Dear colleagues: Apologies for cross-posting. Twice in short comedy films starring W C Fields a character bears a long, funny surname beginning with the letters POST-. I've played and listened carefully to both films: the surname sounds as if it is consistently pronounced [ pah ssul whiss ul ]. But there appears to be some disagreement as to how that surname should be properly WRITTEN in alphabetic characters. In "Fatal Glass of Beer" (1933), some data-bases spell the surname POSTHLEWHISTLE (14 letters). But in "Tales of Manhattan" (1942; deleted and restored Fields episode, which could have been entitled "The High-Hung Coconut of Kadula-Kadula"), some data-bases spell the same surname as POSTLEWHISTLE (13 letters; first "H" missing). My orthographic instincts, for what they're worth, suggest that the 1942 orthography should be considered the preferred one. And that the 1933 orthography should be revised (on modern data-bases) to delete that first "H." That would impart some consistency to a typically amusing characteronym of the sort often encountered in Fields comedies. Ah yes. But what say you, esteemed audience of most perspicacious sensitivities ? With bounteous gratitude, Steven P Hill, University of Illinois, <[log in to unmask]> ___________________________________________________________ ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org