Merriweather Post’s Extra “L” was originally published on City Desk on Mar. 25, 2009, at 12:38 pm
Did you know that the word pavilion derives from the Old French word for butterfly*? Neither did I till I looked it up to see whether or not we’d been misspelling the name of a certain amphitheater in Columbia, Md.
But as Prong (above) might have said, Google begs to differ. Its search results spell the venue’s ultimate name “Pavillion.” Click through to Merriweather’s site, and the title bar says “Pavillion” while the rest of the Web site spells it with one “L.”
The Washington Post spells Pavilion with one “L.” We’ve been less consistent. So I called Merriweather and spoke to someone who did not wish to be quoted but has worked at the venue for nearly 10 years. It’s been one “L” as long as she’s been there, she says. She had no idea where the double “L” came from.
Anyway, I’m sold. One “L” henceforth, folks.
*pavillon, which I guess became papillon through a consonant shift; pavilion means large tent, usually with a peaked top, which could resemble a butterfly, yes.
