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Do you pronounce the "o" in opossum? I do not. However, today my brother said that only those from "the hills" say possum. Yet when I look it up, it's apparently acceptable to pronounce it both ways. How do you pronounce it?
 
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I do not pronounce the o in opossum and I don't recall ever hearing anyone pronounce it. The OED Online indicates that in BrE the o is pronounced and in AmE it is optional:

quote:
opossum, n.
Pronunciation:  Brit. /əˈpɒsəm/ , U.S. /(ə)ˈpɑs(ə)m/

Etymology:  < Virginia Algonquian opassom < op- white + -assom dog, doglike animal. Compare French †opassum (1640, probably < English), opossum (1704). Compare possum n.1


Under opossum it says “Etymology:  Aphetic < possum n.. It attests opossum from 1610 and possum from1613

The Online Etymology Dictionary says

quote:
opossum (n.)

1610, from Powhatan (Algonquian) opassum, "equivalent to a proto-Algonquian term meaning 'white dog'" [Bright].

possum (n.)

1610s, shortened form of opossum. Phrase play possum is first recorded 1822.

The AHD says

quote:
o·pos·sum

ETYMOLOGY: Virginia Algonquian

WORD HISTORY:

The word opossum takes us back to the earliest days of the American colonies. The settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, was founded in 1607 by the London Company, chartered for the planting of colonies. Even though the first years were difficult, promotional literature was glowing. In one such piece, A True Declaration of the Estate of the Colonie in Virginia, published in 1610, we find this passage: "There are ... Apossouns, in shape like to pigges." This is the first recorded use of opossum, although in a spelling that differs from the one later settled on to reproduce the sound of the Virginia Algonquian word from which our word came. The word opossum and its shortened form possum, first recorded in 1613 in more promotional literature, remind us of a time when the New World was still very new, settlers were few, and the inhabitants for whom the New World was not new were plentiful.

and

pos·sum   

quote:
NOUN:
Chiefly Southern U.S.
An opossum.
ETYMOLOGY: Short for opossum

Regional Note:

Since English is a language that stresses some syllables and not others, weakly stressed syllables, especially those preceding strong stresses, are dropped at times. This process, called aphesis when it occurs at the beginning of a word, is more common in regional American dialects than in the more conservative Standard English, which tends to retain in pronunciation anything reflected in spelling. Although many American dialects feature aphesis, it is most famous in the dialects of the South, where it yields pronunciations such as count of for (on) account of, tater for potato, possum for opossum, and skeeter for mosquito.


I posted this in 2003:

quote:
I thought you might be interested in this little tidbit I found:

“These early explorers and naturalists were even more at a loss regarding the opossum's reproductive nature. The penis of the male opossum is bifurcated or forked. This, combined with the female opossum's prenatal habit of licking her belly, nipples and pouch area, led to the folktale that in reproducing, the male and female have sex through the female's nose and she then blows the young into her pouch. Later, it was discovered that the females have a bifurcated reproductive track and all the preening is done to create a moist warm pathway for the newborns to follow.”

Puts a new meaning in “blow job”, doesn’t it?


The original link I posted no longer works, but I found a couple more, My Little Corner of the World and Opossum Reproduction and Life Cycle.

In the first link is a blog by “possum” He (or she) writes about the day he learned the truth about the opossum sex myth:

quote:
What’s worse is, this same afternoon, as I was sitting in a class after a lecture, visiting with some friends, one of the women said she told her husband she wanted a “nose job.” I had just taken a sip of my Starbucks… I doubt the stains will ever come out. I am so glad I did not have to explain my reaction. I was totally speechless.
I am so glad I didn’t spray anyone else.


The second is from the Opossum Society of the United States.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,
 
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Well, I was with several people at the time, and they all, except for me, pronounced the o. I began to feel as though this was one of those words I have never pronounced correctly. Even my husband pronounces the o.
 
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Just watched an episode of the Simpsons in which we get to see some of the Simpson ancestors in the deep south.

It contains the following exchange

Hiram Simpson:What's for dinner?
Mabel Simpson: Possum.
Hiram: Oh, can't we have o-possum?
Mabel: Not on your salary.

(It also features, hanging on the wall, a sampler that says "Quit while you're ahea".)


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
 
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That is really funny. I guess that's why I don't pronounce the "o"...too low of a salary!
 
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To me, 'opossum' sounds more literary (I guess to the Simpsons too). If reading aloud I'd probably pronounce it 'opossum', as spelled. But when I see one outside, it's a 'possum.'
 
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One night, several years ago, I had to go to the garage across the back yard. Out of the darknesss came a possom with many babies clinging to her back. She was in the way so I yelled to make her move. Instead of moving, she raised up on her back legs and gave a shriek like the aliens in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Not wanting to become a pod-person, I retreated to the house.
 
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Just tonight, while on a walk with my dog, she was sniffing in the bushes and...vrooom! Out came an opossum. I thought to myself, "a 'possum!" And I thought of this thread!

I know I used "an" and "a," but I don't consider either "opossum" or "'possum" more official than another. And neither do the lexicographers.
 
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It's possum in New Zealand. Nasty little critters!
And yet they're protected in Australia!!!!!
 
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Protected? Really? Why is that? They roam the garbage cans here in Illinois.
 
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As to why they're protected - I've no idea! They're just as much a menace in Australia as they are in NZ.
 
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