How do you pronounce “proboscis?” One of my favorite teachers, a forensic entomologist, held a pet peeve for pronouncing the mosquito’s mouthparts as “pro-baa-skus (prəˈbɑːskɪs)” instead of “pro-baa-sis” (prəˈbɑːsɪs). She would remind everyone we study “Science,” not “Sky-unce.” Long before I learned about this controversy, I remember stabbing my juice box with my dinosaur-mosquito mouthpart […]
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