I was reading a blog recently and saw the word gazoontite in it. I had to stop and think, then audibly sound it out. Then it hit me. Duh. The writer meant Gesundheit. There are a couple of things wrong with the original iteration that nicely illustrate something I’ve been seeing and hearing for years.
First of all, the word is pronounced ga-zund-hite or ga-zoon-dite. There’s a hard D sound there at the beginning of that last syllable, not a T.
Second, there’s the spelling of the word. Gesundheit is not some made-up word, like Woot! or Squee! or Delish. It’s a German word used to wish someone good health when they sneeze.
I know I’m going to see Gesundheit spelled incorrectly again and again and again, but I just had to blog about this as a minor form of venting.
Just looking at that word spelled that way makes me laugh! And here’s what I wonder: if you’re writing a blog, you’re on the internet, right? How hard would it be to google the word, and find out how it’s really spelled? Too funny.