forte

\FORT\

noun

: something in which one excels : one's strong point

firstly, i'm a little disappointed in their pronunciation key. i always say this word as \FORT-ay\. after i wrote this last sentence, i read in the etymology:

There is some controversy over how to correctly pronounce "forte"; common choices in American English are "FOR-tay" and "for-TAY," but many usage commentators recommend rhyming it with "fort." None of these is technically true to the French, in which "forte" would sound more like "for." You can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose.

i guess they are right. i appreciate that mirriam-webster has these moments of wisdom. you can take your choice, they say, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. this is sort of freeing to me. there's something liberating about accepting that you (i) cannot please everyone. fuck it, says mirriam-webster. throw caution to the wind and say FORTE however the fuck you want. and now that we're on the subject, judge whoever the fuck you want, too. if you don't like the way someone says it, rip into them. let the world divide itself into \FORT-ay\s and \FORT\s. let it dissolve whole communities, break up marriages; instigate mass suicides, bloody battles, public executions. we are on the verge of a pronunciation revolution.

i suppose i am officially "someone somewhere."