Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Topic started by: pcolbeck on 10 October, 2012, 02:26:03 pm

Title: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 10 October, 2012, 02:26:03 pm
Whilst watching an amp guru on YouTube explain about fettling guitar amps he pronounced "soldering" as "sodering" repeatedly. Also "soder" instead of "solder" He was American but still ...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Rhys W on 10 October, 2012, 02:35:38 pm
For the last couple of weeks we've had to suffer the mangling of "Machynlleth" in more ways than I thought possible. The only person who could pronounce it correctly was the BBC's Rhun ap Iorwerth. Unfortunately, none of his BBC colleagues can pronounce "Rhun ap Iorwerth"...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 October, 2012, 02:42:53 pm
As someone with a 'ch' in my name (which is often usually mispronounced), I thought the BBC didn't do too badly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 10 October, 2012, 02:45:19 pm

I'm fairly sure that focussing on his pronunciation (Yuman and reconise are my particular favourites) isn't what I was supposed to be doing as he guided me through replacing Gremlins with Autopilots.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 October, 2012, 02:48:29 pm
Pronounciation
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 10 October, 2012, 02:49:51 pm
*bzzt* deviation. That's spelling.

 :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: greenmeansgo on 10 October, 2012, 02:50:03 pm
The letter "h" pronounced "haitch" instead of "aitch".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Deano on 10 October, 2012, 02:50:23 pm
'pacific.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: greenmeansgo on 10 October, 2012, 02:51:33 pm
*bzzt* deviation. That's spelling.

 :facepalm:
I think she means the pronunciation of the word pronunciation as pronounciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: CAMRAMan on 10 October, 2012, 02:57:57 pm
"pasta" said by people who say "par-sta"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rafletcher on 10 October, 2012, 03:00:37 pm
Nulclear - John Craven does this all the time
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 10 October, 2012, 03:02:42 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 10 October, 2012, 03:08:16 pm
No1Daughter says appairently.

We laugh rather than cringe though.

"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.
Quibbling about f for th when you write 'your' rather than 'you're' is a bit rich, isn't it?

Let she who can spell lightening lightning cast the first stone here, mind.

I'm constantly ridiculed by offspring for giving 'poor' two syllables. In my world, it's poo-er, OK?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 10 October, 2012, 03:15:20 pm
Quibbling about f for th when you write 'your' rather than 'you're' is a bit rich, isn't it?

But I don't have a doctorate in English :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: greenmeansgo on 10 October, 2012, 03:30:19 pm
Quibbling about f for th when you write 'your' rather than 'you're' is a bit rich, isn't it?
You're right about your spelling, but this is a thread about pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wobbly John on 10 October, 2012, 03:31:58 pm
That American orange grower on adverts on the television, who manages to pronounce oranges without the 'a'

orn-jez...


...WTF  ???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 10 October, 2012, 03:52:00 pm
Who loves ornj soda?

Kel loves ornj soda!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Diver300 on 10 October, 2012, 04:28:38 pm
Whilst watching an amp guru on YouTube explain about fettling guitar amps he pronounced "soldering" as "sodering" repeatedly. Also "soder" instead of "solder" He was American but still ...

IIRC, that is the normal leftpondian mispronunciation of the word.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: CAMRAMan on 10 October, 2012, 04:35:13 pm
I hate it when people pronounce Jeremy Hunt correctly...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 10 October, 2012, 04:38:02 pm
Who loves ornj soda?

Kel loves ornj soda!

This was immortalised by one of the moon-landers who picked up a handful of dust and exclaimed, "It's ornj!!!"  It's a catch-phrase in our family, now.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Clare on 10 October, 2012, 07:39:34 pm
For the last couple of weeks we've had to suffer the mangling of "Machynlleth" in more ways than I thought possible. The only person who could pronounce it correctly was the BBC's Rhun ap Iorwerth. Unfortunately, none of his BBC colleagues can pronounce "Rhun ap Iorwerth"...

Reminds me of Llansantffraid FC winning the cup in 1996 and listening to Trevor MacDonald trying to pronounce the town name.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: PaulF on 10 October, 2012, 07:50:00 pm
'pacific.

This!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: orienteer on 10 October, 2012, 08:07:19 pm
It is increasingly common to see in print the mispronunciation of "would have" to "would of". I guess that in childhood people hear "would've" and misunderstand it as "would of".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 October, 2012, 08:10:42 pm
Nulclear - John Craven does this all the time

Nukular for 'nuclear'...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 10 October, 2012, 08:17:55 pm
I don't think it makes me cringe as such but I am interested in the variety of pronunciation of "mountain". I say it "Mountin" but some people (for example Wowbagger) give a definite "aine" at the end.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Arch on 10 October, 2012, 08:49:09 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.

My ex-boss at Velo Vision says 'fing' and 'fink'. It's just his accent/speaking voice, no affectation.

I'm sure someone on here recently said they can't hear the difference between f and th. Just an oddity of human senses, I guess, like colour blindness.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 10 October, 2012, 08:52:28 pm
It is increasingly common to see in print the mispronunciation of "would have" to "would of". I guess that in childhood people hear "would've" and misunderstand it as "would of".

Indeed.  I only learned about "would have" several years after I learned to write, when teachers started to care about that sort of error.  The combination of hearing loss and estuary accents meant that I was extremely confused by the correction.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 October, 2012, 08:55:50 pm
It is increasingly common to see in print the mispronunciation of "would have" to "would of". I guess that in childhood people hear "would've" and misunderstand it as "would of".

Indeed.  I only learned about "would have" several years after I learned to write, when teachers started to care about that sort of error.  The combination of hearing loss and estuary accents meant that I was extremely confused by the correction.

Whereas I had it drummed out of me before I was 11...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 10 October, 2012, 09:03:32 pm
Indeed.  I only learned about "would have" several years after I learned to write, when teachers started to care about that sort of error.  The combination of hearing loss and estuary accents meant that I was extremely confused by the correction.

Whereas I had it drummed out of me before I was 11...

So did I:  Teachers started to care about that sort of mistake in written work when I was about 8 or 9.

I still can't really hear the difference in speech, unless the person doesn't use the contraction.  I expect an awful lot have[1] people are saying it as "of" instead of "uv", even when aware of the difference.


[1] I made that counter-mistake for a while, until I'd sorted out that they were two different things.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: tonycollinet on 10 October, 2012, 09:45:27 pm
What about I'd've - as in I'd've gone home if I needed to .

Double contraction of I would have. Is the 've there also pronounced I'd of?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ashaman42 on 10 October, 2012, 10:16:30 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.

My ex-boss at Velo Vision says 'fing' and 'fink'. It's just his accent/speaking voice, no affectation.

I'm sure someone on here recently said they can't hear the difference between f and th. Just an oddity of human senses, I guess, like colour blindness.

I'm that oddity  ;D

I used to pronounce (and sms) something as somethink. But only to one person as I knew it really annoyed her to hear/read it. Perhaps I should send her the link to this thread (fred?!)  :demon:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Arch on 10 October, 2012, 10:19:48 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.

My ex-boss at Velo Vision says 'fing' and 'fink'. It's just his accent/speaking voice, no affectation.

I'm sure someone on here recently said they can't hear the difference between f and th. Just an oddity of human senses, I guess, like colour blindness.

I'm that oddity  ;D

I used to pronounce (and sms) something as somethink. But only to one person as I knew it really annoyed her to hear/read it. Perhaps I should send her the link to this thread (fred?!)  :demon:

Apologies for the word 'oddity' - although such is the variation in our species, we're all oddities one way or another!

My Mum struggles to say 'linen'. 

Whenever I see the little machine that brushes rubbish of the road, I call it a Sweet Streeper. I simply cannot get it right first time, unless I talk ludicrously slowly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ashaman42 on 10 October, 2012, 10:47:32 pm
Ah no worries, I'm quite happy being an oddity  :thumbsup:

I often flip words in a sentence too (I know there's a word for that, named after someone who was famous for it), like earlier I referred to finding 'a cupboard to put in the bin' when I meant quite the opposite.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 11 October, 2012, 08:18:48 am
What about I'd've - as in I'd've gone home if I needed to .

Double contraction of I would have. Is the 've there also pronounced I'd of?

Frequently, but it shouldn't be!  Eyeduv is the nearest I can get to it.  As referred to by Orienteer, it's common to see the sound actually written as of, which shows an innocent misunderstanding of the original word, have.  Curiously, both words are connected with possession!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 11 October, 2012, 02:20:44 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.

My ex-boss at Velo Vision says 'fing' and 'fink'. It's just his accent/speaking voice, no affectation.

I'm sure someone on here recently said they can't hear the difference between f and th. Just an oddity of human senses, I guess, like colour blindness.
Mrs B rarely gets 'l' & 'r' wrong, although she grew up speaking a language in which there's no distinction between them, & has no problems with 'think' & 'that', although Japanese doesn't have either  of the sounds we write 'th'.

Unless you have a hearing impairment, there's no excuse.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Palinurus on 12 October, 2012, 12:51:49 pm
Whilst watching an amp guru on YouTube explain about fettling guitar amps he pronounced "soldering" as "sodering" repeatedly. Also "soder" instead of "solder" He was American but still ...

They all say it that way. I've worked in solder for years, I still find it oddly annoying.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: gibbo on 12 October, 2012, 01:33:56 pm
Whilst watching an amp guru on YouTube explain about fettling guitar amps he pronounced "soldering" as "sodering" repeatedly. Also "soder" instead of "solder" He was American but still ...

They all say it that way. I've worked in solder for years, I still find it oddly annoying.

I picked this up when I lived there and worked with electronics engineers. The mechanical engineers would laugh at me for saying aluminium as opposed to aluminum - I refused to bow to peer pressure. I digress. My Dad says "darta" for data.

Another Americanism is erb instead of herb.

Gibbo.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 12 October, 2012, 01:40:19 pm
An 'erb is a type of plant, whereas h(H)erb is short for Herbert.  :smug:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: bobb on 12 October, 2012, 01:55:59 pm
I don't think it makes me cringe as such but I am interested in the variety of pronunciation of "mountain". I say it "Mountin" but some people (for example Wowbagger) give a definite "aine" at the end.

My mother says mountaine, fountaine etc etc. She says it's because she grew up in south London rather than east or north London where it would be mountin, fountin... Or should that be Maaaaaaahntin and Faaaaaahntin?

Anyway, my sister always says aine, I always say in. Seeing as we didn't grow up in London, I don't know why we say it differently. Maybe it's because my sister is posher than I am. Or at least wants to be  :P
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 12 October, 2012, 06:09:36 pm
I picked this up when I lived there and worked with electronics engineers. The mechanical engineers would laugh at me for saying aluminium as opposed to aluminum - I refused to bow to peer pressure.

Wasn't there an IUPAC compromise in the early 90s, where we got 'aluminium' in exchange for 'sulfur'?  Seems like a fair deal to me.

As for cross disciplinary hysterics, I once gave a whole table of mathematician and physicist types the giggles by referring to the square root of -1 as 'j'.  On explaining the basis of the habit, they laughed harder.  Reckon they need to get out more.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: greenmeansgo on 13 October, 2012, 04:23:58 pm
As for cross disciplinary hysterics, I once gave a whole table of mathematician and physicist types the giggles by referring to the square root of -1 as 'j'.  On explaining the basis of the habit, they laughed harder.
;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Arch on 13 October, 2012, 09:03:27 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.

My ex-boss at Velo Vision says 'fing' and 'fink'. It's just his accent/speaking voice, no affectation.

I'm sure someone on here recently said they can't hear the difference between f and th. Just an oddity of human senses, I guess, like colour blindness.
Mrs B rarely gets 'l' & 'r' wrong, although she grew up speaking a language in which there's no distinction between them, & has no problems with 'think' & 'that', although Japanese doesn't have either  of the sounds we write 'th'.

Unless you have a hearing impairment, there's no excuse.

Well, bully for Mrs B.

Did you mean to sound quite so patronising and superior?  Are we all to speak without accents of any kind?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 13 October, 2012, 09:27:24 pm
"Seckrertree", as heard on Her Majesty's British Broadcasting Corporation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 14 October, 2012, 11:06:46 pm
"fink" and "fing" instead of "think" and "thing", I'm all for regional accents and street slang but when your a middle aged academic with a doctorate lecturing in English at a major university and taking part in a discussion on Radio 4 that's just an affectation I'm afraid.

My ex-boss at Velo Vision says 'fing' and 'fink'. It's just his accent/speaking voice, no affectation.

I'm sure someone on here recently said they can't hear the difference between f and th. Just an oddity of human senses, I guess, like colour blindness.
Mrs B rarely gets 'l' & 'r' wrong, although she grew up speaking a language in which there's no distinction between them, & has no problems with 'think' & 'that', although Japanese doesn't have either  of the sounds we write 'th'.

Unless you have a hearing impairment, there's no excuse.

Well, bully for Mrs B.

Did you mean to sound quite so patronising and superior?  Are we all to speak without accents of any kind?
Don't be bloody stupid. Did I mention accents? Did I claim that Mrs B speaks English with no discernible Japanese accent? Or suggest that would be desirable?

