A Fortunate Shortening

       I had fun with KCRW's program called "Morning Becomes Eclectic," certainly a strange title for a daily music broadcast, but also appropriate.

       Yesterday I realized more fully why its host doesn't mind using its initials to refer to it:  "MBE." 

       The whole title is not only an unusual combination of words, but taking "eclectic" alone, the [k] sound of the three "c'"s  is produced in the back of the mouth, all other sounds in the word are produced in the front; hence a "mouthful" to say.  Try it aloud s-l-o-w-l-y to see.

       But the very shortened MBE flows swifter than a mountain stream:  Say "M" and your mouth ends with lips closed, "B" begins with lips closed and ends with the sound of "ee," which is the last initial.