Let's take a quick foray into word-nerd land! (This adventure was inspired by my recent edit of an upcoming Ella eBook, Design Workshop by Lisa Dickinson, which covers the memorabilia topic in a very fun way.)
As you may know, "memorabilia" is always plural.
And when I need to refer to a single memento or souvenir in an article or other piece of writing, I usually get around it by saying "piece of memorabilia" or something similar. But there is a singular form of "memorabilia" as well, which is rarely used. And you're about to see why.Memorabile | Hear it pronounced at Dictionary.com
As you will hear by clicking the link above and then clicking the sound symbol, this word is not pronounced "memoraBILE" in the manner of "bibiliophile" (one who loves books).Instead, the emphasis is is on the middle syllable "ra," with the same vowel sound as "rat," while the last two syllables sound like the end of the word, "family."
Perhaps this gem of a word should be spelled like so:
memorabily
or
memorabalee
Go ahead, say it out loud a few times. It's like a little party for your mouth.
But really, it just sounds like you're mispronouncing "memorably."
Now, I'll use it in a sentence:
"Place your favorite memorabile on your mantel so you'll always remember the riotous time you had in South Dakota last summer."
Nah, I think I'll stick with "souvenir."
