Emphasis is as important as meaning. If the emphasis is wrong, people are too distracted to listen to the rest of the conversation. The other day a group of friends were discussing food and one brought up Moussaka. The correct pronunciation is moo-saa-ka, with the emphasis on the saa. That is the only way I have ever heard it said, until Sunday. My friend kept calling it moo-sick-a, with the emphasis on the moo. She must have said that word 5 times during her story and no one wanted to correct her. If we did, she would not have taken the correction at face value. There would have been a discussion, a googling session and a debate. It was easier, but still painful, to hear the word moussaka mangled. I still have no idea about anything else she was saying about the moussaka. Neither did anyone else.
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