Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

painintheenglish.dreamcore

Member Since

February 6, 2010

Total number of comments

2

Total number of votes received

2

Bio

Latest Comments

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • March 28, 2010, 9:27pm

Jodie, a dictionary will back you up on any variant except having a single accent on the first syllable. Pronunciation does not follow spelling; it follows your meaning.

Like, from my NOAD2:

résumé |?r?z??me?| |?r?zu?me?| (also resumé or resume)
noun
1 a curriculum vitae.
2 a summary : I gave him a quick résumé of events.
ORIGIN early 19th cent.: French, literally ‘resumed,’ past participle (used as a noun) of résumer.

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • February 6, 2010, 5:26am

CV.

But if you want to be French and use resumé, go ahead and include as many acute accents as it takes to make you happy and your word choice unambiguous.