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Grammar Moses: How many 'k' sounds in Celtic? It depends

"I have a disagreement with my brother and his wife about the word 'Celtic,'" writes pen pal Cynthia Cwynar. "I say the word is always pronounced with a 'k' sound unless it's the basketball team, where it is pronounced like an 's.' My sister-in-law (former teacher, the worst kind to try to defend yourself against) says the word is interchangeable. What say you?"

Cynthia: I say you and your sister-in-law should split a bottle of wine and engage in a meaningful contest of Scrabble.

There is no clear winner in this squabble.

According to a variety of sources at my disposal, "Celtic" entered the English language via French in the 1600s with an "s" sound. The French had inherited it from the Greeks, who pronounced it with a "k" sound.

The Oxford English Dictionary says in standard English the normal pronunciation takes a "k," unless you're talking about the Glaswegian football club.

But, as you probably know, the Brits have no idea how to pronounce "vitamin," "jaguar" or "schedule," so you can't trust them.

In some ways, how you pronounce "Celtic" is a matter of fashion, just as it seems fashionable these days for American friends to tell each other they're going "on holiday."

But never, ever, ever shout from the stands at The Garden in Boston "Let's go, Keltics!" unless you want the guy behind you to pour a beer over your head.

Quotation marks make a statement

Reader Tana Hamm had an interesting observation about a story that was sure to cause some ripples with readers. This is not the kind of ripple I anticipated.

"I can't believe that I am writing on an impulse today after all the Sundays I have thought I should write and tell you how much I enjoy your column!" she wrote.

Flattery WILL get you anywhere, Tana. Notably, in my column.

"I am writing because a story on the front page uses quotation marks in a way that irritated me. In her introduction to Mark Galli, the editor of "Christianity Today" (who told us about his decision to criticize President Donald Trump in an editorial), the reporter uses quotation marks around 'altar call' as if it could be preceded by 'so-called' that casts a shadow on her understanding of the traditions in most Baptist, Assembly of God, Church of God, Foursquare Gospel denominations, among many others. Billy Graham never ended a revival without an altar call while the organ played 'Just As I Am.' By casting that shadow, it also made me question how much she was really understanding her subject. Because it was an interview format, the points were, however, well made because of the questions asked. My question is whether quotation marks should be used in this case."

I spoke with her editor and, as Tana suspected, "altar call" was unfamiliar to the reporter.

Until Sunday, it was unfamiliar to me, too.

Were we publishing Christianity Today, we would never dream of putting quotation marks around the term, because we would assume that all readers of Christianity Today would know what an altar call is.

However, I know Catholics, evangelicals, Lutherans, Buddhists, atheists and agnostics who read my newspaper (that's just members of my family), and I'd bet many of us don't know what an altar call is.

But if a general circulation paper like ours is going to put quotations marks around a term it finds to be unusual, it is important that it then explains what the term means.

Having failed to do so, I concede Tana's point.

Write carefully!

• Jim Baumann is vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim.

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