The document discusses the word "desiderata" and its origins and usage. It traces the word back to Latin and its adoption into English in the 19th century as part of a trend of using Latin words. It is most famous as the title of a 1927 poem by Max Ehrmann, which became widely known in the 1970s through popular posters and recordings. The poem advocates going through life peacefully amid noise. The document also notes different references to the word and discusses its correct singular form as "desideratum."

1. Dari Cara Ngomong
1. British lebih sering menghilangkan bunyi /r/ di suku kata terakhir. Di American, /r/
diucapkan dengan jelas. Contohnya somewhere, diucapkan /sAmwe(r)/
2. Can dan can‟t (/kaen/ dan /kant/) di British dapat dibedakan dengan jelas. Di
American (/k3n/ dan /kaent/) , cukup susah dibedakan—jika kita belum mahir.
3. Kata /dictionary/ diucapkan /diksy3nri/ di British, tetapi /diksy3n3ri/ di American.
4. Di huruf o. British mengucapkan huruf o lebih ke /3u/, sedangkan American atau
Canadian lebih pada /ou/, ada yang „o‟ saja. ;) Lebih bervariasi.
5. Pada kata „duty‟, American mengucapkan /dudi/, kalau British dengan /dyutci/. :)
Jadi, t-nya lebih di-emphasize.
6. Di British, bunyi /t/ pada kata-kata cotton, written, mountain (bunyi /t/ bertemu /n/)
diucapkan dengan jelas. Tapi, di American /t/ dihilangkan. Jadi /kA-3n/, /ri-3n/,
/mAun-3n/.
7. Tetapi, beberapa daerah ada yang tidak mengucapkan huruf t di tengah kata, atau di
antara dua kata. Seperti pada kata „better‟, itu ga disebut /bett3:/, tapi /be-3/. Juga
pada kata „nutter‟, jadinya bukan /nAtt3:/, tapi /nA-3/.
8. Beberapa accent di daerah tertentu di British menghilangkan huruf h di awal kata.
Contohnya „hair‟, „him‟, „hurb‟, menjadi /ei:/, /im/, /e:b/.
9. Mengucapkan „privacy‟ kalau American itu /praiv3si/, kalau British /priv3si/. Seperti
pada „vitamin‟ itu kalau di American /vait3min, kalau British /vit3min/.
10. British mengucapkan kata „data‟ dengan /daet3/, American menggunakan „dAddA‟.
11. British mengucapkan kata „water‟ dengan /wOtt3:/, American menggunakan „wAd3r‟.
12. British mengucapkan kata „back‟ dengan /bAakk/, American mengucapkannya /baek/.
13. British mengucapkan kata „aluminium‟ dengan /alumuni3m/. American dengan
/elumin3m/
14. British mengucapkan kata „draw‟, „straw‟ dengan /dro:/, /stro:/. American dengan
/dra:/, /stra:/.
15. British mengucapkan leisure dengan /leiz3:/. American dengan /liiz3r/.
16. British mengucapkan dynasty dengan /din3sti/. American dengan /dain3sti/.
17. British mengucapkan status dengan /staest3s/. American dengan /stAt3s/.
18. British mengucapkan sure dengan /syo:/. American dengan /sy3r/.
19. Beberapa bagian, seperti pengucapan kata „night‟, itu di Inggris lebih tebal cara
ngucapinnya. Juga pada kata „God‟, „not‟, dll.. ;)
20. After all, yang saya tangkap, British itu ngomongnya macam tidak sampai napasnya
karena sering terdapat bunyi-bunyi yang tdk diucapkan. ;)
Dari Kosakata
1. British menggunakan centre, theatre. American pake center, theater.
2. British realise, organise, recognise. American realize, organize, recognize. --> Begitu
juga dengan cara pengucapannya, nggak /z/.
3. British programme, cataloque, cheque. American pake program, catalog, check.
4. British pake „u‟, seperti di behaviour, favourite, colour. American pake behavior,
favorite, color.
5. Dalam British ada practise (kata kerja) dan practice (kata benda), sdg dlm American
„hanya ada‟ practice (kata kerja dan kata benda). Begitu jg ttg advice-advise, dan yg
sejenis
6. Yang berbeda jauh:

