Wait a Minute - It's Minute

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OK, I have to clear this up. I was talking to my brother the other day and we started talking about the spell Melf's Minute Meteors. We quickly realized we were pronouncing the middle word two different ways, and both of which were possible. As it turns out there are two different pronounciations of "minute".

The more common pronounciation would phonetically be spelled "minit", and would be defined as an interval of time equal to 60 seconds. That was how my brother was pronouncing it.

I always pronounced it (phonetically here again) "my-noot". With this pronounciation it is defined as something very small. I thought it was "my-noot" because they were tiny meteors, but my brother insists on "minit"

Can anyone clear this up even though I'm 99% positive I'm right here?

 

Actually, you both are wrong. It's [mai-nai-te]

Seriously; does it matter what your personal preference for pronouncing perfectly understandable word is?

 

Your right and your brother's wrong.

 

...and you need less free time if this actually created an arguement. Wow.

 

what if you're both right? what if they're called minute (my-noot) because they're small, at the same time, they (theoretically) only last a minute (minit). That should get you thinking.

 

Well how do you people say it? It's just one of those things - not remotely important - and yet I NEED to know.

 

I agree with Wiegraf Folles, it could be both. Both make sense.

I always used to think it was 'minit' (60 seconds), but that's probably because it is a more common word and my English vocabulary isn't as good as that of a native speaker. I never really thought about it until now.

 

It's definitely "my-noot", as in "tiny". Plus, they don't last a minute, they're permanent (or almost?) -- until you use them, that is.

 

I always thought it was the "my-noot" style. Does your brother have a small vocabulary?

 

There small, very very small.

 

Definitely small. Think of them as small fiery lizard things. My-newt meteors

 

I (and any of my friends that have played it) have always said it "minit", but we were too lazy to care if it was right or not. <sigh> Why couldnt the spell have been called "Melf's Tiny Meteors" or something like that? Certainly would save us the trouble

 

Melf's My newt, meaty oars.

 

Well, for the sake of correct grammar, it should be my-newt so that minute becomes an adjective to describe the meteors. So the name of the spell is "small meteors belonging to Melf."

If you use minute as a noun, it doesn't make sense since there will be two nouns in a row. It would be like saying "Melf's chair table" or something.

 

@ Blog

What about Minute Rice? That works, doesn't it? They could be quick and convenient meteors. As in "under a minute." If Uncle Ben can have Minute Rice, Melf can have Minute Meteors. It's only fair.

To avoid confusion, that dork Melf should have just named them his "Mini-Meteors" and not tried to be such a smarty pants. Look at all the sibling strife this has caused Aldeth. Was it worth it, Melf? You insensitive prick?

 

Well, you can also consider it "Melf meteors that last for a minute" that way.
But I always consider it to be said mi-noot.
I also think that contextually, that made more sense.

 

Actually, although the word is pronounced two different ways, they basically mean the same thing in the abstract. When we are saying "minit" we are saying a bastardized version of "my-noot" that has been adapted solely for the purpose of referring to time. Secondly, "my-noot" is an adjective, while "minit" is a noun, so grammatically speaking, "minit" cannot be used to modify the word meteors. Therefore, "my-noot" is the correct pronunciation. That was the long version.

The short version is that while regular meteors are enormous, Melf's meteors are thrown by hand, so they are quite "my-noot" compared to the original. And Melf's Minute Meteors has a much better ring than Melf's Tiny Meteors, Melf's Small Meteors, or Melf's Little Burning Balls, which were all up for possible names at voting time.

 

Damn this is too funny.

 

I think our anger is directed in the wrong place. I don't think Melf should be blamed for his misdeed. What about his parents, huh? If they hadn't forgot to pick him up after casting practice that one day, this might have never happend.

DR, can you honestly blame Melf? I mean, what kind of parents name their kid "Melf"? I'll bet high school was an absolute ***** for him.

 

Actually, Melf is his *last* name. His first name is Milton.