Usage Note: The spelling comptroller developed around 1500 from controller as a result of an association between cont and the etymologically unrelated word count, which was sometimes spelled compte in Middle English. Historically, comptroller was pronounced just like controller, but as more people began to read, they saw the letters mp and started pronouncing them. The pronunciations (kŏmp-trōlər) and (kŏmptrō′lər) became widespread. In our 1995 survey, 43 percent of the Usage Panel pronounced comptroller like controller, while 57 percent pronounced it with (mp), mirroring the mp spelling, with stress on either the first or second syllable. By 2011, only 30 percent of the Panel pronounced comptroller like controller. The remainder (70 percent) preferred pronouncing mp as (mp), with the stress either on the second syllable (45 percent) or the first (25 percent). The pronunciation thus appears to be in flux, with each of the three variants enjoying the support of a significant portion of the Usage Panel. Speakers may want to bear in mind, though, that if they say (kŏmptrō′lər), with stress on the first syllable, half of their literate listeners will think they are mispronouncing the word (half of the Panelists disapproved of this pronunciation). But putting the stress on the second syllable (kŏmp-trōlər) will not save you from censure either; a quarter of the Panelists found this pronunciation unacceptable.