Cur-sed vs Cursed?

[HelpImSurrounded]

"cursed" - does it have different meaning if it's pronounced ˈkər-səd vs ˈkərst ?

I woke up to rain and decent temperatures after a hellish summer and the phrase "cursed summer air" came to mind. In my head it was clearly cur-sed implying that the air itself is the curse, the morning breath of Sauron himself. In contrast the short pronunciation implies to me that the air is the victim of a curse.

Is this just me?

[3catwoman3]

1. What an interesting question. I would choose the 2 syllable version.

A quick Google search turned up lots of links. Here are 2 explanations:

1. Cursed or Curs-ed?
I was wondering if this is something r/fantasy would get.

Harry Potter and the Curs-ed Child is now open in my city and my wife asked me why I kept pronouncing it ‘curs-ed’ (two syllables). My immediate response was; “that’s how you say it”.

But I knew that was wrong as soon as it came out of my mouth. It made me rethink it and (for me at least) I came up with:

One-syllable ‘cursed’ is a verb, the past tense of ‘to curse’. “Harry Potter cursed the child”

Two-syllable ‘curs-ed’ is an adjective. “Harry Potter and the ‘Curs-ed’ Child”



2. Curs-ed is like annoying and irritating. That cursed kid keeps throwing wontons at me.

Cursed is to be afflicted by a curse. That kid has cursed my wontons.

[HelpImSurrounded]

3. That was kind of my thinking...

verb vs adjective but it seems very much a matter of connotation as opposed to definition.

[Joinfortmill]

2. I get it.

[Gaugamela]

4. You make an interesting point. The following online dictionary

gives the same meaning to both pronunciations, but I’m inclined to agree with you.

“The cursed child” and “the cur-sed child” definitely carry different connotations.


https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cursed