Here’s Bill Maher’s latest monologue, and it’s a good one—all about “trigger warnings” and why they’re ineffectual. It turns out that, in fact, the phrase “trigger warning” is itself supposed to need a trigger warning.
But why does he pronounce “trauma” so wierdly?
Excellent. I’ve heard trauma pronounced the way he does: kinda German.
Yes. When I first hear him say it Wagner’s operas came to mind.
He seemed to pronounce trauma in two different ways. Maher stumbled at a couple of other places on different words, so I think it was because he was reading the script quickly.
Back to the substance:
Trigger warning! I might aim my eyeballs in your direction if I decide to engage you in conversation. Please feel free to avert your eyes to avoid my gaze. I will not be offended.
I’m kind of sickened by this nonsense, actually.
I never heard of any rule on how to pronounce the letters au….maybe go ask the Greeks. Aw or Ow…either one will be understood. The word Australia is “Aw” by the way, not Owstralia. Meanwhile what’s with the spelling of “wierdly”…i and e reversed (my word check wouldnt let me write it erroneously). You say “tomatto”, I say “tomayto”, let’s call the whole thing off. First check out British announcers who put accents in weird/wierd places so you cant understand the word at all. Usually on the second syllable instead of the third.
I can think of one reason why trigger warnings could be important — although not for the intended purpose of preparing delicate ears. They might (might!) offer a modicum of protection against a professor who needs to bring up something delicate in today’s classroom. Of course there are cases where this has decidedly not worked, but it seems reasonable there are cases where it has but we don’t hear about them.
It looks like Oxford cites it as a pronunciation in British English. (“[ˈtraʊmə].”)
Chris Rock, in his Netflix show “Selective Outrage,” has what I think is a great line:
We are a nation of emergency rooms filled with people with paper cuts.
Trigger warning: his stand-up routine is filled with obscenities and the n-word.
In answer to a comment above – I’m Australian and I’ve never heard it pronounced “Awstralia”, if that’s what was meant. The regular pronunciation here is “Osstralia”, with accent on the second syllable.
One of the most effective forms of treatment for trauma, anxiety, depression, and phobias is Cognitive Behavior Therapy. CBT is basically the opposite of trigger warnings and the view of mental suffering they’re embedded in.
Absolutely. “Feel the fear and do it anyway” as the saying goes.
his trauma has a slight NY sound to it
I don’t know where I’d be without insight and humor from those like Maher.