A Place for Peonies

For Robert and Others

a peony at Merry Mount

You say (pee uh nee), and I say (pee oh nee)

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

A peony by any name would look the same.

History and Etymology for peony

Middle English piony, from Anglo-French peonie, pioiné, from Latin paeonia, from Greek paiōnia, from Paiōn Paeon, physician of the gods

peonies at Merry Mount

We have a saying at Merry Mount: “When you are at Merry Mount, you do as you please,” which includes pronunciation.  Those of us who were trained as “classical singers”, were taught precise/proper pronunciation of several languages including English.  But as I become more and more contrary, I find myself less concerned with exact and “correct” pronunciation.  Maybe this stance comes with age.  I once asked one of my mentors, Italo Tajo (a Giant among midgets), whether a final [e] vowel should be “opened” or “closed” at the end of an Italian word and he chuckled and said, “as long as the word is understood, the final sound doesn’t matter”.  I continue to learn from my mentor.

Italo Tajo (1915-1993)

Now let’s consider dialect.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines dialect as:

a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language.

If we were to have a gathering of people at Merry Mount from various regions of the United States (let’s say from Boston, Knoxville, Savannah, Minneapolis, Boise, and Los Angeles), we could have an interesting conversation about the morphology, phytochemistry, and genome of Paeoniaceae, perhaps understand each other, but in the end probably agree that peonies are incredibly beautiful.

So, I leave you with these lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

You say either and I say either
You say neither and I say neither
Either, either, neither, neither
Let's call the whole thing off

You like potato and I like potahto
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto
Let's call the whole thing off

But, oh, if we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And, oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart

So if you like pajamas and I like pajamas
I'll wear pajamas and give up pajahmas
For we know we need each other so we
Better call the whole thing off
Let's call the whole thing off

You say laughter and I say larfter
You say after and I say after
Laughter, larfter, after, arfter
Let's call the whole thing off

You like vanilla and I like vanella
You sarsaparilla, and I sarsapirella
Vanilla, vanella, chocolate, strawberry
Let's call the whole thing off

But, oh, if we call the whole thing off, then we must part
And, oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart

So if you go for oysters and I go for ersters
I'll order oysters and cancel the ersters
For we know we need each other so we
Better call the calling off off
Let's call the whole thing off

I say father, and you say pater
I saw mother and you say mater
Pater, mater, uncle, auntie
Let's call the whole thing off

I like bananas and you like banahnahs
I say Havana and I get Havahnah
Bananas, banahnahs, Havana, Havahnah
Go your way, I'll go mine

So if I go for scallops and you go for lobsters
So, all right, no contest, we'll order lobseter
For we know we need each other so we
Better call the calling off off
Let's call the whole thing off

 CPW