Nashville, TN: Thanksgiving morning. Turkey cooking. Mom reading. Dad futzing (with the PC he just fixed up for me). Me blogging. The Macy's Day Parade is now over, but the TV remains on. Mom and I aren't paying attention until we hear the host announcing the next round of dogs. Somehow, we had left on the National Dog Show and they were now on "working dogs." We're waiting to see our favorite type of dog -- the dog I considered to be mine, yet really raised by M&D while I trotted off to college.
I got Shasta when I was 9. She was already an adult dog, housebroken, calm and sweet. She was like the other only child in the family, but as she got older, the vet suggested we get a puppy to "help her feel young."
Around 16, I got Jadie. We plucked her out from a pile of purebred pups and after she recovered from a case of worms (that's what happens when the puppy farm loses track of who's getting shots), she was energetic & hyper, yet still sweet. Shasta wasn't a big Jadie fan, but I loved watching the two of them together.
Even though I'll always have a special place in my heart for other four legged friends that might come into my life (FRANK!), I still melt when I see the furry, white smiling breed I grew up with.
The Samoyed. For years, when I talked about Shasta & Jadie, I told others of their make and pronounced it just like it looks -- sam-OY-ed. No reason to think it could be said any other way.... until this morning's dreaded dog show.
SAM-eye-ed.
(click on the link to hear)
Mom and I look at each other in shock. What is a SAM-eye-ed!? After 27 years of having these dogs in our lives & hearts, it's pronounced differently? It would be like suddenly she tells me my name is actually pronounced Caro-LINE (though I actually get that quite a bit from my friends in the South.....). Dad comes into the room to see what we're freaking out about and I play him the pronunciation on the computer.
SAM-eye-ed.
He first looks confused, then shakes it off with confidence. "I don't care what the hell they say, it'll always be sam-OY-ed." Mom concurs. "I could have gone my whole life without knowing that."
So, in the future, I plan on:
- not watching dog shows again. Who knew it would be like finding out there's no Santa Claus (not that I actually can confirm nor deny that yet...).
- not sharing new information with my parents that may go against their current understanding of the world... or at least against their understanding of dogs.
- getting a dog in the future that's breed you can only pronounce one way: MUTT.
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