Cassio GondimMar 17
Mignon Fogarty

How do you pronounce "Celtic"?

If you're a basketball fan, you probably say "Seltic." If you study history or linguistics, you probably say "Keltic." So who's right?

Both pronunciations are in the dictionary, but they have different histories. The original Greek word used a hard K sound. But English got the word from French, where is starts with the S sound.

For centuries in English, the S pronunciation dominated — which is how Boston's basketball team got its name in 1946. 1/2

Mar 16 at 4:23pmWeb
Show threadGeePawHillMar 16
@grammargirl My basketball friends call that team "the Kelts", but of course it's done in humor. The people I'd speak to about the team would know who I meant, even tho they don't say it that way themselves.
Show threadChancerubbageMar 16

@grammargirl @flargh

Now do Kirk and church.

Show threadCodey McCodefaceMar 16
@Chancerubbage @grammargirl @flargh if this devolves into gif vs gif again, I’m out.
Show threadPeter CohenMar 17
@Chancerubbage @grammargirl this hurts my head
Show threadEclectic LeeMar 17
@grammargirl Hey, @celtfather , you probably know all this ☝️, but maybe you'd learn something new.