With the coming of winter sports, the controversy has been revived over the pronunciation of the work "ski."
Of these queer skates we seldom heard,
When I was young and not too wise;
And, when I came across the word,
I usually called them "skys."
And it was quite a shock to me,
When some kind friend from overseas,
Corrected my philology,
And told me to pronounce it "skees."
But here again, I understand,
Precisians I'd failed to appease;
For one who'd been in Switzerland,
Informed me that the word was "shees."
But, whether "skee," or "sky," or "shee,"
Makes little difference to me;
For since I do not see the need,
I've never "skeed" or "skied," or "sheed."
First published in The Sun-News Pictorial, 7 June 1927
Author reference sites: C.J. Dennis, Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
