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Whilst watching The Big Bang Theory (S04E11, ~06:45 in, where Howard and Stuart are talking in the Comic Book Store about Zack), I heard the following exchange:

— Is that sarcasm?
— No, it's an enditement of the American education system.

The two characters involved are talking about a third character (who is present) who is being perceived as "stupid".

When I heard the word enditement I imagined it as a synonym of "example", but I cannot find a definition of a similar-sounding word that fits into the context described.

Can anyone provide the correct spelling/definition of this word?

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    The word is indictment.
    – JLG
    Commented Nov 9, 2012 at 22:19
  • Pronounced anywhere from /ɪn'daytmənt/ to /ṇ'dayʔmṇʔ/.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Nov 9, 2012 at 22:27
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    What JLG said. I think it's General Reference - as soon as I type OP's an enditement into the Google search box, it offers me four possible ways to complete my search term. Every one of which changes enditement to indictment.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 9, 2012 at 22:28
  • Normally it is pronounced /ɪnˈdaɪtmənt/, at least phonemically. There are various allophones possible there, including up through [n̩ˈdʌɪʔmn̩ʔ], which is close to what John has written.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Nov 9, 2012 at 23:20

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The word is indictment, but pronounced as you spell it. The meaning is "a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime."

By "How I met Your Mother", did you mean "The Big Bang Theory"? Howard, Stuart and Zack are characters in Big Bang, but not in HIMYM as far as I'm aware.

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  • I wouldn’t say “pronounced as you spell it”; that seldom works in English. Things like /ɪnˈdaɪtmənt/ or [n̩ˈdʌɪʔmn̩ʔ] work much better than “as you spell it”.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Nov 9, 2012 at 23:29
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    I think jessicar meant that "enditement", i.e., the OP spelling, is a reasonable way to have transcribed the word as heard.
    – Andrew Lazarus
    Commented Nov 18, 2012 at 20:02

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