I'm talking about willingness to take the care to pronounce standard English, not an accent. Look at the job of the person in question. He should be willing to say 'thing' & 'think' in his professional life, even if he is more comfortable saying 'fing' & 'fink' at home, or in the pub. where, BTW, I wouldn't criticise him for it.

Or do you think it's acceptable for Mrs B to say 'fing' & 'fink' when she's at work? After all, voiced & unvoiced 'th' aren't sounds that occur in her native language. Of course, it could have a negative impact on the quality of some of the speech therapy she does (in English), but that's less important than her freedom to speak with her native set of phonemes, isn't it? Dammit, why not go the whole hog: why can't she just do her job in Japanese?

If the academic mentioned was, say, a mathematician or archaeologist, I wouldn't give a damn how he pronounces anything, as long as it's comprehensible. But he isn't.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 05 November, 2012, 04:42:28 pm
Evan Davis on the Bottom Line on Radio 4 yesterday said "segs" for "segues" (segways)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Arch on 05 November, 2012, 06:51:57 pm


If the academic mentioned was, say, a mathematician or archaeologist, I wouldn't give a damn how he pronounces anything, as long as it's comprehensible. But he isn't.

I've never had a problem comprehending someone who says 'fink' and 'fing'. I simply translate in my head.  For one thing, 'fink' and 'fing' aren't words in common use in English, so it's not like I might confuse the meaning.

Yeah, maybe it matters to a speech therapist. But an academic, even in English? Wouldn't bother me.


Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 05 November, 2012, 08:39:15 pm
I have heard the following recently, both from Americans.

Fetish - pronounced feetish (a professor on Radio 4).
Character - with the initial ch pronounced as in church.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 06 November, 2012, 10:04:00 pm
I've just been to a first aid class.

This, is a (pair of) tong(s)
(http://www.procook.co.uk/images/library/stock/originals/4827.jpg)

This is a tongue.
(http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae7/fboab/tongue.jpg)

Putting someone in the recovery position does not stop tongs from blocking your airway.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Biff on 09 November, 2012, 09:14:20 pm
Janury, Febry, jewllery.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: barakta on 10 November, 2012, 01:36:24 am
Janury, Febry, jewllery.

What's wrong with the first and third of those?  That's what they sound like to me.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Biff on 10 November, 2012, 01:58:55 am
Janury, Febry, jewlery.

What's wrong with the first and third of those?  That's what they sound like to me.

January, jewelry not jew-lery
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 10 November, 2012, 03:57:19 pm
I don't think you're hearing's good enough for the 'a' in January unless spoken in low-speed RP, barakta.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 10 November, 2012, 11:42:15 pm
Janury, Febry, jewlery.

What's wrong with the first and third of those?  That's what they sound like to me.

January, jewelry not jew-lery

Library
century
comfortable
fifth
laboratory
history
postman
temperature
vegetable
family?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 10 November, 2012, 11:47:06 pm
Fambly  ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Séamas M. on 11 November, 2012, 03:58:23 pm
Janury, Febry, ..

ecksetera  :hand:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 11 November, 2012, 04:21:15 pm
Aks

And another vote for 'pacific  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 11 November, 2012, 04:45:27 pm
Have I mentioned this one before:

When doing the Christmas reading at church a couple of years ago, the 12-year-old who has been going to church her whole life pronounced Pontius Pilate as "pee-lah-tay", like the exercise. Fab!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 11 November, 2012, 04:52:29 pm
Have I mentioned this one before:

When doing the Christmas reading at church a couple of years ago, the 12-year-old who has been going to church her whole life pronounced Pontius Pilate as "pee-lah-tay", like the exercise. Fab!

Had he sung a Mass?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 22 February, 2013, 08:33:37 am
This word:

WHOLLY

is surely not pronounced the same as this one:

HOLLY.

Caitlin Moran, I'm enjoying your book, and your reading isn't bad, but if you're going to use this word:

WHOLLY

PLEASE

could you say wholly (http://www.merriam-webster.com/audio.php?file=wholly01&word=wholly&text=%5C%3Cspan%20class%3D%22unicode%22%3E%CB%88%3C%2Fspan%3Eh%C5%8D(l)-l%C4%93%5C)?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 08 May, 2013, 11:07:32 pm
"Temporarily" pronounced as "temporally".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 09 May, 2013, 09:51:34 am
Really. You're reading an audio book. I cannot believe the character you're enacting would say 'pacific'. Actor, read your lines.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Graymee on 11 May, 2013, 11:51:07 am
I can't believe no one has mentioned ambleeance or spatchlier (ambulance or spatula) yet.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 02 September, 2014, 03:00:49 pm
Colleague.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Iel3IXJ_g7A/STVZoxXvV1I/AAAAAAAAGHA/oIc4nMIHsbM/s400/panettone.jpg)
is not
(http://www.pantone.co.uk/images/zoomify/GP1501/GP1501_files/10/1_0.jpg)

Every. Fucking. Day.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 02 September, 2014, 03:03:52 pm
... and while we're on

'gentian' does not rhyme with 'venetian'.
 :hand:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Polar Bear on 02 September, 2014, 03:09:42 pm
I know somebody who pronounces Wolverhampton as Woe-ver-hampton.

It's entirely understandable!   :D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 02 September, 2014, 03:22:42 pm
Colleague.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Iel3IXJ_g7A/STVZoxXvV1I/AAAAAAAAGHA/oIc4nMIHsbM/s400/panettone.jpg)
is not
(http://www.pantone.co.uk/images/zoomify/GP1501/GP1501_files/10/1_0.jpg)

Every. Fucking. Day.

I don't understand that. Fruit cake? Paint colours?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 02 September, 2014, 03:26:41 pm
Pantone/ pannetone
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 12 October, 2014, 09:58:13 am
Native English speakers, especially experts who should know better, insisting on pronouncing words as they are spelled. If you've been speaking English your whole life you might have noticed the language doesn't work like that.

Examples:

Dementia specialist on Inside Science who pronounced his own subject as di-men-tee-a.

News editor/producer on Feedback pronouncing ebola as ebba-la. Well, maybe in Spanish, but then it's spelled ébola, surely you've heard the word in your own news programme once or twice recently?

The one that takes the prize: guest on Inside Science (again) who kept saying "these woman are..." and "hundreds of woman", etc. On listening closer he was actually pronouncing the "-en" at the end, but otherwise identical to the singular. Seriously? It may be logically correct, but if 100% of everyone else doesn't say it like that, it's wrong!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 12 October, 2014, 10:30:18 am
Do you think that person might have hearing difficulties?
It's easy for me as a heary to say, one wooman, two wimmin but how might a deafie say this?

I find the misspelling of the adult female at least as cringeworthy. One man two men, on woman, two women. Should be simples but isn't.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 12 October, 2014, 10:37:19 am
Good point - I should add that all the people in the above had perfect RP in every other respect.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Plug1n on 12 October, 2014, 11:53:57 am
Radio 3 announcers who say "Bark", as in Bark's Cantata .....
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 12 October, 2014, 12:18:07 pm
Ms Vecht accepts loads of Brits can't do a guttural 'ch'. Twas ever thus.
I've lived with it for >50 years.

What got me more at school was people calling Wolfgang Amadeus 'Mozart' with a buzzing z.

Inability to do gutturals is understandable; unwillingness to do the easy ts instead of z is just wrong.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 12 October, 2014, 12:39:27 pm
ISTR Iain Banks being very cross with the English inability to pronounce words such as "loch" correctly suddenly disappearing with the advent of Gulf War v1.0, when the BBC miraculously became able to say "Bach-rain" instead of "Bar-rain".

War, what is it good for ???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: De Sisti on 12 October, 2014, 12:45:20 pm
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Diver300 on 12 October, 2014, 01:20:42 pm
The drought beer that I was offered recently.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 12 October, 2014, 02:22:04 pm
I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D

Quote from: nb10
You call Glastonbury “Glasto”
You’d like to go there one day
When they’ve put up the gun towers
To keep the hippies away
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 12 October, 2014, 02:41:35 pm
Really, correct pronunciation is often a mute point....
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 12 October, 2014, 02:42:12 pm
Sang-wich
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: sg37409 on 12 October, 2014, 02:54:52 pm
Sang-wich

Yes that gets my goat. Every one knows its sang-widgees.
pfff.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 12 October, 2014, 03:55:22 pm
Or samwidges.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 12 October, 2014, 03:57:52 pm
Wasn't Samwidge Gamgee one of the hobbits?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: orienteer on 12 October, 2014, 04:11:05 pm
If you live there, depends which end of town:

Gerrards Crawss, or Cross

So- li - hull, or Solly 'ole
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 12 October, 2014, 05:10:54 pm
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
I hope you won't mind if I stick with
"Paris"
Instead of "Par-ee"

(At least while I'm in the UK)
:-P

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 12 October, 2014, 05:34:01 pm
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
I hope you won't mind if I stick with
"Paris"
Instead of "Par-ee"

(At least while I'm in the UK)
:-P

Except when it's Gay or wrapped around Brest.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 12 October, 2014, 05:49:11 pm
Ms Vecht accepts loads of Brits can't do a guttural 'ch'. Twas ever thus.
I've lived with it for >50 years.

What got me more at school was people calling Wolfgang Amadeus 'Mozart' with a buzzing z.

Inability to do gutturals is understandable; unwillingness to do the easy ts instead of z is just wrong.
USian influence?

I recall Mr Benjamin Abruzzo, the first person to fly across the Atlantic by balloon, getting rather short-tempered with non-USians who addressed him as Mr Abrutso. He insisted on A-bruise-o.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 12 October, 2014, 06:11:59 pm
Someone who shall remain nameless, new to Devon, went into a shop and asked for a pasty. She rhymed it with tasty.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 12 October, 2014, 06:20:00 pm
Someone who shall remain nameless, new to Devon, went into a shop and asked for a pasty. She rhymed it with tasty.
I am very innocent, but doesnt that make it a (very small) item of clkothing? :O

p.s. you're right about Gay Paree - but I think that's a different, almost fictional city.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 12 October, 2014, 06:46:07 pm
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
I hope you won't mind if I stick with
"Paris"
Instead of "Par-ee"

(At least while I'm in the UK)
:-P

Us trying to explain to our French hosts that we were going to Rheims  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 12 October, 2014, 06:49:43 pm
I thought that the BBC's change in pronunciation of Kabul, when it miraculously started rhyming with "marble", was quite amusing. This occurred just around the time that they became aware of Afghanistan's existence, when Russia invaded.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 12 October, 2014, 06:52:03 pm

Us trying to explain to our French hosts that we were going to Rheims  :facepalm:

Did they cringe or just look blank?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Plug1n on 12 October, 2014, 08:16:58 pm

USian influence?


Still on a musical front, anything from the 18th century that is pre-Haydn being "baroak".

It's a French word for FFS and no problem for US or UK speakers - "baroque" = "barock" (with equal emphasis on both syllables).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 12 October, 2014, 08:33:56 pm

Us trying to explain to our French hosts that we were going to Rheims  :facepalm:

Did they cringe or just look blank?

Blank. We went through the same thing last year and thought we'd got the hang of the pronunciation, but given this year's charade apparently not. Using the name Champagne got us there in the end, both times.  :-[
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: barakta on 12 October, 2014, 08:36:45 pm
I had no idea baroque wasn't pronounced bar-oak...  One issue with only seeing words written down.  I do if doing something official check my go to pronunciation guides howjsay, Macmillan and Oxford and Cambridge online dictionaries which are great and BRITISH and apparently human read sound clips (I can't tell).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 12 October, 2014, 08:38:25 pm
Oi, John Humphreys.  Brian Redhead never told me that it was "huff past seven"
Get a grip!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 12 October, 2014, 08:48:30 pm
So- li - hull, or Solly 'ole

Bir-ming-ham   ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Deano on 12 October, 2014, 08:57:21 pm
So- li - hull, or Solly 'ole

Bir-ming-ham   ;D

I've been saying for years that the BBC should pronounce place names as they're pronounced by the people who live there.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 12 October, 2014, 10:34:45 pm
Oi, John Humphreys.  Brian Redhead never told me that it was "huff past seven"
Get a grip!

That's what his guests go out in after he's interviewed them.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 12 October, 2014, 11:42:26 pm
Oi, John Humphreys.  Brian Redhead never told me that it was "huff past seven"
Get a grip!
Oi, Basil. That's Humphrys. No "e". Get a grip! (Insert yellow face thing of choice)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: jsabine on 12 October, 2014, 11:45:59 pm
Oi, John Humphreys.  Brian Redhead never told me that it was "huff past seven"
Get a grip!
Oi, Basil. That's Humphrys. No "e". Get a grip! (Insert yellow face thing of choice)

It's pronounciated the same thobut. No gripping.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 12 October, 2014, 11:53:30 pm
I thought that the BBC's change in pronunciation of Kabul, when it miraculously started rhyming with "marble", was quite amusing. This occurred just around the time that they became aware of Afghanistan's existence, when Russia invaded.

Curious how many people pronounce "USSR" as "Russia" too.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 12 October, 2014, 11:57:20 pm
And, on a similar subject, though not so common these days (I heard it recently, mind): Reading 'CCCP' as if it were not Cyrillics.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 13 October, 2014, 11:27:51 am
So- li - hull, or Solly 'ole

Bir-ming-ham   ;D


I like the long drawn out 'ham' in Birmingham, Alabama, which makes sense because the one thing they most surely do like in the South is a nice piece of pig.

