Yes, Psaltery begins with a P…
Eric
I remember telling my aunt about my website, and I wrote down the address on a sheet of paper and handed it to her:
www.phantasypsalteries.com
She gave me a puzzled expression. I said, “do you understand what I wrote?”
“It says, fantasy pee salteries? I don’t get it” she replied.
So, just to remind everyone: yes, psaltery begins with a P. I’m no etymologist, but Merriam-Webster online had this to say about the “psaltery:”
Etymology:
- Middle English psalterie, from Anglo-French, from Latin psalterium, from Greek psalt?rion, from psallein to play on a stringed instrument
Now, I realize that most anyone who is reading this probably already knows this, as they have managed to find this website - with the correct spelling, but I just thought I’d include my humorous observation.
Additionally, I’m sure a lot of you psaltery players have encountered this type of dialogue:
You: I play a musical instrument called a bowed psaltery.
Them: A bowed what?
You: A psaltery.
Them: How do you spell it?
You: PEE…
Them: What!?
You: P - S - A - L - T - E - R - Y.
Them: Never heard of it.
I feel for you. 
Here’s to the bowed saltery, salt tree, saltry, psaltry, psalter, and however else you can manage to misspell it! (Hint: the correct spelling can be seen by scrolling to the top of this page, bonking yourself over the head with a nerf bat, and then reading the title banner of this website.)
Posted on: Monday, November 26, 2007 at 9:27 pm 
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