Richard Gottlieb

Spelling Phthalates

Ever since Phthalates came on the scene they have been a thorn in the side of the industry and for those of us who have to use the word Phthalates in our writing and conversation. Let’s face it, it’s nearly impossible to pronounce much less spell correctly.

This is why, when my fine editor, Cliff Annicelli, contacted me the other day to let me know that I had misspelled phthalates IN THE HEADLINE OF MY BLOG, I felt...well...foolish.  I mean , who misspells a word in a headline?

I was, however,  just embarrased for a short time because suddenly hit me that Phthalates were just like that weird little guy in the Superman comics: Mr. Mxyzptlk. For those of you who are not like Jerry Seinfeld and I (we know way too much about Superman), Mr. Mxyzptlk was this very weird little guy from another dimensions who drove Superman crazy. Kind of like Phthalates and the toy industry.

In the comic book, the only way to make Mr. Mxyzptlk disappear was to make him say his name backwards. So, taking that as my cue, I am going to say Phthalates backwards: Setalahthp………..

 Its still here, damn it!

So, here is a modest suggestion: Let’s change the name “phthalates” to “stuff.” That way, instead of saying “I am so tired of hearing about phthalates,” we can say, “I am so tired of hearing about that stuff.”

It won’t make the Phthalates problem any better but it will certainly be easier to spell and pronounce.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on April 24, 2009 | Comments (3)