Pronunciation checking is another form of knobeditry, gets on my wick to be honest, especially with the curiously affected pronunciations of cod-latin (from native speakers, obviously) or do-it-like-a-local nonsense.

Oddly, Americans do tend to pronounce 'fillet' and 'niche' à la française. Except it's not odd, it just is.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 13 October, 2014, 11:59:16 am
Oi, John Humphreys.  Brian Redhead never told me that it was "huff past seven"
Get a grip!
Oi, Basil. That's Humphrys. No "e". Get a grip! (Insert yellow face thing of choice)

Fair cop, guv.   :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 13 October, 2014, 12:57:03 pm
Oddly, Americans do tend to pronounce 'fillet' and 'niche' à la française. Except it's not odd, it just is.

I don't think that's particularly odd.  Americans tend to think you're an uneducated oaf if you don't, so I'm sure they all learn quickly enough.  Which makes for an interesting culture clash when they encounter the great British tradition of pronouncing words borrowed from French as Englishly as possible, presumably on general principle.  Indeed, the rule seems to be that BRITONS are only allowed to use the French pronunciation when actually speaking French, lest they be perceived to be pretentious.

I find the whole thing somewhat amusing, even though it leaves me with the same sort of cognitive unease that I get when I can't decide whether to use a northern or southern 'a' sound (which is most of the time, as they both seem wrong and liable to result in piss-taking).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 13 October, 2014, 01:59:52 pm
Oddly, Americans do tend to pronounce 'fillet' and 'niche' à la française. Except it's not odd, it just is.
But not papier-mâché.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 13 October, 2014, 02:35:28 pm
My recent (very enjoyable) visit to Canada showed me that
1.  Canadian French sounds different to French French and common-use phrases may differ.
2.  Canadians in one town have a different accent to Canadians in another town even if they are not that far apart (in the Canadian sense of not being    far apart).
3.  Canada is very definitely not the USA.  It really isn't, they aren't just pretending.
4. It is a country I'd like to revisit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 13 October, 2014, 02:51:33 pm
Oddly, Americans do tend to pronounce 'fillet' and 'niche' à la française. Except it's not odd, it just is.

I don't think that's particularly odd.  Americans tend to think you're an uneducated oaf if you don't, so I'm sure they all learn quickly enough.  Which makes for an interesting culture clash when they encounter the great British tradition of pronouncing words borrowed from French as Englishly as possible, presumably on general principle.  Indeed, the rule seems to be that BRITONS are only allowed to use the French pronunciation when actually speaking French, lest they be perceived to be pretentious.

I find the whole thing somewhat amusing, even though it leaves me with the same sort of cognitive unease that I get when I can't decide whether to use a northern or southern 'a' sound (which is most of the time, as they both seem wrong and liable to result in piss-taking).

I'm not sure. If you're not speaking French, why make the effort to pretend, it always comes off a bit pretentious. I blame the BBC, it's payback for all the northern accents. Do Jesus and the Queen sound like they come from Manchester? No, and for good reason.

The French don't exactly try with English. They even the make that exquisitely gallic pouty-pouty poo face when they hear Québécois, like someone has been sick in their bouillabaisse.

Still, there is something a little bit special when the young person behind the counter at Mcdonalds corrects your 'fillet o' fish' like the most snooty of Parisian waiters. Oh you mean fillet. It goes both ways though, many years ago in Texas I remember asking for the buffet breakfast. Cue blank look from the waitress. 'The buffet? said I, hopeful of overcoming our linguistic impasse through the medium of repetition. "Oh, you mean the bur-fit,' came the final spark of understanding.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 13 October, 2014, 03:15:02 pm
Oddly, Americans do tend to pronounce 'fillet' and 'niche' à la française. Except it's not odd, it just is.

I don't think that's particularly odd.  Americans tend to think you're an uneducated oaf if you don't, so I'm sure they all learn quickly enough.  Which makes for an interesting culture clash when they encounter the great British tradition of pronouncing words borrowed from French as Englishly as possible, presumably on general principle.  Indeed, the rule seems to be that BRITONS are only allowed to use the French pronunciation when actually speaking French, lest they be perceived to be pretentious.

I find the whole thing somewhat amusing, even though it leaves me with the same sort of cognitive unease that I get when I can't decide whether to use a northern or southern 'a' sound (which is most of the time, as they both seem wrong and liable to result in piss-taking).

The French are impervious to the idea of pronouncing foreign words the foreign way. Some years ago, on the occasion of Nev Chanin retiring as organiser of the Dieppe Raid, the Mayor of that town gave a speech in praise of Nev, in French and in excellent English. But in the French version 'Chanin' was perfectly frenchified.

Most English people I know will render at least proper names in an approximation of their original pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 13 October, 2014, 06:46:06 pm
Lah-tay.  Of course, it's another mute point but I did save someone on a skiing holiday in Italy from ordering a glass of milk when they wanted the coffee.

And coming back to French from Italian, the killing blow as 'coup de gras'. What an odd image that conjures up.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 13 October, 2014, 09:42:28 pm
My mum used to send me next door for a coup de gras when she had run out of dripping.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 13 October, 2014, 09:47:39 pm
In French the "u" sound gets a lot of UKians, who tend to bring it out like the "oo" in "too".  I have no trouble with either sound now, but back when we were first in France I used to get them mixed up occasionally, so that one day my polite "merci beaucoup" to a waitress came out as "merci beau cul", i.e. "thank-you, beautiful bum". Got me a smile.

Funnily enough, German has the same sort of pitfall.  "Heut ists schwul" will get you queer looks.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 13 October, 2014, 09:51:18 pm
You meant "Oh Calcutta", of course.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 14 October, 2014, 06:38:26 am
In French the "u" sound gets a lot of UKians, who tend to bring it out like the "oo" in "too".  I have no trouble with either sound now, but back when we were first in France I used to get them mixed up occasionally, so that one day my polite "merci beaucoup" to a waitress came out as "merci beau cul", i.e. "thank-you, beautiful bum". Got me a smile.

Funnily enough, German has the same sort of pitfall.  "Heut ists schwul" will get you queer looks.
I've given up using schwul as my pronunciation of u and ü is too similar - I use feucht now.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tewdric on 14 October, 2014, 07:03:47 am
Oddly, Americans do tend to pronounce 'fillet' and 'niche' à la française. Except it's not odd, it just is.
But not papier-mâché.

Niche should always be pronounced the French way.  Fillet depends on context - I would fill it a fish but ask for a fee yay de burf if it were written in French on a menu. 
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 14 October, 2014, 11:15:28 am
Lah-tay.  Of course, it's another mute point but I did save someone on a skiing holiday in Italy from ordering a glass of milk when they wanted the coffee.

And coming back to French from Italian, the killing blow as 'coup de gras'. What an odd image that conjures up.
A silent point or a moot one?

(This thread is a repository for pedants, after all)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ningishzidda on 14 October, 2014, 11:35:28 am
So- li - hull, or Solly 'ole

Bir-ming-ham   ;D

I've been saying for years that the BBC should pronounce place names as they're pronounced by the people who live there.

Burrmoingum
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 14 October, 2014, 11:39:14 am
I hear it more as half way between
Beer mingum
&
Bear mingum
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ningishzidda on 14 October, 2014, 11:39:17 am
Dr Carl Chinn tried to put me right on the correct pronunciation of “Solihull”.

I said to him in a whisper “If its on your birth certificate, you can pronounce it any way you fucking like.”
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ningishzidda on 14 October, 2014, 11:44:42 am
Tidbury Green, ‘Tibbury Green’.

Whitlocks End, ‘Wittocks End’.

Tanworth in Arden, “Tannuth in Ardun’.

Birmingham, ‘Brummegem’.

Aston, ‘Shitole’
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 14 October, 2014, 11:48:44 am
 ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 14 October, 2014, 01:56:33 pm
Lah-tay.  Of course, it's another mute point but I did save someone on a skiing holiday in Italy from ordering a glass of milk when they wanted the coffee.

And coming back to French from Italian, the killing blow as 'coup de gras'. What an odd image that conjures up.
A silent point or a moot one?

(This thread is a repository for pedants, after all)
See my earlier post referring to 'mute points'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 14 October, 2014, 09:13:23 pm
The BBCs random way of pronouncing the names of some foreign countries people or places with what is an attempt at the local pronunciation and not for others. It changes overnight seemingly as well.
Its pointless silly and just confusing. They never say Paree instead of Paris and its still Germany not Deutschland but other places get changed at random.
Hugo Chavez is one of the ones you hear all the time. I know a Spanish speaker pronounces Hugo Ugo but we aren't Spanish. They don't pronounce Irish names with an Irish accent for gods sake.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 15 October, 2014, 01:10:27 pm
I disagree - if it's someone's name it's downright rude not to pronounce it the way they do. It's not the same as an accent, the name does not have an H sound in it so don't put one in. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 15 October, 2014, 01:25:32 pm
I read years ago that the BBC's pronunciation unit debated for days before arriving at an understandable pronunciation of Krushchev.  The result was very different from the Russian pronunciation but they explained that if they had used that nobody would have been able to connect it with the westernised spelling, and the newsreaders would have had tremendous difficulty; so they compromised.  The idea was to be close to the original if possible, but failing that to be comprehensible and consistent.

Alas, the pronunciation unit was scrapped years ago.

WRT pronouncing people's names the way they do, when I was at school we had two blokes who spelt their names McCullough.  One of them pronounced it that way, the other as McCulla.  Our bitch of a music mistress used to tell him off for correcting her every time she deliberately got it wrong.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 15 October, 2014, 02:57:04 pm
How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

"Chee-tin' Bar-stud".  In an Irish accent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 15 October, 2014, 04:31:33 pm
. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?
I alway pronounce Thierry the english way.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 15 October, 2014, 04:53:26 pm
Terry Henry ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 15 October, 2014, 06:34:32 pm
I disagree - if it's someone's name it's downright rude not to pronounce it the way they do. It's not the same as an accent, the name does not have an H sound in it so don't put one in. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

Many foreigners have an awful time pronouncing 'Ian' in the proper way. I don't go around correcting them and forcing them to say it as I would. I do correct people who spell it 'Iain' though. The only true Ians are cycloptic Ians.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 15 October, 2014, 07:04:41 pm
We got so used to FOREIGNS mispronouncing the name of my grate frend Mr Sheen that nowadays even BRITONS call him "Yan".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 15 October, 2014, 07:10:34 pm
i've recently heard a lot of coverage for the film:
"Gone Girl".
For a while I suspected it was called "GARN Girl".

Surely "Gone" rhymes with One, On and Won. Not with Yarn.   ???

(The culprits have mainly been pure RP speakers. Ish.)

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 15 October, 2014, 07:12:31 pm
A certain very eminent French member of AUK always greets me loudly and enthusiastically with, "EYE-YAN!"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 15 October, 2014, 07:14:34 pm
i've recently heard a lot of coverage for the film:
"Gone Girl".
For a while I suspected it was called "GARN Girl".

Surely "Gone" rhymes with One, On and Won. Not with Yarn.   ???

(The culprits have mainly been pure RP speakers. Ish.)



"Gahn" might be a more universal pronunciation spelling (thinking of how yours would be pronounced down yerr.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 15 October, 2014, 07:19:28 pm
Yeah, "gahn" might be a better fit  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 15 October, 2014, 07:55:55 pm
How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

If it's to do with overpaid-prima-donnas-knocking-about-a-spherical-object then I don't need to pronounce it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: TimC on 16 October, 2014, 02:42:45 am
I disagree - if it's someone's name it's downright rude not to pronounce it the way they do. It's not the same as an accent, the name does not have an H sound in it so don't put one in. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

I don't particularly care that the French (among others) have their own name for London (Londres), so equally I don't care that we call Paris 'Parriss' not 'Paree'. It's not rude on either part; it's simply the way it is.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 October, 2014, 08:20:13 am
When I worked in Stuttgart I was told to fly to Mailand to do some software mods. To get home again from Milan I had to get a plane to Stoccarda.

When I drove from here to Breda in Holland I went through Nemours in Belgium.  On the drive back, taking the same roads, Nemours was on none of the sign-posts. Some place called Namen was, though.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 16 October, 2014, 09:20:43 am
I got a bit confused when following some badly-scribbled road directions on my way by car to Germany because Liege disappeared but I kept seeing this place called Leuk on the signposts.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 16 October, 2014, 09:41:35 am
i've recently heard a lot of coverage for the film:
"Gone Girl".
For a while I suspected it was called "GARN Girl".

Surely "Gone" rhymes with One, On and Won. Not with Yarn.   ???

(The culprits have mainly been pure RP speakers. Ish.)

The drawled long 'O' becomes prevalent as you travel west towards Cornwall.

Also, in RP, one and won rhyme with gun.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: LEE on 16 October, 2014, 09:52:32 am
Imagine how wonderful and interesting the world would be if everyone spoke identically and used received pronunciation.  Why we could even have Pathe News reels back at the cinemas.

