Either choose the "both are acceptable" stance and move along or choose the 'right', although often archaic, version.
So there's a desi moron that I know who's constantly trying to outsmart me. His latest was this: "Suresh, it's not a rooter, but a rowter". Well, no, you nitwit. Rowter is a tool used in carpentry, rooter is the computer device you and I are referring to. idha naan sollala, Oxford dictionary solludhu, so indhaa kallu, oru oramaa poi mandaya odhachukko!
PS. We are, of course, talking about router.
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Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooter
Router: A router (pronounced /'rautər/ in the USA and Australia, and pronounced /'ru:tər/ in the UK) is a computer whose software and hardware are usually tailored to the tasks of routing and forwarding information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router
naa sollala wikipedia sollothu
:)
Well, that's the point. The way it's pronounced in the US (and apparently in Australia) is not the most accurate. It's one of the many words that Americans have hijacked and universalised. We have to accept it because they've done it for a long time. Not because it has any particular, etymological variation. It gets worse when it comes to American spelling.
So if you're going to say something the way Americans say it, then it's safe to choose the "both are correct" stance (saying with slightly apologetic tone helps too). If you're going to argue what's 'right', then you might as well do the research and back it with more reliable sources like Oxford or Webster's.
No disrespect to Wikipedia but adhu naan enna solla sonnaalum sollum.
Now, I'm not a terminology-Nazi. I'm pretty flexible with these things as long as the other party is on the same plane.
I hope you don't read any comments in the Rediff Discussion Board.
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