Words You Used to Pronounce The Way It's Spelled!

tigerwife

Mon, Nov 13 2017, 7:01 pm

Fox wrote:

I get so flustered by French words that I just avoid them at all costs, though perhaps I simply feel guilty for goofing around in high school French class with my best friend -- who ended up marrying a French Canadian. I can't bring myself to say nitch, but I agree that neesh sounds pretentious. And what the heck am I supposed to do with sans, French for "without" -- as in, "meatloaf sans onions." Do I pronounce it sahn at the back of my throat or do I say sans (rhyming with fans). I usually give up and pronounce it without.

I've never heard cache pronounced any way but cash -- it's a pretty common word in computers.

But I think it's really the Brits who are out to get us. They just do it on purpose! In addition to the ones already mentioned, proper names are an obstacle course: Chalmondeley is Chumley. Althorp is Awltrup. Magdalen is Maudlin. Cowper is Cooper. Most unfair.

Greenwich.
Thames.
You're totally right!

zaq

Mon, Nov 13 2017, 7:06 pm

youngishbear wrote:

Speaking of uh, does your choice of uh, erm, um, or er depend on geographic origin?

I take it you are asking a question about vocal placeholders and not suffering an attack of terminal shyness:). I’m sure it does. Israelis say “eeehhhh” where Americans say “ uh” or “um”. My German friend says “erm”. I think Brits say “er” but since they don’t actually pronounce their final r’s, it comes out as a sort of “oeu” that’s as impossible to describe as it is to spell. My Russian/Ukranian -born colleague says “em”.

cbsp

Mon, Nov 13 2017, 10:56 pm

tigerwife wrote:

Greenwich.
Thames.
You're totally right!

Worcestershire as in the sauce. That's British, right?

There are words that I deliberately mispronounce almost as a joke/mnemonic despite my knowing the correct pronunciation (enunciating the K in knuckle or the p in receipt, etc). I try not to do it in formal settings but it's become a source of amusement among friends. I guess the idea is that one is allowed to break the rules once they've been mastered?

youngishbear

Mon, Nov 13 2017, 11:11 pm

cbsp wrote:

I K-now

nursemomma

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 2:06 am

Debut- I still read it as dee-but, although by now I know it’s dey-byou.
Mademoiselle
In 12th grade, had to correct a friend that it’s urine, as in you’re in, and not ur-een!

imasoftov

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 5:14 am

makehappy wrote:

Om I was going crazy how in Hebrew they use the word mersham for a recipe. But mersham is what you get from a doctor to go to the pharmacy with!!!
I guess its the same in English according to what you write above

Are "they" olim or elderly? They might find themselves better understood if they say matcon for recipe and mirsham for prescription.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 7:15 am

I am convinced that French is evil. (Sorry Ruchel!)

Why else would they put all those letters in there that you're not supposed to pronounce, and the other letters are pronounced completely different than they look like?

EVIL, I tell you! Twisted Evil

I'm a big fan of Spanish. It's totally phonetic, no fancy rules to remember, and almost no exceptions to the usual way of pronouncing things. What can I say, I'm hooked on Phonics!

zaq

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 7:58 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I'm a big fan of Spanish. It's totally phonetic, no fancy rules to remember, and almost no exceptions to the usual way of pronouncing things. What can I say, I'm hooked on Phonics!

That makes two of us!

Deep

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 9:16 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I'm a big fan of Spanish. It's totally phonetic, no fancy rules to remember, and almost no exceptions to the usual way of pronouncing things. What can I say, I'm hooked on Phonics!

French is way more phonetic than English! In English, pronunciation is often a guessing game for me. But I can see how French seems pretty random to Anglos.

observer

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 9:38 am

InnerMe wrote:

This. Also found it condescending.
We're the "kind of people" who are not embarrassed to admit our ignorance in exchange for knowledge. We're the "kind of people" who can laugh at ourselves and have some fun and learn new things. Come join us! We are a fun crowd!

Oh, I totally do admit that I don't know how to pronounce every word. I wasnt referring to that. I was referring to the poster that said that she pronounces a word correctly and nobody knows what she's talking about. In circles where people speak english well, that doesnt usually happen. Maybe one in a crowd wont know, but most people do understand words that are pronounced correctly.

Perhaps in that poster's circles, the others are not so proficient in english or maybe yiddish is their first language.

Thats all. Sorry if it came across as condescending. I wrote it in a rush. No harm meant. Smile

yo'ma

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 9:52 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I'm a big fan of Spanish. It's totally phonetic, no fancy rules to remember, and almost no exceptions to the usual way of pronouncing things. What can I say, I'm hooked on Phonics!

So is hebrew. Both very easy to read, if you know the letters and nekudot, obviously. Now understanding...another story Rolling Eyes

youngishbear

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 10:35 am

observer wrote:

Yes, my circles are bilingual and even trilingual, with Yiddish being the first language.

mommy3b2c

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 10:36 am

cbg wrote:

How about Reading Railroad.
Is it Pronounced Red-ing (like read past tense)
Or Read-ing (present tense)

I just learned this two weeks ago because my husband went to Reading on a business trip. I always pronounced it read not red.

relish

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 10:38 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

I just learned this two weeks ago because my husband went to Reading on a business trip. I always pronounced it read not red.

I will have to stick with reading as in read-ing. Certain things I will not give up! LOL

InnerMe

Tue, Nov 14 2017, 10:40 am

observer wrote:

Apology accepted! Yes, that doesn't happen often to me either. But I can see it happening to myself for certain words. Although usually it's easy enough to recognize the word based on context. In that case I think to myself "hey, I thought it's pronounced nick! And she's saying neech! Is that the correct way?"