I hope nobody here ever visits Ireland because dat would be a terrible ting for your helt.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: jsabine on 16 October, 2014, 09:56:24 am
Hugo Chavez is one of the ones you hear all the time. I know a Spanish speaker pronounces Hugo Ugo but we aren't Spanish. They don't pronounce Irish names with an Irish accent for gods sake.

So how do you say Siobhan or Niamh or Aoife or Grainne then? Or, looking eastwards, Marcin? (Probably needs some diacriticals, that one.)

I disagree - if it's someone's name it's downright rude not to pronounce it the way they do. It's not the same as an accent, the name does not have an H sound in it so don't put one in. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

Many foreigners have an awful time pronouncing 'Ian' in the proper way. I don't go around correcting them and forcing them to say it as I would.

I don't think it's necessarily about correcting, or forcing. If I don't know how to pronounce a name or find it difficult, I welcome the chance to do someone the courtesy of pronouncing it a bit closer to how it's meant to be said. I'd rather they said something than listen to me cock it up again and again.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ningishzidda on 16 October, 2014, 10:16:28 am
Imagine how wonderful and interesting the world would be if everyone spoke identically and used received pronunciation.  Why we could even have Pathe News reels back at the cinemas.

I hope nobody here ever visits Ireland because dat would be a terrible ting for your helt.

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.  As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.  Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.  The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  That is why it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 October, 2014, 11:08:25 am
Ah... RP = Received Pronunciation. Was reading it as Reverse Polish.

Speaking of which, a university chum of mine was Scots-Polish, born in Sedan but brought up in the Borders and speaking only the local variant of English.  He used to say Warsaw the UK way until he went on holiday there, whereafter he pronounced it Warszawa (Varshava) and would savagely correct anyone he heard saying it "wrongly". People like that are tiresome.

To exhaust the topic, the French equivalent is Varsovie. Jacques Brel had a great song called Madame promène son cul sur les remparts de Varsovie. Shame he's gone.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 16 October, 2014, 12:29:55 pm
I disagree - if it's someone's name it's downright rude not to pronounce it the way they do. It's not the same as an accent, the name does not have an H sound in it so don't put one in. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

Many foreigners have an awful time pronouncing 'Ian' in the proper way. I don't go around correcting them and forcing them to say it as I would. I do correct people who spell it 'Iain' though. The only true Ians are cycloptic Ians.

That's a fair point, all languages have sounds in them that non-native speakers find difficult or impossible. Certainly the newsreaders referred to by pcolbeck would not get Hugo Chavez's surname correct as the Spanish v does not have an exact match in English, they'll probably get the z wrong too and the o at the end of Hugo. But that is not an excuse for saying we should deliberately pronounce Hugo as "Hyoogoe" instead of "oogo" because "we're not Spanish".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 October, 2014, 12:43:36 pm
Quote
Many foreigners have an awful time pronouncing 'Ian' in the proper way. I don't go around correcting them and forcing them to say it as I would.

I don't think it's necessarily about correcting, or forcing. If I don't know how to pronounce a name or find it difficult, I welcome the chance to do someone the courtesy of pronouncing it a bit closer to how it's meant to be said. I'd rather they said something than listen to me cock it up again and again.

Well, I think Irish names are a bit different since they're not phonetically pronounced à la English, and you don't get extra points for using a cod-Irish accent (outside of Boston). It's Shivhawn to be sure, you feckers. Having travelled the US in the company of Irish girls, they were mostly wryly amused by phonetic attempts at Niamh and Siobhan (hearing a New Orleans barkeep pronounce Siobhan is something precious). I'm not going to lisp through Spanish names, but I'll do a passable Don Juan.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: andrew_s on 16 October, 2014, 12:52:44 pm
I got a bit confused when following some badly-scribbled road directions on my way by car to Germany because Liege disappeared but I kept seeing this place called Leuk on the signposts.
Sort of like the time I ended up cycling through the middle of San Sebastian because this place "Donostia" on the signposts wasn't on my map and therefore too small to be worth avoiding.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 16 October, 2014, 02:13:05 pm
I got a bit confused when following some badly-scribbled road directions on my way by car to Germany because Liege disappeared but I kept seeing this place called Leuk on the signposts.

...and coming back from Germany it became 'Luttich'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 16 October, 2014, 03:09:52 pm
It has been posited that the Fiat Croma was Italy's terrible revenge on BRITAIN for the Vauxhall Firenza.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 October, 2014, 03:27:40 pm
Coming back to just English, there are words we read and understand as children but do not hear pronounced for decades. When at last we do hear them they may be totally different from our idea of them.  One such, for me, was chimera: I was well over 40 when I first heard anyone say it, and my immediate reaction was "illiterate swine".  Luckily I didn't say it out loud, for he was right.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 16 October, 2014, 04:35:58 pm
I notice the newsreaders do pronounce Angela Merkel generally roughly correctly, so they do it with some names even if there's an English name. But I guess that's easier than Hugo Chavez correctly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 16 October, 2014, 06:57:12 pm
Coming back to just English, there are words we read and understand as children but do not hear pronounced for decades.

I'm always surprised by how much piss-taking the resulting mispronunciations attract.  "Yes, I have vast swathes of vocabulary that I acquired through reading.  That's a bad thing, is it?"

And it's by no means exclusive to children.  Occupational hazard with pretty much any specialist knowledge acquired informally.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 16 October, 2014, 07:54:59 pm
I was probably 30 before I realised 'awry' was pronounced a-rye, not aw-ree.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 16 October, 2014, 08:03:00 pm
I have a colleague who talks about feeling ember rast...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 16 October, 2014, 08:12:20 pm
I have a colleague who thinks "Good morning, Basil" is pronounced "Fuck off, cunt"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pedaldog. on 16 October, 2014, 11:27:06 pm
I keep getting telephone calls from India asking to speak to "Mister Stee-Fen Please"!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 17 October, 2014, 01:50:24 pm
I disagree - if it's someone's name it's downright rude not to pronounce it the way they do. It's not the same as an accent, the name does not have an H sound in it so don't put one in. How would you pronounce Thierry Henry?

Many foreigners have an awful time pronouncing 'Ian' in the proper way. I don't go around correcting them and forcing them to say it as I would. I do correct people who spell it 'Iain' though. The only true Ians are cycloptic Ians.

That's a fair point, all languages have sounds in them that non-native speakers find difficult or impossible. Certainly the newsreaders referred to by pcolbeck would not get Hugo Chavez's surname correct as the Spanish v does not have an exact match in English, they'll probably get the z wrong too and the o at the end of Hugo. But that is not an excuse for saying we should deliberately pronounce Hugo as "Hyoogoe" instead of "oogo" because "we're not Spanish".
Yeah, they'll say z instead of s.  ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 17 October, 2014, 02:45:29 pm
Another one that I "mispronounced" for around 60 years is detritus. When I was at school Latin was compulsory so I know exactly how it would be pronounced if English got it right, but RP makes it sound like inflammation of the debtor. Shit, even French gets it right (while treating it as a plural - barf).

Still on the i-aye front, anyone else wince every time they tried to say primer in Contact? Fortunately, it's not a film to be watched more than once, if that.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: red marley on 17 November, 2014, 01:21:45 pm
In the Imitation Game (biopic of Alan Turing released this weekend), one bright Cambridge mathematician to another discussing solving a mathematical proof:

"Why not use Euler's formula to solve that?" [pronouncing it "you-ler" not "oi-ler"]

OK, so it's a bit smartarse to criticise pronunciation of word that may not be obvious to many non-mathematics inclined people, but it's hardly obscure, and this is a biopic about a mathematician! One on which they spent millions on set design, actors, effects, Keira Knightley's cheekbones, marketing etc. Surely they could have spent a few quid on a least one advisor on the authenticity of the subject matter?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 17 November, 2014, 01:31:57 pm
Can't remember how our phys. master at school used to pronounce Euler, but he pronounced Poiseuille as Pwazerelle. And (more understandably) bowdlerized Kuntz.  Can't help thinking, though, that talking about a "Koonz Tube" in class these days would attract more censure than pronouncing it correctly.

There used to be a current of opinion that held correct pronunciation of foreign names to be unpatriotic, particularly in the diplomatic services. Dunno if it still persists.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: red marley on 17 November, 2014, 03:11:25 pm
There used to be a current of opinion that held correct pronunciation of foreign names to be unpatriotic, particularly in the diplomatic services. Dunno if it still persists.

That's a good point that I hadn't thought about. Given its German origins, perhaps there was a studied Anglification of the pronunciation during the 1940s. Anyone know for sure?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Torslanda on 17 November, 2014, 07:41:11 pm
Had two howlers on Friday, Radio 2, from that paragon of pronunciation Sarah Cox.

A shout out for someone in Down-ray (that's in Scotland, y'know) and someone else in Beecons-field . . .

GAH!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 17 November, 2014, 08:29:52 pm
STV are currently showing a programme about Anstruther (no, I don't know why either) and the narrator has pronounced it Anstruther all the way through.  ::-)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Feanor on 17 November, 2014, 08:36:15 pm
STV are currently showing a programme about Anstruther (no, I don't know why either) and the narrator has pronounced it Anstruther all the way through.  ::-)

So enlighten me.
What is the correct pronunciation?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 17 November, 2014, 08:44:03 pm
Ainster.

Same Slaithwaite is Sla-wit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Feanor on 17 November, 2014, 10:07:21 pm
Thanks.   That may save me some embarrassment in future.

I must have been off school the day they did that :-)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 17 November, 2014, 10:14:29 pm
Trottescliffe anyone ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 17 November, 2014, 10:47:21 pm
One of these days, the English will learn to pronounce their towns' names correctly. Either that or learn how to spell them correctly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 17 November, 2014, 10:58:39 pm
One of these days, the English will learn to pronounce their towns' names correctly. Either that or learn how to spell them correctly.

Cycled through Leominster yesterday, Weobley today.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 18 November, 2014, 12:10:22 am
One of these days, the English will learn to pronounce their towns' names correctly. Either that or learn how to spell them correctly.

At the very least, place name pronunciation should be consistent; it isn't so Wymondham (leics.) sounds rather different from Wymondham, Norfolk .
Then there's Gillingham...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 18 November, 2014, 12:14:32 am
Kent or Dorset?  ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 18 November, 2014, 12:38:01 am
Jillingham in Kent and Guillingham in Dorset, innit?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 18 November, 2014, 01:49:18 am
One of these days, the English will learn to pronounce their towns' names correctly. Either that or learn how to spell them correctly.

Must.  Resist.  Temptation. Must.. Res439(18)76,2:;,(7,[NO CARRIER] :demon:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Biff on 18 November, 2014, 10:43:00 am
On the Toady prog this morning Harvey Goldsmith declared the ebola crisis to be 'heart rendering' That paints quite a picture.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: tiermat on 18 November, 2014, 10:54:03 am
One of these days, the English will learn to pronounce their towns' names correctly. Either that or learn how to spell them correctly.

If that sort of thing (mispronunciation of town names) makes you laugh, try listening to the traffic news on Planet Rock, especially when their American DJ (IIRC Darren Redick)is presenting.  It can be highly amusing.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 18 November, 2014, 06:29:44 pm
Jillingham in Kent and Guillingham in Dorset, innit?
Exactly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 18 November, 2014, 06:35:03 pm
Jillingham in Kent and Guillingham in Dorset, innit?
Exactly.

I am told the Northumbrian town of Bellingham is pronounced 'bellinjam'...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: eck on 18 November, 2014, 06:42:44 pm
STV are currently showing a programme about Anstruther (no, I don't know why either) and the narrator has pronounced it Anstruther all the way through.  ::-)

So enlighten me.
What is the correct pronunciation?
Anstruther is  near Kilconquhar.   :smug:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 18 November, 2014, 08:33:28 pm
It rather saddens me that the local authority has decided to add an alternative pronunciation spelling to signs for Woolfardisworthy.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Gasman on 08 December, 2014, 01:47:51 pm
STV are currently showing a programme about Anstruther (no, I don't know why either) and the narrator has pronounced it Anstruther all the way through.  ::-)

In my, albeit limited, experience Anstruther is only Ainster in and around Anstruther.  Other places regularly mispronounced by Southerly broadcasters include;

BEERS-den - Bearsden (where a large furry animal lives)
Kir-COLL-di/KIR-kle-dee - Kircaldy (Kir-COD-i)
Stran-REAR - Stranraer (Stran-RARR)
Cairnyarn - Cairnryan
GREN-ock - Greenock

Kircudbright (Kir-COOB-ri) and Milngavie (Mill-GYE) attract more mispronunciations than you can shake a stick at.

My own pet hate (not sure if it's already been mentioned) is "harrassed/harrassment" pronounced a la Frank Spencer.  They should rhyme with embarrassed/embarrassment.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 December, 2014, 02:29:29 pm
ee-BOW-la.  Argh.  EBB-oh-la, ya twit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 December, 2014, 04:01:09 pm
ee-BOW-la.  Argh.  EBB-oh-la, ya twit.

