Please don't say “PEE” in Ophthalmology

English writers all agree

On two “H”s in Ophthalmology.
There are two “L”s as well, you’ll see;
That’s in the root, four in Ophthalmologically.
The first “L” may be spoken quietly
As in calm or psalm or palmistry.

Count them if you are not clear.
Thirteen letters must appear
To make the noun, sixteen in all
For the modifier Ophthalmological
And then two more come naturally
For spelling Ophthalmologically.

The trick, the test, the special bit
Is the magic of pronouncing it.
The “P” is softened by the “H” to make the sound of “-ff”.
The next two letters are, of course, an ordinary “-th”.
Think “RudolPH THe red-…” and you’ll not be wrong.
The “PHTH” is a consonant diPHTHong.

Written by Bruce Lowden, 1993