' Come Down the Rabbit Hole With Me." Excerpt:

My first call was to David Sider, an American scholar with a terrific Bronx accent, in whom I found an equally frustrated ally. “You’ve called the right person!” he exclaimed. “I was driving in a car the other day, listening to the radio, and hit two different people on two different episodes say ‘ah-ma-CRON. And that’s wrong.”

“Kind of like the French president?” I asked. “Ah, Macron!

“Yes, yes, exactly,” he said. “I’ve been bothered.”

28 comments:

Mr. Forward said...

o, wOw.

tim maguire said...

Remember a few weeks back when we were discussing how we couldn’t call variants nu or xi because of pronunciation issues and how we couldn’t say them at all because we couldn’t say them right?

I Asked Seven Classics Experts How to Say 'Omicron.' Come Down the Rabbit Hole With Me.

Scot said...

Many American classicists pronounce omicron with a short “o,” as in “om,” and omega with a long “o,” like an Irish surname: O’Mega.

This is not helpful.

David Begley said...

This story is just more filler on the favorite topic of Libs.

Kevin said...

This story is keeping the Waukesha murders out of the news.

Wilbur said...

Yes, when I want to know how to pronounce something my first call is to an individual with "a terrific Bronx accent".

I presume the author meant "terrific" in the literal sense.

Ann Althouse said...

"I presume the author meant "terrific" in the literal sense."

"I have a terrific pain in the back of my head."

Critter said...

Seems like a little humor for those inside the NYC liberal bubble. Uninteresting to the rest of us.

mikee said...

Here in Texas, omicron is pronounced "don't care any more."

John henry said...

And in other news, South Africa 80 percent of the population has already had omicron. The govt has stopped quarentining, isolating, contact tracing and testing.

It's over, however you pronounce it.

https://mg.co.za/health/2021-12-24-health-department-scraps-quarantine-isolation-requirements-for-asymptomatic-covid-19-contacts/

John LGBTQBNY Henry

John henry said...

Don't forget, only 4 more days to legally get a PCR kung flu test!

A/K/A "the gold standard"

gilbar said...

Remember a few weeks back when we were discussing how we couldn’t call variants nu or xi because of pronunciation issues and how we couldn’t say them at all because we couldn’t say them right?


Here's a modest proposal.... How about we call it, a head cold?

Scott Patton said...

How to Pronounce "Omicron" the Star Trek Way

Steve from Wyo said...

Did they ask a Greek how to pronounce a Greek letter?

MadTownGuy said...

My Greek instructor (who grew up speaking modern Greek) assured us that it was something like 'AW-mick-ron' with the stress on the first syllable.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I’m bothered by his set-up using small-O and big-O not to compare the variants’ attributes but to worry if the next overreaction is going to exceed the current mega-overreaction to Omicron. It’s over. If we see an omega coming I pray those in charge finally accept the win that evolution is giving us and declare victory.

Gahrie said...

I'm bothered with the obsession over aesthetics. It reminds of the fall of Rome and the Weimer Republic.

Lurker21 said...

“You’ve called the right person!” he exclaimed. “I was driving in a car the other day, listening to the radio, and hit two different people on two different episodes say ‘ah-ma-CRON. And that’s wrong.”

“Kind of like the French president?” I asked. “Ah, Macron!”

“Yes, yes, exactly,” he said. “I’ve been bothered.”


Yes, people, get it right!

OMNICRON ! OMNICRON ! OMNICRON !

Wince said...

Charlton Heston is, the Omega Man.

The Omega Man- The End of the World scene

Already, hospital facilities have begun to crack under the strain and Civil Defense authorities state that the situation is much the same... across the entire country. Martial law is now nation-wide. Whether a state of war between China and Russia -still exists is not important any longer. Our fellow countrymen are dying. The very foundations of civilization are beginning to crumble...

This is a class one emergency. All civilian traffic is barred from streets and highways. Stay in your homes... Those found without specific military orders are subject to summary execution ...

So now the question is survival. Is this the end of technological man? Is this the conclusion of all our yesterdays, the boasts of science, the superhuman conquests of space and time... the age of the wheel? Neville grimaces, shakes his head. At the end of next speech. We were warned of judgment. Well, It's come now. This is the Judgement, the weeping and gnashing of teeth... Oh, God, where will it end...?

So its airborne bacteria. Let's try-vaccine 93-b-71. How the hell do I know? I don't... It might. Ill be there in an hour.

wildswan said...

Versions of Greek were dispersed across the Western world - the original version, the version used in parts of the Bible, the version used in Greece after the Fall of Constantinople, the original version as recovered differently during the different parts of the Renaissance, a few others. As if English were lost except as used in the Bronx and the Bible were written in that and then it was lost again except as spoken in Georgia and then it was recovered as spoken by Oxford but it was argued that it should be learned as spoken by Shakespeare - which sounds most like English as spoken by West Virginia hillbillies. Later.

SteveWe said...

Oh M'God!

Joe Smith said...

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

Freeman Hunt said...

One of the reasons I like the WSJ crossword is that there are often Greek alphabet clues.

n.n said...

Omicron etc., given an actual choice, are evolving as safe, effective, affordable inoculants. To be fair, less several planned parent/hood Choices, so was the original W-word variant with over 99% viability given conditional infection, natural immunity, resistance, and early treatment(s).

Baceseras said...

Call it macaroni and be done with it.

LA_Bob said...

If AW-mee-kron is moronic, I suppose OH-may-guh is our amego (with apologies to our Brown Brothers at the border.

walter said...

What's up with Xian?

Freeman Hunt said...

Other keys to WSJ crosswords: ant, emu, emo, ire. Then you're well on your way.