Obscure Box

It's a brave sub that opts for a headline with so much potential for mispronunciation.

So it was that the ABC posted a story it headlined "Cup punt not child's play" on Melbourne Cup day (Tuesday November 3, 2009).

Read the headline with care

I'm sure the linguists have a name for it; that move from the first word to the second requires some care when reading aloud.

The vocal move from "cup" to "punt" requires an extra pause to stop the words running into each other, and that pause can make the second word come out all wrong.

Broadcast blooper tapes are full of such unfortunate mispronunciations.