Or E-bola, a close relative of E-coli. (Cringe making, not correct pronunciation obvs.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 08 December, 2014, 10:34:39 pm
I'm pretty sure that I heard Richard Osman pronounce pronunciation pronounciation the other day. I'm not absolutely sure because I find my ears play tricks on me these days and I sometimes think I've heard something which subsequently proves not to have been as it seemed at the time.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 16 December, 2014, 11:03:34 pm
Gideon Coe attempting molybdenum  :facepalm: His listeners' suggestions aren't any better  ::-)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 17 December, 2014, 10:46:48 am
My old physics teacher trying to say "naphthalene"

He couldn't spell it, in addition.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 29 December, 2014, 07:11:57 am
On an otherwise excellent Radio 4 program about how navigation works in the brain the (British) presenter repeatedly said "ee-ko-location" instead of "e-cho-location".  Its echo not eco for heavens sake.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 29 December, 2014, 09:54:35 am
That's the Australian version. They shout "Koo-ee" and it comes back as "Ee-koo".

That's the southern hemisphere for you.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 29 December, 2014, 10:27:52 am
On an otherwise excellent Radio 4 program about how navigation works in the brain the (British) presenter repeatedly said "ee-ko-location" instead of "e-cho-location".  Its echo not eco for heaven's sake.

I've also cringed upthread about documentaries where people who should know better pronounce the same word strangely over and over again...

Recently on the Guardian podcast, the "science of drinks expert", who had a distinctly estuary twang and evidently not from the USA, kept talking about Driver Mooth. By the end of the piece it had even become Drive Mooth. Srsly?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 29 December, 2014, 02:59:09 pm
Hmmm.  you're touching on running-together-of-words there - potentially a huge area for cringes.
(it may be a regional thing in the UK - always a sensitive area! <ducks> )
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 29 December, 2014, 03:07:05 pm
Hmmm.  you're touching on running-together-of-words there - potentially a huge area for cringes.
(it may be a regional thing in the UK - always a sensitive area! <ducks> )

Not at all - it may be a FOREIGN word, but it has its own BRITISH pronunciation: VERR-muth not va-MOOTH. Whatever next? Te-MAY-doh?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 29 December, 2014, 05:09:42 pm
Hmmm.  you're touching on running-together-of-words there - potentially a huge area for cringes.
(it may be a regional thing in the UK - always a sensitive area! <ducks> )

Not at all - it may be a FOREIGN word, but it has its own BRITISH pronunciation: VERR-muth not va-MOOTH. Whatever next? Te-MAY-doh?
Oh, I see - then I misunderstood you, sorry.

Perhaps because in all honesty I was only aware of people stressing the  2nd syllable. I suppose "vur-MOOTH" would be my best effort at transcription. ("va" sounds wrong. and Te-MAY-doh is definitely out, as is te-MAH-doh ... )
It's not something that I discuss very often, so I'm very happy to be over-ruled on this one!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 02 January, 2015, 05:34:04 pm
On R4 recently (Today programme guest presenter, possibly?)

UEFA as " ooo-EEE-far "
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 02 January, 2015, 09:00:08 pm
STV are currently showing a programme about Anstruther (no, I don't know why either) and the narrator has pronounced it Anstruther all the way through.  ::-)

In my, albeit limited, experience Anstruther is only Ainster in and around Anstruther.  Other places regularly mispronounced by Southerly broadcasters include;


Stran-REAR - Stranraer (Stran-RARR)
Cairnyarn - Cairnryan

Kircudbright (Kir-COOB-ri) and Milngavie (Mill-GYE) attract more mispronunciations than you can shake a stick at.


If we stay in that part of the world, what about those idiots who ponounce Crocketford (Croc-it-fud) as Ninemile Bar (Nine-mile baa)?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 02 January, 2015, 09:49:04 pm
Lower Winchendon - now often pronounced Nether Winchendon.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 02 January, 2015, 09:54:54 pm
On R4 recently (Today programme guest presenter, possibly?)

UEFA as " ooo-EEE-far "

I can remember when they didn't pronounce the E at all, then the Beeb realised that "UEFA Cup" sounded like a rude suggestion.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: CAMRAMan on 02 January, 2015, 09:55:40 pm
Pretentious wine drinkers who go to great lengths to pronounce 'cabernet sauvignon' with authenticity, but then say 'carver' for 'cava'. An old chestnut I have no doubt mentioned before, but it still grates.

And, as a former Silhillian, I say 'so-lee-'hull', with stress on the final syllable, seeing as it is the hill that is soily.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 January, 2015, 07:27:56 am
Pretentious wine drinkers who go to great lengths to pronounce 'cabernet sauvignon' with authenticity, but then say 'carver' for 'cava'. An old chestnut I have no doubt mentioned before, but it still grates.

They probably also say "drawring room".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 03 January, 2015, 08:27:38 am
Pretentious wine drinkers who go to great lengths to pronounce 'cabernet sauvignon' with authenticity, but then say 'carver' for 'cava'. An old chestnut I have no doubt mentioned before, but it still grates.

They probably also say "drawring room".

 ;D

"Lar-tay"

 :sick:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 08 January, 2015, 02:40:45 pm
Dowlfenwaaase.

It took me a while to work out what she meant.

Turned out to be
(click to show/hide)
and worse than that, what she actually had was
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 09 January, 2015, 11:31:09 pm
pt. 94 of "experts who should know better"

Economist journalist on More or Less: "Racey-oh"

Over and over again...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 January, 2015, 12:58:42 am
pt. 94 of "experts who should know better"

Economist journalist on More or Less: "Racey-oh"

Over and over again...

Isn't that Church Latin?

It's certainly how we we we were instructed to sing various Masses (and made a ponce out of Pontius Pilate).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 10 January, 2015, 08:20:42 am
So his name means Hairy Ponce.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ham on 10 January, 2015, 10:27:19 am
Pretentious wine drinkers who go to great lengths to pronounce 'cabernet sauvignon' with authenticity, but then say 'carver' for 'cava'. An old chestnut I have no doubt mentioned before, but it still grates.

They probably also say "drawring room".

 ;D

"Lar-tay"

 :sick:

It's worth goign to Italy to see what happens when a Brit orders Latte in a caff  ;D :demon:

If you don't know
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 07 June, 2015, 04:43:25 pm
Just been reminded of one that often annoys me.
Brummies!  Of all people I would expect you to know the correct pronunciation of 'Samosa' or 'Samosas'
It is not samoza or samozas.  It is a soft s.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 08 June, 2015, 09:09:36 am
Pretentious wine drinkers who go to great lengths to pronounce 'cabernet sauvignon' with authenticity, but then say 'carver' for 'cava'. An old chestnut I have no doubt mentioned before, but it still grates.

They probably also say "drawring room".

 ;D

"Lar-tay"

 :sick:

It's worth goign to Italy to see what happens when a Brit orders Latte in a caff  ;D :demon:

If you don't know
(click to show/hide)

I gently chided my younger daughter for ordering a lartay yesterday. But then she lives in Islington and also asks waiters "Can I get..." when ordering food, so there is no hope, I'm afraid.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: red marley on 08 June, 2015, 03:28:48 pm
But then she lives in Islington and also asks waiters "Can I get..." when ordering food, so there is no hope, I'm afraid.

That is the correct grammatical construction for Islington (or Upper Street at least). The full sentence being "Can I get ripped off buying a latte and small almond croissant?"

(Yes, yes you can. Almost certainly.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: geraldc on 08 June, 2015, 03:35:59 pm
Lattes are on the way out. Flat whites are the new latte. It's the velvety microfoam, and the antipodean influence on London
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 08 June, 2015, 05:21:32 pm
I ask for a skinny latte, which makes me feel a bit metrosexual and like I should roll up my trousers and take a devil-may-care attitude to socks.

I probably say latte incorrectly and with pride. I'm blessed with a glottal emergency stop.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 08 June, 2015, 06:22:26 pm
Lattes are on the way out. Flat whites are the new latte. It's the velvety microfoam, and the antipodean influence on London

My daughter asked for a flat white. I didn't know until she told me that there is an argument as to whether it was invented by the Aussies or the New Zealanders. I had no idea it was antipodean at all. While we were eating our lunch at the Canonbury (recently refurbished/new owners and pretty poor in my opinion) we were adjacent to a table full of Aussies and daughter told me after we left how much she enjoys listening to them. She has spent a fair bit of time in Melbourne over the past year and intends to move out there by the end of the year, for how long I don't know.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 02 July, 2015, 11:31:06 am
Bernard Cribbins, you total twerp! You are reading a story for small children! Where has this ridiculous expression "blankie" come from? It's a blanket, you plonker!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 02 July, 2015, 11:54:01 am
No, a blankie is a thing. I personally have a cuddly weasel to keep me safe.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 11 August, 2015, 11:33:11 am
Colleague.
If you can spell it out as a-d-a-g-i-o to the customer on the 'phone how come you pronounce it ah-gee-o? What happened to the 'ah-dah'?
???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 11 August, 2015, 07:08:40 pm
Quite a long time ago, when I was still a captain of industry, one of our trade customers came in asking about some labels we were producing for a Harrods meat product.  He asked whether the cark-a-chew-rie labels were ready.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 18 September, 2015, 02:42:07 pm
Reciprient.

I only spell it, and say it, with the one 'r'. Where did the other one spring from?  ::-)

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 18 September, 2015, 03:44:15 pm
'Makizmo'.  :facepalm: It's Spanish! It's machissmo - ch as in church, as ch is always pronounced in Spanish. I'll tolerate machizmo, which is, at least, anglicised Spanish, but why pronounce a Spanish word as if it's anglicised Italian?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: jsabine on 19 September, 2015, 12:06:09 am
why pronounce a Spanish word as if it's anglicised Italian?

Because it's all foreign, innit. And wogs start at Calais.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 19 September, 2015, 10:39:41 am
Speaking about coffee, every time I look at the word "regular", it comes out of my mouth as "small".  And that's how it appears in the cup, too.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 19 September, 2015, 03:12:19 pm
Reciprient.

I only spell it, and say it, with the one 'r'. Where did the other one spring from?  ::-)

Confusion with reciprocal?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 22 September, 2015, 10:56:02 am
This is a good laugh.

https://youtu.be/9q7VjLVU8Ec
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 22 September, 2015, 01:39:37 pm
On a related note, Jeremy Vine (I know! ::-) ) was doing a feature on the Barmouth Bridge debate* and congratulated himself on his iffy pronunciation of a nearby village name.  Shortly after, he referred to a caller from 'Dolgely' :facepalm:



* Amusing sidenote: Apparently, his mum rang in and said that she had got engaged to his dad at the end of the bridge.  He didn't know that before, it seems.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 23 September, 2015, 03:42:28 pm
'Either' and 'Neither'

Why can't people pronounce them proper like?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Torslanda on 23 September, 2015, 07:40:56 pm
NO! It is pronounced 'new-clee-ar'. NOT 'new-queue-lar'

If that gets a 'BZZZZZZT! Repetition!' then, hey! Sue me . . .
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 30 September, 2015, 01:03:28 pm
Arrgh BBC radio news. Why did you deicide to pronounce Volkswagen and Audi in the English way but decide that Skoda should be Sssschoodah ?
Can't you at least be consistent in the same sentence ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Raj on 30 September, 2015, 01:31:41 pm
Anenome ... Anemone  :P
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 30 September, 2015, 01:53:02 pm
Arrgh BBC radio news. Why did you deicide to pronounce Volkswagen and Audi in the English way but decide that Skoda should be Sssschoodah ?
Can't you at least be consistent in the same sentence ?

You remind me of the fellow who drove one of those 'Oomburr Skepturrs'.
(it was quite a long time ago).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 30 September, 2015, 02:24:32 pm
My former manager had a thick Coventry accent but, in an attempt to appear posh, pronounced "because" as a very affected "becorse" rather than the expected "becoz".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 30 September, 2015, 02:59:36 pm
My former manager had a thick Coventry accent but, in an attempt to appear posh, pronounced "because" as a very affected "becorse" rather than the expected "becoz".

Maybe that's what posher people from Coventry do.
We have an old family friend (mid 80s) who comes from Coventry originally (pre 1955).

He has no discernible accent to my London ears but also pronounces 'because' as 'becorse'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: SoreTween on 30 September, 2015, 04:31:12 pm
Stood behind a lady of South African origin at the weekend I had ample opportunity to sample her pronunciation.  By ample I mean about 15 minutes while she quizzed the bar staff in detail about every one of the dishes on offer.  My fuse didn't come close to running out as she bellowed her way through the menu with her fat arse perched upon a stool sending her long suffering back and forth to the tribe outside to verify every choice and option.  Almost last she asked what do you get with the fush and chups.  The what now?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: sg37409 on 30 September, 2015, 04:34:42 pm
'Either' and 'Neither'

Why can't people pronounce them proper like?

What ?   Eevirov 'em ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pedaldog. on 30 September, 2015, 11:54:48 pm
I don't care if their family has lived there for the last 500 years and it's always been called "Kormer". The sign says "Quernmore" so get with it and out of my head cos' if I cycfle up the gert big hill that you're halfway up I will use the last gasps of my wheezing lungs air and Yell "It's Kwernmore" before I break down the door of the village store in guise as the "Sugar driven Lucozade Freak" and Gibber for a long, long time.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: red marley on 01 October, 2015, 06:21:26 am
My fuse didn't come close to running out as she bellowed her way through the menu with her fat arse perched upon a stool sending her long suffering back and forth to the tribe outside to verify every choice and option.  Almost last she asked what do you get with the fush and chups. 

