Classical Linguistics for Biology and Chemistry Majors

The next time I hear you say 'low-sigh,' I'm going to scream.
a.d. IX Kal. Sept. MMDCCLXII a.U.c.

Sudden, exciting fact: people in the Sciences have no idea how to pronounce anything. This is particularly prominent amongst biochemists, and their bastardisation of the plural of locus: loci.

Now, if you've never been exposed to anything other than the-past-sucked presentism, you may be a little surprised to discover that loci is pronounced the same as Loki, the Norse god of trickery; in most dialects, that's low-key.

No, we don't know for certain how it was originally pronounced, but there is a difference between trying and making a downright oblivious ass of yourself by ignoring so much theory. We know, for certain, that the so-called "soft C" is a modern invention, possibly influenced by the Greek lunate sigma and certainly influenced by the gradual Italian decline into a "ch" sound instead of a proper "k" sound. We also know that using the "ai" sound for the letter "I" is pretty much something endemic to the British isles. So that's really quite out too.

This is a pet peeve, I admit it. But you know what? It's justifiable because of the rigidity of notation accepted by the scientific community. It is clear that science requires accurate, specific, and consistent notation—not simply understandable notation, but strictly burdened with precise formalism in order to ensure cohesive and clear communication. To go ahead and break the rules of another field of academia is ignorant to the point of making the complexities of scientific mathematical notation a great show of arrogance.

The defence "well, my audience knows what I mean" is no truer in speech than it is on paper.

Okay, now back to slogging through Genetics. I wonder how much of this textbook is just basic chemistry...