Dis-a-vowel

Several weeks ago, I posted a story about a wedding vow renewal ceremony at a local senior citizen center. Whoever made the sign describing the day's activities had used the word "vowel" when they obviously meant to use "vow." It tickled me, so I wrote a reflection on what a wedding vowel might be.

Well, it seems that a significant segment of the population doesn't know a vow from a vowel. I keep getting visitors who were referred here after googling the words "wedding vowel renewal." I checked it out and sure enough, when you enter those search terms, my blog is one of the top hits. (I wanted Meanderings to gain recognition, but I didn't have this in mind.) Most of the other hits are sites featuring folks talking quite seriously about renewing their vowels. There are even some sites advertising places that are perfect for vowel renewals. Does it trouble anyone else that apparently many brides and grooms have such poor a handle on what a vow is that they believe they're taking vowels? Conversely, what do they think is happening when someone says, "I'd like to buy a vowel, Pat"?