* * * * *
                                        
                                     Ghoti
                                        
> So now, we can describe the problem. The word mic, as a colloquial form of
> microphone, appears to violate an obvious spelling rule of English. It
> appears that every other one-syllable word in English which ends in “ic” is
> pronounced /ik/, not /i:k/: Bic, hic (the transcription of the sound a
> drunk makes), pic (short for picture), sic, tic, Vic. This is actually a
> more general rule, which I'll call the long vowel “e” rule; in English,
> most of the time, if what we usually call a “long” vowel appears in the
> last syllable of a word, and is followed by a consonant, the word ends in
> "e", and if the vowel is “short”, there's no final “e”: bit vs. bite, win
> vs. wine, quit vs. quite.
> 

“Mike, dammit [1]”

This link for my lovely and talented copy editor, Bunny.

[1] http://www.sambayer.com/whymike.html

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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