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Chris -- 2025-05-10
In an ice-storm crash near Ft Worth, TX an SUV was lodged between two 18-wheelers. The driver exited via the back door/window. A TV announcer said the driver was “penned” in his car rather than “pinned”. Kinda makes sense especially in cattle country.
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Yes, it does make sense. The [ɛ] / [ɪ] merger, however, is prevalent enough in US speech (Kem and Pat have both confessed to it, as I remember) that this may have been just a pronunciation issue. If a caption spelled it “penned†that might indicate something, but it might well not. It’d be nice to get a perp confession on this one.
Last edited by DavidTuggy (2021-02-20 10:56:04)
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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I’m familiar with people pronouncing [ɪ] as [É›], leading to people asking for an ‘ink-pin” when requesting a writing tool, but I don’t think I’ve heard it in the other direction.
“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin
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I don’t know if this is relevant, but the fine folks over at the Online Etymological Dictionary suggest that the relationship between pen and pin may go back over a thousand years:
pen (n.2)
“small enclosure for domestic animals,” Old English penn, penne, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Old English pinn “pin, peg” (see pin (n.)) on the notion of a bolted gate or else “structure made of pointed stakes.”
https://www.etymonline.com/word/pen#etymonline_v_12602
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In an article regarding Bill and Melinda Gates’ daughter Jennifer:
Jennifer, currently a medical student, called the breakup “a challenging stretch of time†on Monday as she panned an address to her “friends†on her Instagram Story.
Probably just a typo, but some people nearly neutralize the [æ]-[ɛ] difference. I don’t suppose her friends all panned the address that she penned, but some of them might have.
*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .
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Panning an address to friends suggests broadcasting perhaps, as if sweeping that camera in a wide arc to avoid leaving anyone out?
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“panned an address” might be an anticipation error, but a tasty one. It suggests to me that she cooked something up.
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