If her bottom had been more to your taste, would she have got a free pass on her pronunciation of 'fish and chips'?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 01 October, 2015, 07:36:51 am
"Fush and chups" sounds like Norn Iron.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 01 October, 2015, 07:42:10 am
Foreigners talking funny. Something must be done. A damnable pastime indeed.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 01 October, 2015, 09:26:00 am
Kipling wrote a story or two, set in the IoM and Norn Iron, in which he had the natives using a short u instead of the short i.  Quite pussed me off untul I tried ut myself and realised I sounded like me.  Even then ut pussed me off a luttle but.

But at least we can pronounce the letter R. ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 01 October, 2015, 09:57:12 am
"Fush and chups" used to be the canonical way of distinguishing a New Toylander from other Former Colonials.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 01 October, 2015, 10:53:10 am


But at least we can pronounce the letter R. ;)

Ah!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: CAMRAMan on 01 October, 2015, 11:19:17 am
The Hairy Twats Bikers had me thinking on their recent Sweden episode. They were pronouncing 'Same' as 'Sammy', not 'Sarmey' as I learned in Sweden. The locals were pronouncing it back at them the same way. Now I don't know if the Same were just being polite or if really is 'Sammy' and I've learned the Swedish version which is wrong to Same ears.

The HBs did also mangle the local place names, so I'd think it was more likely to be them.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 01 October, 2015, 02:36:13 pm
Not cringeworthy as such, but idiosyncratic.

Mrs. Wow and I have been discussing, over lunch, the importance of the question "Why do Mancunians and their elk pronounce "Blackley" blakely?"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 02 October, 2015, 09:38:47 pm
Jeremy Paxman, use the word "newmonic" once more and I will twat you with Mr Shovel before affording you a Tibetan Sky Burial only in Trafalgar Square.  With pigeons.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 02 October, 2015, 09:54:20 pm
Jeremy Paxman, use the word "newmonic" once more and I will twat you with Mr Shovel before affording you a Tibetan Sky Burial only in Trafalgar Square.  With pigeons.

Ah. The real reason for the Fourth Plinth.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 02 October, 2015, 10:16:09 pm
Jeremy Paxman, use the word "newmonic" once more and I will twat you with Mr Shovel before affording you a Tibetan Sky Burial only in Trafalgar Square.  With pigeons.

Would pneumonic (as opposed to bubonic) plague be a suitable punishment?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 21 October, 2015, 09:45:54 am
It's a trade name, but the name of the Europiccola espresso machine has two obvious components, Euro and piccola.  So WTF should Americans pronounce it as Yuroppy Cola?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 25 October, 2015, 07:34:23 am
Throughout the entirety of "Inventing The Indian" gravel-voiced social historian and part-time comedian Rich Hall refers to the mounted soldiers of the US Army as "the calvary" ???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 25 October, 2015, 10:21:48 am
We all have our Cross to bear.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 26 October, 2015, 09:39:03 am
like Gladly, the strabismic ursine?  ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 26 October, 2015, 09:43:49 am
On the radio this morning: "ef-fic'acy"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 26 October, 2015, 09:47:49 am
Not cringeworthy as such, but idiosyncratic.

Mrs. Wow and I have been discussing, over lunch, the importance of the question "Why do Mancunians and their elk pronounce "Blackley" blakely?"

As I suspected, it's a historical spelling mistake, rather than a mispronunciation:-

The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Blæclēah = "dark wood" or "dark clearing". In the 13th and 14th centuries Blackley was referred to as Blakeley or Blakelegh, a spelling that is consistent with the local pronunciation.

Very few elks in the area, though.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 26 October, 2015, 09:55:29 am
Just one. It's probably enough.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 26 October, 2015, 10:08:29 am
Foreigners talking funny. Something must be done. A damnable pastime indeed.

Damned Microsoft Yanks and their  'Moabul Technaarlargy' (in which world we apparently live).

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 26 October, 2015, 10:22:35 am
like Gladly, the strabismic ursine?  ;)

 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jasmine on 26 October, 2015, 11:25:55 am
On the radio this morning: "ef-fic'acy"

I'm fairly sure this is the only way I've ever heard it.  How would you pronounce it?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 26 October, 2015, 11:49:59 am
On the radio this morning: "ef-fic'acy"

I'm fairly sure this is the only way I've ever heard it.  How would you pronounce it?

With the stress on the 'ef'.  But perhaps see 'controversy'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 26 October, 2015, 11:53:05 am
ˈɛfɪkəsi

TBH, I've heard it pronounced  "ef-fic'acy" so often I thought it was correct either way, but apparently not.

ETA: unlike controversy, which is correct either way.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 26 October, 2015, 01:02:40 pm
like Gladly, the strabismic ursine?  ;)

Convergent strabismus on Calvary...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 October, 2015, 02:28:15 pm
like Gladly, the strabismic ursine?  ;)

Convergent strabismus on Calvary...

Neigh?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jasmine on 26 October, 2015, 02:42:48 pm
On the radio this morning: "ef-fic'acy"

I'm fairly sure this is the only way I've ever heard it.  How would you pronounce it?

With the stress on the 'ef'.  But perhaps see 'controversy'.

Oh, I see.  I hadn't understood that you meant stressing the second syllable. I'm with you now.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 26 October, 2015, 03:14:49 pm
On the radio this morning: "ef-fic'acy"

I'm fairly sure this is the only way I've ever heard it.  How would you pronounce it?

With the stress on the 'ef'.  But perhaps see 'controversy'.

Oh, I see.  I hadn't understood that you meant stressing the second syllable. I'm with you now.

Probably my inaccurate rendering of phonetic marks.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 26 October, 2015, 03:22:50 pm
Perhaps we need a new thread:

Rendering of phonetic marks that make you cringe
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 26 October, 2015, 09:49:56 pm
Perhaps all these cringe threads should be shoved into a 'pedants' corner'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ruthie on 26 October, 2015, 10:23:05 pm
Perhaps all these cringe threads should be shoved into a 'pedants' corner'.

They already are: YACF
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Speshact on 26 October, 2015, 11:07:56 pm
Gauge pronounced as Gouge by a tour guide this weekend. Shudder.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 26 October, 2015, 11:24:08 pm
Perhaps all these cringe threads should be shoved into a 'pedants' corner'.

They already are: YACF

 ;D ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 08 December, 2015, 11:28:12 am
On my audiobook this morning, the reader pronounced 'pedant' peedant.
I suspect this was just to annoy pedants like me.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: CAMRAMan on 08 December, 2015, 11:34:22 am
At least with Prosecco's new-found popularity, we won't have so may eejits saying 'carver' for Cava.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 08 December, 2015, 02:12:50 pm
I ordered OS maps from Amazon which appear to have been lost in the post. I spoke to someone there (where?) about said lost maps:
Aylesbury and LEETON Buzzard
LUTTON and Hertford...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 17 December, 2015, 04:56:35 pm
Probably been mentioned before but...

"Coup de gras", as heard on an otherwise respectable podcast the other day in place of "coup de grace" - I'm not normally snotty about mispronunciation of furrin words but in this case it alters the meaning significantly.

I've heard "coupe de gras" on occasion, which conjures up an unfortunate mental image.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 17 December, 2015, 05:31:24 pm
Anyone for a cup of grease?

--o0o--

I didn't so much cringe as blench yesterday (video not available, fortunately) on finally realizing that the word juridical does not contain a third I**. All my life I've been pronouncing it juridicial - and nobody has taken exception.


**Lobsang Rampa notwithstanding.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 20 December, 2015, 09:21:58 pm
Warbling woman at the start of SPOTY - I do not know who you are but if I hear you warbling about a "gli'er baw-wuh" again my studied response will be medieval in its approach to the use of ironmongery, fire and animals with big pointy teeth.

And I don't mean beavers.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 30 December, 2015, 07:04:57 pm
BBC reporter, since when did the river that runs through Knaresborough start being pronounced inna-Welsh-stylee?

Never, that's when.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Canardly on 30 December, 2015, 07:10:40 pm
Cringe is too strong a word, but amazed at how often loose is confused with lose.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: red marley on 31 December, 2015, 03:08:37 pm
I think that tends to be a spelling problem rather than a pronunciation one. Understandable when comparing with chose/choose
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jurek on 13 January, 2016, 12:38:33 pm
I think that tends to be a spelling problem rather than a pronunciation one. Understandable when comparing with chose/choose

I always assumed that was more to do with tense / tents.

IGMC
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 13 January, 2016, 03:46:52 pm
I think that tends to be a spelling problem rather than a pronunciation one.

It's also an easy typo, which the spillchucker won't spot, so it looks like you're illiterate.   :(
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 13 January, 2016, 05:24:17 pm
Some people consistently get it wrong. I have to fight down the urge to correct them.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jurek on 13 January, 2016, 05:26:29 pm
I think that tends to be a spelling problem rather than a pronunciation one.

It's also an easy typo, which the spillchucker won't spot, so it looks like you're illiterate.   :(

Spillchucker is often your fiend.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 13 January, 2016, 07:03:03 pm
Spillchucker is often your fiend.

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 23 March, 2016, 11:13:12 am
There is a R4 programme on at the moment discussing "pattents".

When did a patent become a pattent? No one refers to "pattent leather" and nothing has ever been "pattently obvious" to anyone, so why the widespread mispronunciation of this word?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ruthie on 23 March, 2016, 12:03:10 pm
Because that's how they say it in Trumplandia.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 23 March, 2016, 03:04:56 pm
Both pronunciations have been around for a long time, as have both versions of patron and patronise.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 23 March, 2016, 03:15:58 pm
Someone needs to have a word with Bonnie Raitt.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 23 March, 2016, 04:50:59 pm
Overheard phone conversation"...for prosterity...".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 23 March, 2016, 06:29:15 pm
There is a R4 programme on at the moment discussing "pattents".

When did a patent become a pattent? No one refers to "pattent leather" and nothing has ever been "pattently obvious" to anyone, so why the widespread mispronunciation of this word?

Generally, esp. outside of USA, paytent = adjective; pattent = noun.

So you are correct, it's *always* paytent leather, but usually The Pattent Office.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: PhilO on 23 March, 2016, 07:17:48 pm
Those of us that work in intellectual property always use the pronounciation with a short - 'a'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 23 March, 2016, 07:20:51 pm
There is a R4 programme on at the moment discussing "pattents".

When did a patent become a pattent? No one refers to "pattent leather" and nothing has ever been "pattently obvious" to anyone, so why the widespread mispronunciation of this word?

My Dad has pronounce this both ways, but mostly 'pattents' for the last four decades
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 06 April, 2016, 04:33:18 pm
6Music newsreader described someone as self-depreciating  :facepalm: :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 06 April, 2016, 04:57:44 pm
6Music newsreader described someone as self-depreciating  :facepalm: :)

Devalued by their own words?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 25 May, 2016, 10:09:58 pm
Ponte Vecchio pronounced "Ponte Vetchio", as if Italian cch is like ch in church. :facepalm: By a BBC newsreader, no less.   :sick:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 25 May, 2016, 10:15:28 pm
I think we've had it before, but Don McLean's blatant "Febuary" in "American Pie" made me cringe the other day.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 25 May, 2016, 10:41:35 pm
Not 'shiver' ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 May, 2016, 11:02:13 am
I think we've had it before, but Don McLean's blatant "Febuary" in "American Pie" made me cringe the other day.
How else would it scan in the song?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 26 May, 2016, 01:04:02 pm
Not 'shiver' ?

 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 01 June, 2016, 10:38:11 am
ash-felt  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 01 June, 2016, 10:43:31 am
^^^When I was a nipper I first read that as ash-splat.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 02 June, 2016, 06:21:14 pm
TV's Reeta Chakrabarti keeps referring to the new fivers as being made of "plaarstic".  It grates.  Stop it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 02 June, 2016, 06:22:55 pm
I had a history teacher who said it that way. But, even worse, those things that were handed to every civilian in WW2 were "garse marsks". Oowwwwwwww.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 02 June, 2016, 06:31:50 pm
I imagine Her Maj used to have a guess maarsk.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 02 June, 2016, 06:55:10 pm
Someone, who shall remain nameless, on moving to Devon went into a pasty shop and asked for a pasty – rhyming it with 'tasty'.   Shop-keeper looked utterly blank.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 02 June, 2016, 09:38:50 pm
Is that worse or better than 'parsty'?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 02 June, 2016, 09:45:23 pm
Is that worse or better than 'parsty'?

That was the second attempt.  The proper, local pronunciation is with a long but very open 'a'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 02 June, 2016, 10:28:01 pm
Miss Z the younger pronounces "library" as "lah-bray".  This seems worryingly common in the village.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Torslanda on 03 June, 2016, 01:14:35 am
Sorry if it's been said before but moosecasters who refer to a minister as the Seckertree of State should be shot through the lungs...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 June, 2016, 08:31:10 am
Sorry if it's been said before but moosecasters who refer to a minister as the Seckertree of State should be shot through the lungs...

And the same goes for USAnians who think SCIENTISTS work in labratories.

