“In Situ” Can Sound Like “in-SYTE-too,” “in SIT-too,” or “in-SEE-TOO”

Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hey, this is Robert and I’m calling from Tucson, Arizona.

Hello, Robert from Tucson. What’s on your mind? Hey, you know, I have a phrase that I need your help with and I’ve heard it said all kinds of different ways, but let me give you just a quick background so that it makes more sense. I grew up in southern Arkansas as a kid, had access to ponds and creeks and all kinds of places to explore.

So my buddy and I did that. It was back in the day where you would go out in the morning, come home from a grilled cheese sandwich, and then go away again until it got dark.

And so ample opportunity to go find things, which we ended up doing, snakes, lizards, turtles, all that stuff.

And at one point I decided, you know what, I want to do this for a living.

I want to eat grilled cheese sandwiches and go out all day and find critters.

And it turns out that’s a herpetologist that I wanted to be.

But that is a study of reptiles and amphibians.

And fast forward and found out that accounting was more lucrative, so I became an accountant.

But I kept my passion for herpetology.

And that brings me to my question.

In my circle of hobbyists, there’s a phrase, and it’s spelled I-N space S-I-T-U.

And I’ve heard it said so many different ways.

And for your listeners, that basically is a Latin phrase that means you found it as is, in place.

And the reason we use it is people find a snake.

And they post it on Instagram and it’s on a rock.

And there’s a waterfall and a rainbow behind it.

And you go, did you really find that?

You know, I-N space S-I-T-U.

I say it in situ.

I’ve heard it said in situ.

I’ve heard it said in situ.

I’ve heard it said in situ.

And so I’m hoping that you can help me sleep at night and tell me the accepted way you would say that phrase if you were in my hobby.

All right, Robert.

There’s so many different ways into this.

Now you just first say, I’m from Missouri.

Do you have blue-tailed skinks in Arkansas?

You know, we probably did, yes.

Yes, I’m currently in Arizona, so it’s been a while since I’ve been in Arkansas.

But, yeah, Arkansas has a lot of stuff.

Yeah, Missouri’s a great place, too.

I just want to say, getting home for the midday grilled cheese would have been nice.

We just ate whatever greens we could find in the woods.

Yeah, I think I had to do that.

They wanted to make sure I was still alive or something.

I’m not sure.

As far as the expression I-N-S-I-T-U, Latin for in place,

I went to the English Pronouncing Dictionary from Cambridge University Press to look this up,

just to be sure I remembered correctly.

And it includes nine pronunciations for just North America and several more for the United Kingdom.

Nine.

The variations have to do with two different parts of the expression.

First, that last word is sight or sit or seat.

And also, what happens to that T and the U?

How are they pronounced together?

Is it sight-u, sight-u, or sight-chu?

And so when you mix those combinations together, you get a lot of possibilities.

You will find in mainstream dictionaries, in sight-u, given as a standard pronunciation.

But they’ll also give two or three more.

And you will find different first pronunciations usually mean that they think that’s the mainstream one given in different dictionaries.

So it’s not a settled case at all.

This is definitely, again, one of those cases where the word is not completely anglicized.

It still has a very Latin flavor to it and hasn’t been borrowed wholly into English.

Makes sense. Makes sense.

So then, yeah, I have some leeway is what it sounds like.

You do. Yeah.

Hey, pleasure talking to both of you.

And if you ever want to find a rattlesnake, come look me up in Tucson.

Oh, that’s inviting.

Oh, hey, we got them here in San Diego, man.

I have seen them.

I’ve been very close here in San Diego, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you do.

You’re right.

You’re right.

You’re right.

But maybe the Arizona ones are better.

It’s getting warmer, too, so they’re coming out.

Yeah.

Got to watch out for the little ones, right?

Well, take care of yourself and enjoy your hobby and your work, all right?

Yeah, appreciate it.

Thanks so much.

Good talking to you.

Take care.

Bye, Robert.

See you.

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