Is it ped-uh-file, or peed-uh-file? Every dictionary I have says peed-uh-file; every reference I hear to it, even by journalists and t.v. talking heads says ped-uh-file. Anyone have an explanation or definative answer?
Sorry, I hit submit too soon.
My suspicion is that the original spelling was paedophile, similar to encyclopaedia, but no one say en-cy-clo-ped-ia if the ae symbol is dropped in favor of an e.
We still spell paedophile as such. And say it “ped-uh-phile” in Australia. So in my opinion, it’s not the original spelling it’s the real spelling 
haha. Why is it that Americans spell something differently and suddenly that’s correct?
I can’t answer that, other than to say that according to my dictionaries (both online and in book form) show the first syllable as being pronounced “peed” even if the spelling is “ped.”
probably a link to when everyone spelt it paed. Technically that’s “peed”. I’ve heard it pronounced that way, but I don’t. Guess it’s cause I’m lazy.
It’s pronounced MY-kul JAK-sun
Great. Trial by press :rolleyes: .
Over in the UK we (or at least I) pronounce it “peed”. Same for other child based names from Greek, like paediatrics.
Interestingly enough, I’ve only seen/heard the US spelling for pederast before today, so I pronounce that “ped”. I see in my Concise Oxford Dictionary that paederast is listed as an alternative spelling to pederast. All the other child related words, in British English, are spelt paed-. What’s up with that?
I pronounce it “peed” as well. And have never heard the other pronounciation in the UK.
Yep, from the Attic Greek for child, παισ, IIRC
The correct pronunciation in modern Greek is “ped” - I’m guessing it would be the same in ancient Greek.
Chris Morris pronounced it ‘peed.’
Okay, the general consensus from around the world is that “peed” is the proper pronunciation. Yet not one of our (U.S.) politicians or newspeople (except Chris Morris, maybe…sorry, I don’t know who he is) don’t know how to pronounce it correctly. Given that this is a board devoted to fighting ignorance, how about we all make our politicians and newspeople aware of the proper pronunciation.
(Sorry, as you can probably tell, this rather minor point has become something of a pet peeve of mine.)
Still…
I’ve always pronounced it “pedophile”. Just my $0.02.
No. “Ped” is listed as the first pronunciation in the American Heritage Dictionary. I’ve never heard “peed.”
Haha, Chris Morris is a controversial British comic who used to host a show called BrassEye, done in the style of a news show. He hosted one very controversial show on the subject of pedophilia, hence the reason I mentioned him.
Now i realize this is a random reference and sidetrack. That teaches me not to drink and Dope.
Not a problem at all. We Yanks don’t get too much British t.v. 
[nitpick] Shouldn’t that be pæt pæve? [/nitpick]
Mmmm…could be, but I don’t think so.
Btw, how’d you get that “ae” thing in your post? I’ve been wishing I could do that since I started this thread.
Am I the only one that assumes that pedophile is someone with a (reasonably) healthy love of feet whilst paedophile is something entirely more icky.
Perhaps that’s just a slightly warped British point of view though.
Dammit! Now every time I read or hear “pedophile,” I’m gonna think about that!
Reminds me of something Fred DeCordova said in his autobiography: “A friend pointed out to me that the word ‘molester’ could just as correctly be pronounced ‘mole-ster.’ Now every time I read it that’s exactly how it appears…which was his intention all along.”