During a discussion on Telegram, someone wanted to say that they have a high-pitched voice. They used a phrase like this:
Mia voĉo havas altan piĉon
At first I thought this was just an amusing mistake and they had gotten confused by a word that sounds like the English word. However, I now notice that PIV actually has this meaning as the second definition of the word:
piĉ/o Tonalto: teni, levi la piĉon; ĥoro senakompana ofte perdas la piĉon k kantas subpiĉe.
Is this really the right word to use in this context? It seems pretty surprising that this meaning is used alongside the main meaning, considering that the latter is intended to be vulgar.
John Well’s dictionary simply suggests tonalto and ReVo doesn’t have this second meaning for piĉo.
So the question is, does this second meaning really exist? Or is it just a curiosity in PIV? Is there any reason not to prefer a different way of saying it, like one of the following?
- Mia voĉo havas altan tonon
- Mia voĉo estas alta
- Mia voĉo havas altan tonalton.