2. 1. British menggunakan lift, autumn, football, trousers, rubbish bin, remote, dan
trolley.
2. American menggunakan elevator, fall, soccer, pants, trash can/garbage can,
clicker, dan carriage.
Masih banyak beda lainnya. Belum semua yang saya tahu sudah saya tulis, ditambah lagi
yang belum saya tahu. Hehe. Maaf.
Jadi, mana yang mesti dipilih? Ya terserah kita, kan kita orang Indonesia. Hehe.. Kalau saya
belajar dua-duanya, cuma lebih sering menggunakan British. :) You know technically English
came from England. ^^
Tertarik belajar lebih jauh? Tiga pilihan:
- S2/S3 ke luar negeri (aamiiin utk saya)
- Lihat di youtube (tutorial), atau
- Belajar langsung dengan yang lebih paham.. Untuk teman yang perempuan bisa
langsung belajar sama saya. ;) --> Tapi mohon maaf duluan, karena saya belum mahir juga
sih.

3. Woman: Is there a problem, Officer?
Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding.
Woman: Oh, I see.
Officer: Can I see your license please?
Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.
Officer: Don't have one?
Woman: Lost it 4 times for drunk driving.
Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.
Woman: I can't do that.
Officer: Why not?
Woman: I stole this car.
Officer: Stole it?
Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.
Officer: You what?
Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see.
The Officer looks at the woman, slowly backs away to his car, and calls for back up. Within
minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his
half drawn gun.
Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle
please!
The woman steps out of her vehicle.
Woman: Is there a problem sir?
Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.
Woman: Murdered the owner?

4. Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.
The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.
Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?
Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.
The first officer is stunned.
Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license.
The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse and hands it to the officer. The
officer snaps open the clutch purse and examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.
Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you
stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.
Betcha the liar told you I was speeding too.
esiderata
For many, the word desiderata most often evokes the famous poem by Max Ehrmann, written
in 1927 and often referred to simply as Desiderata, without attribution or quotation marks.
The poem begins with oft-quoted the lines, “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, / and
remember what peace there may be in silence.” Though the poem has achieved a mythic
quality and a near-spiritual significance for some, it was not well known until the 1970s when
it was made into hugely popular posters and sound recordings. Even Leonard Nimoy of Star
Trek fame included a spoken-word rendition of Desiderata on his album Leonard Nimoy
Presents Mr. Spock’s Music from Outer Space in the track “Spock Thoughts.”
Listen to the track:
The word can be traced back to the 19th century, when it became fashionable for English-
speakers to use little-known Latin words in place of shorter, more common Anglo-Saxon
terms. Latin words were thought to be more elegant and more precise than their English
counterparts, and the users of these words no doubt hoped to be seen as more intellectual and
sophisticated. Desiderata gained popularity in the early 1800s as part of this trend, which had
its many critics. In 1864, Henry Alford wrote that English “is undergoing a sad and rapid
process of deterioration. Its fine manly Saxon is getting diluted into long Latin words not
carrying half the meaning.” Many, like Alford, considered Latinate words pretentious, and
advocated for what they considered a purer form of English.

5. Spanish and French also absorbed desiderata from Latin, and the word continues to have the
same meaning in both languages today.
Some writers misuse desiderata as a singular noun. The correct singular form is desideratum.
Popular References:
Desiderata, Madder Mortem, CD (2006).
“Desiderata,” The Poems of Max Ehrmann, Max Ehrmann (1927). The text was largely
unknown in the author‟s lifetime. After its use in a devotional, it was turned into a hugely
popular poster.
The Queen’s English: stray notes on speaking and spelling, by Henry Alford. A. Strahan, 1864
English in nineteenth-century England: an introduction, by Manfred Görlach, 1999
Relevant Quotations.
“When you arrive at Savannah, I have many desiderata, as usual.”
—Henry Muhlenberg, Reliquiae Baldwinianae: selections from the correspondence of the
late William Baldwin (1843)
“When posters of the poem „Desiderata’ adorned dormitory walls in the 70s, an entire
column was devoted to clearing up its clouded origins.”
—Reference and Adult Services Division of the American Library Association, RQ, Vol 25
(1986)
—
A motley combination of Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Germanic dialects, the English language
(more or less as we know it) coalesced between the 9th and 13th centuries. Since then, it has
continued to import and borrow words and expressions from around the world, and the
meanings have mutated. (Awesome and awful once meant nearly the same thing.) Some
specimens in the English vocabulary have followed unusually circuitous routes to their place
in the contemporary lexicon, and this series, Lexical Investigations, unpacks those words
hiding in our midst.
Read our previous post in our on-going series Lexical Investigations about the ever-present word awkward.
Author: Hot Word | Posted in Lexical Investigations, history, language | Tags: Desiderata,
Max Ehrmann, Star Trek
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