All these years, I used to get miffed at those who pronounced genuine with a 'whine' at the end. I even prefer the 'won' that Punjabis use in this word to the affected 'wine'. But yesterday I heard Hina Rabbani Khar pronounce it as jen-uh-wine. I decided to check the dictionary again, as I always do, because English is a flowing language (unlike Hindi which has got trapped in the hands of some bigots) and flows faster than I think. Lo and behold! The dictionary says another acceptable alternative of the word genuine is - 'jen-uh-wine'.
I am devastated. That means from now on I cannot contemptuously dismiss those who add the wine at the end.
Well there you have it then - the more common pronunciation is jen-uh-win. And I request you to please stick to that. But for the record, you would not be wrong if you said 'jen-uh-wine'
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