With square bullets.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 03 June, 2016, 05:49:37 pm
And the same goes for USAnians who think SCIENTISTS work in labratories.

It's where the labrats are kept, innit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2016, 05:59:10 pm
Miss Z the younger pronounces "library" as "lah-bray".  This seems worryingly common in the village.

It's incredible that young people these days even know the word, never mind how to say it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 03 June, 2016, 06:40:00 pm
"I often put medicine in my waistcoat". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_pronunciation)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pedaldog. on 03 June, 2016, 10:52:33 pm
"Would of"  "Should of"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 06 June, 2016, 01:48:59 pm
Annoyingly, this pronunciation is probably correct, but I was listening to Joanna Lumley read On Her Majesty's Secret Service the other day, where she kept referring to an Italian car as a "Lanch-ah", rather than the anglicised "Lan-seer".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jaded on 06 June, 2016, 06:12:32 pm
Annoyingly, this pronunciation is probably correct, but I was listening to Joanna Lumley read On Her Majesty's Secret Service the other day, where she kept referring to an Italian car as a "Lanch-ah", rather than the anglicised "Lan-seer".

Joanna Lumley is allowed to pronounce things however she wants.

It's the Law.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 06 June, 2016, 07:02:03 pm
Slovlish?

Growing up we were often scolded for speaking half-на-пів, aka Ukrainglish.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Guy on 07 June, 2016, 10:04:06 am
Hilary Clinton on the idiot-box just now

"...I have been the Secra-tery of State..."

"ter" pronounced as in "tern"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 June, 2016, 11:09:06 am
"Tern" with a southron R or a real one?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 07 June, 2016, 11:17:49 am
Annoyingly, this pronunciation is probably correct, but I was listening to Joanna Lumley read On Her Majesty's Secret Service the other day, where she kept referring to an Italian car as a "Lanch-ah", rather than the anglicised "Lan-seer".
I've never thought of calling a Lancia a 'Lanseer'.  To me. it'd be like saying 'makizmo' when meaning that fine Spanish word machismo ('machissmo'), or 'Byoonuss Air-ez' instead of 'Bwennoss Eye-ress', or the 'J' in Rio de Janeiro as in 'jam'. But I do say Meksiko & Kyooba.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 07 June, 2016, 11:21:46 am
I think the pronunciation intended by "Lan-seer" was "Larn see er". 'Seer' as in one who is currently seeing (two syllables).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 07 June, 2016, 11:56:15 am
Turmeric :demon: . The shibboleth of the daytime TV celebrity chef.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Guy on 07 June, 2016, 11:58:54 am
"Tern" with a southron R or a real one?
As in the way David Attenborough would say "Arctic Tern"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 07 June, 2016, 12:53:51 pm


Annoyingly, this pronunciation is probably correct, but I was listening to Joanna Lumley read On Her Majesty's Secret Service the other day, where she kept referring to an Italian car as a "Lanch-ah", rather than the anglicised "Lan-seer".
I've never thought of calling a Lancia a 'Lanseer'.  To me. it'd be like saying 'makizmo' when meaning that fine Spanish word machismo ('machissmo'), or 'Byoonuss Air-ez' instead of 'Bwennoss Eye-ress', or the 'J' in Rio de Janeiro as in 'jam'. But I do say Meksiko & Kyooba.

Yes, but you probably also refuse to say lah-tay and koritzo.
These are words that have been anglicised in exactly the same way that only pretentious wankers in the UK say Pareee.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 June, 2016, 01:08:33 pm
"Tern" with a southron R or a real one?
As in the way David Attenborough would say "Arctic Tern"

I have rarely heard the gent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 07 June, 2016, 03:15:15 pm


Annoyingly, this pronunciation is probably correct, but I was listening to Joanna Lumley read On Her Majesty's Secret Service the other day, where she kept referring to an Italian car as a "Lanch-ah", rather than the anglicised "Lan-seer".
I've never thought of calling a Lancia a 'Lanseer'.  To me. it'd be like saying 'makizmo' when meaning that fine Spanish word machismo ('machissmo'), or 'Byoonuss Air-ez' instead of 'Bwennoss Eye-ress', or the 'J' in Rio de Janeiro as in 'jam'. But I do say Meksiko & Kyooba.

Yes, but you probably also refuse to say lah-tay and koritzo.
These are words that have been anglicised in exactly the same way that only pretentious wankers in the UK say Pareee.
I had to think about lah-tay for a moment.  ;D

Ah, choritho/choriso (both valid, depending on your preferred variety of Spanish)! It's one of those words which I really don't understand the mutilation of. As long as the ch is pronounced as in church, the i as in it, & the stress is somewhere near the middle, all of which are perfectly normal in English, it's pretty close to the original, & sounds fine. Why would anyone want to use the pronunciation of the wrong foreign language?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 07 June, 2016, 04:03:54 pm
I'm with the esteemed fboab, if you're speaking English, pronounce it as English, rather than pretentious faux-foreign. Chorizo is chore-eez-o and latte is lat-tay (no lah'ing about it, that's just the foul estuarines and their brackish linguistic affectations). You should hear an Italian pronounce 'steak and kidney' before any words are said about the British pronounciation of latte.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 June, 2016, 04:08:00 pm
Everyone knows that latte rhymes with this place: http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=371365&Y=182608&A=Y&Z=120
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 07 June, 2016, 04:09:28 pm
Nope - too many t's.

Ian -

Yeah, fine. Choreezo & lattay are OK. Infinitely preferable to the faux-foreign versions that get the bloody languages wrong. Though I don't know what's wrong with saying 'milk' instead of saying it in (usually mispronounced) Italian.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 June, 2016, 04:12:32 pm
^^^Tend to agree, but not 100%.  It depends on how well-known the correct pronunciations are. Someone talking about Lyon as if it's a singular Corner House sounds daft, ditto a English-speaker talking about Paree. Putting a T on the end of Camembert sounds bloody ignorant. Etc.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 07 June, 2016, 04:12:47 pm
Mrs Pcolbeck's pronunciation when she is navigating in France. Its probably correct as she does speak some French but I don't speak any (never even did French at school). She insists on giving me directions with all the place names pronounced in French which doesn't help when I am reading the signs as they come up phonetically.
We argue about this, quite a lot ....
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 June, 2016, 04:18:50 pm
When we were driving round our new area when we first got to France we referred to La Ferté Alais as Farty Alice.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 07 June, 2016, 04:23:36 pm
When we were driving round our new area when we first got to France we referred to La Ferté Alais as Farty Alice.

 :thumbsup: That would do me for navigational purposes T42.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 07 June, 2016, 04:24:35 pm
And it's pretty easy to guess what we called this place (https://www.google.com/maps/@47.592587,0.0492221,15z) when we were staying nearby.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 June, 2016, 04:32:05 pm
Nope - too many t's.
Nope, cos it's a joke to do with gentrification. The town is pronounced "yeht" the joke is that it's now "yah-tay".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 07 June, 2016, 04:35:41 pm
Nope - too many t's.

Ian -

Yeah, fine. Choreezo & lattay are OK. Infinitely preferable to the faux-foreign versions that get the bloody languages wrong. Though I don't know what's wrong with saying 'milk' instead of saying it in (usually mispronounced) Italian.

Because I want milky coffee rather than a glass of hot milk? That's a lat-tay. OK, I pronounce mojito with a H and caipirinha with my finger, à la that one please. I went to comprehensive school. I think I mentioned the existential despair of our French teacher, Ms Brassiere, faced with years of her precious favourite language being rendered in pure Erewashian. If I drew a venn diagram of sounds present in Erewashian and sounds present in French, you could drive a supertanker through the gap between them.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 June, 2016, 05:54:36 pm
The idea of road-runner passing through Clement Freud is... somewhat unsavoury.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 07 June, 2016, 06:35:18 pm
USAnia is not immune, with its Cheesypeas Bay and Lake Haversack City.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 07 June, 2016, 11:26:20 pm
Nope - too many t's.

Ian -

Yeah, fine. Choreezo & lattay are OK. Infinitely preferable to the faux-foreign versions that get the bloody languages wrong. Though I don't know what's wrong with saying 'milk' instead of saying it in (usually mispronounced) Italian.

Because I want milky coffee rather than a glass of hot milk? That's a lat-tay.
I have been informed that one should not try that in Italy.

Not that I've ever tried using USAian terms for drink in Italy. 'Caffè' works fine, as does 'birra'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jaded on 08 June, 2016, 12:08:19 am
USAnia is not immune, with its Cheesypeas Bay and Lake Haversack City.

And the seminal Yo! Semite!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 08 June, 2016, 03:15:56 pm
USAnia is not immune, with its Cheesypeas Bay and Lake Haversack City.

And the seminal Yo! Semite!

 ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ham on 08 June, 2016, 07:24:29 pm
The ultimate challenge for non French speakers is to get directions to Reims from a local.

(FTR, the pronunciation is nearer to R-r-rums, Reems will get you a VERY blank look)

ETA - MP3 here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9T4PWP3pT5mcF8xbFJYS19aRjA/edit)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 09 June, 2016, 10:39:01 am
Masseuse.  Rhymes with 'is-and-'ers, not with hoots-mon-there's-a-moose.  FFS.  On R2, Simon Salad Cream was even referring to a (male) masseur as a "massoos" the other night...  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 09 June, 2016, 10:54:28 am
With you on that one, Legs - it's even more irritating than lon-jer-ay.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Guy on 09 June, 2016, 12:57:45 pm
Colleague on phone just now:

Quote
There's nobody here today. They're all at the National Arbortorium
;D :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 09 June, 2016, 01:57:49 pm
USAnia is not immune, with its Cheesypeas Bay and Lake Haversack City.

And the seminal Yo! Semite!

 ;D
We'll have no anti-yosemitism in here!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 09 June, 2016, 02:01:39 pm
ian's mention of Erewash reminds me of a pronunciation I managed that made me cringe.  I'd not lived in Derby long, and there was a Geography lesson.  I thought it was funny to call a place ear-wash, but that's how I read it out, to a shocked silence and then gales of laughter.

I should worry - I come from the land that gave us Keighley and Embsay and Cracoe and Grassington...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 09 June, 2016, 02:20:45 pm
Yes, it's Erry-wash, though there's some local dispute about the exact ways to place emphasis and how much to flatten that y. No one says Ear-wash though. That's almost as bad as saying the -kes- in the Ilkeston. That's a cue for the torching parade.

I still remember when I took my American gf on an expedition to the area. As someone who thought we all spoke like characters in Four Weddings and a Funeral her gradual horror was something to behold. My parents would say something to her and she'd just look blank* before finally nodding and making what she hoped was the right sort of agreeable noise.

*actually this is common, if you're British and you ever speak to an American, look for that half-second cognitive gap before they catch – if, on the other hand, you're British and have a strong dialect, look for two day cognitive gap before they go back to Boston and confess they didn't understand a single word that anyone said to them during the previous two days.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Guy on 09 June, 2016, 02:46:53 pm
*actually this is common, if you're British and you ever speak to an American, look for that half-second cognitive gap before they catch ask if you're Australian – if, on the other hand, you're British and have a strong dialect, look for two day cognitive gap before they go back to Boston and confess they didn't understand a single word that anyone said to them during the previous two days.
How many times was I asked that one? ::-)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 09 June, 2016, 05:13:26 pm
The first time I was asked if I was a refugee from Captain Cook's Mistake by a USAnian I was this: surprised.  OTOH they haven't had the "Every day is Australia Day/Sons & Daughters and Home & Away" 'cultural' bombardment that we BRITONS have suffered over the past Several of decades, but they've all seen "Crocodile Dundee".  Haven't they?

A chap in Savannah GA once took time out from extolling the virtues of his brother's crab shack to a bunch of Germans to say "Yorkshire and Essex" at me.  Spook!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 09 June, 2016, 05:53:15 pm
I've shed most of the more obscure accoutrements of a dialect and accent that greets outlanders from the other side of the coal tip and surface-dwellers with 'ah-artayahreetmaduck?'* but Americans are confused by the fact that I don't sound like escapee from Downton Abbey. I blame the TV and PBS in particular. I still get the Australian and, curiously, South African.

It's true that some East Midlands vowels do sound like they're a fart that's slowly bubbled up through a mud bath, and it's so regional that even the BBC are 'really, no, I really don't think so, let's a get another Geordie in'.

*Stolen from the internet (http://everything2.com/title/Ayup+Mi+Duck+-+A+Brief+Guide+to+the+Nottingham+Dialect) because I can't be arsed to phonetically transcribe, but it sums it up.
Quote
"Ayup miduck, yahreet?"
"Orlright, marrah, burrahm not backter wok yit. Ows yer babbi?"
"Oh, eez pawleh, an ees grizzlin cosee bont hissen on the stoave too. Learn im ter keep is dannies off tho."
"Bet yer missis wuz fritterdeth!"
"Sheworratthat, but she'll coap. Where yowoff"?"
"Ahm gooin uptahn"
"Yawarkin, errint car?"
"Car? Ah soadit ter that immazatoadyabaht, as bought ahr Tracey's ahse"
"Im wi nebbeh wahf?"
"Yeah, ee paid five undred quid an she were reet mardy, ad a baggon for days"
"Ahl gerterahrahse! Yow spawni bogga, it want woth arfa that!"
"Ah know, but ee were needeh"
"Well, ahd better goo backom, bit black ovver Bills"
"Well, tek care, me owd"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: SteveC on 09 June, 2016, 06:22:55 pm
A Canadian 'sort of great niece' of ours (it's a complicated family) was taken to the Globe in London as a special treat. She said that she couldn't understand a single word they were saying.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 09 June, 2016, 09:33:48 pm
I checked (Googled) and it's true, they never let East Midlands people on the TV or radio and certainly not mud-jawed Erewashians. Yet at the same time, every single person in Manchester now seems to have some kind of BBC presence, either a radio or TV show. The even let Brummies on TV occasionally, though sensibly not too often as they'd probably eat the sets.

