Please Stop Using the Hard R!
Look, I know this is going to be controversial, but somebody has to say it.
It’s 2026. We should be better than this.
And yet, every day on this campus, I hear people casually throwing around the hard R:
“Oredigger.”
Just like that. Full pronunciation. Every syllable. Zero hesitation. Sometimes faculty say it. Sometimes administrators say it. Heck, new freshmen even go to an entire "Oredigger" Camp.
Please.
If you absolutely must use the term, “Oredigga” is right there. It conveys the same general idea without the unnecessarily aggressive (and problematic) R.
I understand that “Oredigger” has a long history at Mines. I understand that it refers to our mining heritage. I understand that Blaster has a tiny little pickaxe and everything. That doesn’t mean language can’t evolve.
I’m not asking for much. I’m just asking the Mines community to think before speaking, educate themselves, and perhaps consider why they feel so entitled to that final consonant.
Be better, my Orediggas!
We have work to do.