ChaCha is a neat idea. You call their phone number, ask a question, and get a text message with an answer. Often it works great. "When's the next Duke basketball game and what channel will it be on?" got a quick, accurate answer.
Today I asked "What does i-r-r-e-d-e-n-t-i-s-m mean and how do you pronounce it?"
Irredentism, as it turns out, is advocating the unification of territories based on a shared linguistic, racial, or cultural commonality. The name comes from the Italian phrase "Italia irredenta" (Italy unredeemed).
ChaCha's answer: "An irredentist, pronounced [ir-i-den-tist], is a member of an Italian association that became prominent in 1878."
This is obviously and subtly wrong: obviously, because it totally fails to give relevant information, and subtly, because it doesn't give the pronunciation of irredent
ism, or even stress markings for irredentist.
So I recommend ChaCha, but not as a phone-a-friend.
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