Kosinski in New Row Row

See Update below: Michelle back on the flooding beat!

If you're Michelle Kosinki's agent, you surely have a verboten vocabulary list. Words you don't want your ward ever to say on air. Above all, of course, "canoe." But others too. Ones like "puddle," "slosh," and certainly . . . "row."

But there was Michelle on this morning's "Today," reporting from London on Potter-mania. And you guessed it . . .

NBC REPORTER MICHELLE KOSINSKI: There's been controversy and all kinds of news stories here in London about this book coming out. It even caused a bit of a row, as they say in Britain. Because the publisher's recommended price for this book, 600 pages long, is about 18 pounds, or roughly 36 American dollars, definitely not pocket change. Well, some of the big box retailers here have decided to of course buy in huge volumes and to sell well below wholesale costs. The independent booksellers around England have said, hey, we can't compete with that.

Ruh-roh! What's worse, Michelle mispronounced the dreaded R-word. She pronounced it row as in row, row, row your . . . canoe. The correct pronunciation when the word is used, as here, to mean an uproar, rhymes with cow or vow.

Whoops. You might call it Michelle's latest row row.

UPDATE 7-24: Wow! The MSNBC producers are really playing with fire, or better said, water. Look who turned up on "Morning Joe" today, reporting on the flooding in England. Nary a canoe in sight.

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net