In every DH Lawrence adaptation I've seen all the actors put on a bloody Yorkshire accent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 10 June, 2016, 01:03:24 am
Love, Nina (currently showing on BBC1) is notable for the lead having a pronounced Leicester accent.

At least, it's supposed to be Leicester, but it could be Nottingham or Coventry for all I know. Or even Ashby de la Zouch. But it's definitely East rather than West Midlands.

A former girlfriend was from Leicester, so I should know this.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 10 June, 2016, 08:01:05 am
Leicester is distinct accent, very different to Nottingham* and Derby (which are different from each other). Erewashian is a product of that linguistic tension between Nottingham and Derby and the fact that until St Thatcher of Grantham liberated them in the mid-1980s everyone lived underground with little outside contact. Even now, giving the surrounding geography of coal tips, there's little interaction with the outside world other than getting the bus down Nottingham on Friday night for a piss-up.

*I believe Albert Finney is famed for doing Saturday Night and Sunday Morning in a Mancunian accent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hujev on 15 June, 2016, 08:11:46 pm
Not so much prnonunciation as 'voice fad', but here in the us the epidemic of vocal fry, whiny &, nasally voices, and 'talking like an 11 year old' (= contrived 'child-like-wonder-ness') in radio, esp the so-called 'public' radio (aka 'npr'; usually university owned/operated, stations so not actually public) has become overwhelmingly annoting. Seems to be related to the cult of self, constant need to be noticed, and 'announcer as celebrity'. This disease has spread to most people in the general population as well, esp. female, under 40 or 50. Amazing how fast the 'voice' of a country can change in just 5-10 years.

I note that BBC still attempts to use proper English, following the now apparently outmoded idea of newsreader as unbiased medium not meant to be the star. At least the little bit of BBC I can get (since they ditched shortwave). If this vocal fry and nasally-ness begins to creep into the UK I'd advise a massive public movement against it as soon as possible!

Geez, I ought to actually post something velo-related here... have been slacking with the Cat pictures and now this!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 15 June, 2016, 09:19:25 pm
In BRITAIN we have instead the practice of speaking in a faux-Afro-Caribbean accent, a hateful trend started started by notable S-T and son of an Anglican bishop Tim Westwood and slavishly adopted by everyone from the "Remain" campaign to, er, some other people.  Including Lewis Hamilton, who ought to know better.  Innit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 20 June, 2016, 11:17:20 pm
The ultimate challenge for non French speakers is to get directions to Reims from a local.

(FTR, the pronunciation is nearer to R-r-rums, Reems will get you a VERY blank look)

ETA - MP3 here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9T4PWP3pT5mcF8xbFJYS19aRjA/edit)

Page 4 (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=63995.msg1752015#msg1752015)  :-[
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 21 June, 2016, 08:29:47 am
And anyway it's closer to Rhance.  Nice place.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 June, 2016, 10:09:56 am
How do people pronounce Nike? I mean the sportswear manufacturer not the Greek goddess, the literary award or any other use of the name. I don't remember hearing it at all before the late '80s (perhaps it wasn't in Britain until then?) and then it was one syllable, rhyming with bike. Later it became two syllables, "ny kee". Apparently that was the correct, cos Usanian, way. And now it seems to be back to one syllable.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 June, 2016, 10:35:21 am
Like this:

(http://cdn.quotesgram.com/small/29/46/1350161322-Pikey-just-nick-it-tshirt-nike-300x156.jpg)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 June, 2016, 10:40:44 am
 ;D :D :D ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 21 June, 2016, 10:42:24 am
In France it still rhymes with bike, because the the Arabic verb "to fuck" has been adopted into French as "niquer".  So if your name is Nicolas watch out how you introduce yourself, esp to Arabs.  Saying "je m'appelle Neek" to someone's sister could be fatal.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 15 August, 2016, 04:20:15 pm
The US pronunciation of "buoy" as "booie".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 15 August, 2016, 08:37:28 pm
The US pronunciation of "buoy" as "booie".
Apparently restricted to certain parts of the US (they say "boy" elsewhere)  but notorious for its use in "Crimson Tide".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 August, 2016, 07:33:36 am
It's bouée in French, so it's probably in Louisiana or next door to Canada that it's booie.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 August, 2016, 08:50:27 am
You'll be pleased to know that Lifebuoy soap is pronounced in the thread-approved manner throughout the US.

(I've only heard boo-ey out in the west and let's face it, buoy just ain't a word for the respectin' cowboy, it's certainly 'boy' up in New England and down the eastern seaboard.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 16 August, 2016, 09:41:28 am
You'll be pleased to know that Lifebuoy soap is pronounced in the thread-approved manner throughout the US.

(I've only heard boo-ey out in the west and let's face it, buoy just ain't a word for the respectin' cowboy, it's certainly 'boy' up in New England and down the eastern seaboard.)

Perhaps south of Mason-Dixon they're worried that saying "boy" will be taken the wrong way.  (It's boo-ey in Houston)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 16 August, 2016, 02:07:45 pm
In France it still rhymes with bike, because the the Arabic verb "to fuck" has been adopted into French as "niquer".  So if your name is Nicolas watch out how you introduce yourself, esp to Arabs.  Saying "je m'appelle Neek" to someone's sister could be fatal.
I was once romantically involved with a woman called Mutiatu Agbeke Omobonike Imoru, or Nike for short.  She was 'Knee-Kay'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 16 August, 2016, 02:10:35 pm
Aaaaanyway, I would like to advise the BBC that no, Jessica Ennis-Hill did not win a medal in the 'heptathalon' >:(
Have we got a week of grindingly awful presenters talking about 'athaletes' ahead? >:(

Meanwhile, I would humbly suggest that, if you are commissioning a service to conduct hepatobiliary procedures, that you learn to pronounce it, especially after you have had it explained to you.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 August, 2016, 03:28:46 pm
If you conduct seven hepatobiliary procedures in a row, is that a heptohepatobiliathon?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 19 August, 2016, 09:34:57 am
Oh! L :(

Otherwise, good effort. :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 19 August, 2016, 12:47:19 pm
I chose -athon rather than -athlon to suggest endurance rather than turning surgery into a mere sporting event. Though synchronised surgery might fit nicely into the Olympics.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 27 September, 2016, 11:47:02 am
Gallant pronounced gal-LANT really annoys me.  Vanessa Feltz said "ungal-LANT" this morning and it offended my ears.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 27 September, 2016, 02:15:33 pm
Vanessa Feltz ...offended my ears.
Surely?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 27 September, 2016, 04:27:06 pm
Pretty much.  I'm usually too drowsy at 6:25am to care much about her prattling (and TBF it's a lot better than Sarah F***ing Kennedy...) 
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 27 September, 2016, 05:39:20 pm
Having your brains scooped out with a rusty fork is better than listening to Sarah Kennedy.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 28 September, 2016, 09:04:28 pm
Didn't Sarah Kennedy start the pampas grass/swinger meme?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: orienteer on 28 September, 2016, 09:32:51 pm
On the London/SE BBC local news this evening, there was an item on new buses in Reading which have several new features. One interviewee said he liked the whiffy.


The interviewer :"Wi-fi".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 September, 2016, 10:25:20 pm
But maybe he was actually praising the olfactory improvements.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Bledlow on 29 September, 2016, 11:59:26 am
Was it one of the Whitley routes?

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/whitley-whiff-back-town-11285868 (http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/whitley-whiff-back-town-11285868)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: orienteer on 29 September, 2016, 01:08:20 pm
Don't think they were the bio-methane powered ones either.  :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 12 November, 2016, 01:15:34 pm
Did that historian on Netflix's fetchingly-titled Rome: Reign of Blood really pronounce Epictitus as Epic Titties? Maybe his mind was elsewhere.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 03 April, 2017, 02:39:07 pm
Another one prompted by R2:  Firm Bottom referred to the Kiki Dee song Amoureuse as if it should rhyme with 'moose'.  I'd bet she says massoose instead of masseuse.  And probably refers to male masseurs as massooses.  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 03 April, 2017, 05:01:42 pm
Did that historian on Netflix's fetchingly-titled Rome: Reign of Blood really pronounce Epictitus as Epic Titties? Maybe his mind was elsewhere.
Epictetus, surely?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 April, 2017, 06:19:57 pm
Another one prompted by R2:  Firm Bottom referred to the Kiki Dee song Amoureuse as if it should rhyme with 'moose'.  I'd bet she says massoose instead of masseuse.  And probably refers to male masseurs as massooses.  :facepalm:

I think that's a USAnian affectation; it bugs me bigly when people refer to the singer on a Several of tracks on the first Velvet Underground album as "German chantoose Nico".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 20 May, 2017, 08:22:10 pm
Stephen Mangan on the Fake News Show reckons the town in Aberdeenshire, Crathes, is pronounced 'Crayths'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Quisling on 22 May, 2017, 10:03:10 am
Mrs Q pronounces palatable thus: "Puh-latt-abble".
Any fool knows it is "pallet-abble"
Isn't it?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 22 May, 2017, 10:44:12 am
It is.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Guy on 30 May, 2017, 01:03:25 pm
Awre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awre)

I've not been there, but I have seen signposts pointing to it. How the blurry eck am I supposed to pronounce it?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Salvatore on 30 May, 2017, 01:10:01 pm
The US pronunciation of "buoy" as "booie".

How do you pronounce ‘buoy’? In this bonus episode, we explore the history of the word and the reasons why the word is pronounced differently in various parts of the English-speaking world. (http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/10/29/bonus-episode-4-let-me-buoy-your-spirits/)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 30 May, 2017, 05:58:57 pm
Booie is East Anglian.  The US accent owes quite a bit to East Anglia.

If you have trouble pronouncing French place names don't expect your satnav to help you.  Mine makes 'Rouen' completely unrecognisable as a word of any kind.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 30 May, 2017, 06:19:43 pm
Booie is East Anglian.  The US accent owes quite a bit to East Anglia.

If you have trouble pronouncing French place names don't expect your satnav to help you.  Mine makes 'Rouen' completely unrecognisable as a word of any kind.

Satnav can be WEIRD everywhere! Last week it told my driver to 'Turn right onto the Aten Undred' and only my local knowledge recognised this as the A1000...

American satnavs name Colindeep Lane Co-LINE-deep Lane.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: jsabine on 30 May, 2017, 08:28:19 pm
Booie is East Anglian.  The US accent owes quite a bit to East Anglia.

If you have trouble pronouncing French place names don't expect your satnav to help you.  Mine makes 'Rouen' completely unrecognisable as a word of any kind.

Satnav can be WEIRD everywhere! Last week it told my driver to 'Turn right onto the Aten Undred' and only my local knowledge recognised this as the A1000...

American satnavs name Colindeep Lane Co-LINE-deep Lane.

I am aware of certain satnavs that like to include the postcode when they read out the address or instructions, but haven't quite got the hang of splitting the letters and numbers up - "Turn left onto Trafalgar Road Sehten."
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 31 May, 2017, 08:27:22 am
The US pronunciation of "buoy" as "booie".

How do you pronounce ‘buoy’? In this bonus episode, we explore the history of the word and the reasons why the word is pronounced differently in various parts of the English-speaking world. (http://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2013/10/29/bonus-episode-4-let-me-buoy-your-spirits/)

Yes. I looked into that back then.

More succinct here:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/24318/the-pronunciation-of-buoy
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 31 May, 2017, 11:02:40 am
Booie is East Anglian.  The US accent owes quite a bit to East Anglia.

If you have trouble pronouncing French place names don't expect your satnav to help you.  Mine makes 'Rouen' completely unrecognisable as a word of any kind.

Satnav can be WEIRD everywhere! Last week it told my driver to 'Turn right onto the Aten Undred' and only my local knowledge recognised this as the A1000...

American satnavs name Colindeep Lane Co-LINE-deep Lane.

I am aware of certain satnavs that like to include the postcode when they read out the address or instructions, but haven't quite got the hang of splitting the letters and numbers up - "Turn left onto Trafalgar Road Sehten."

Shame they don't yet have an algorithm that translates Sehten to Grennich...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 01 June, 2017, 10:00:05 am
Awre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awre)

I've not been there, but I have seen signposts pointing to it. How the blurry eck am I supposed to pronounce it?

When driving down to see my sister-in-law in Kentcestershire last weekend, we passed, within minutes, signs for Wrotham, Ightham and Trottiscliffe.  (Root-em, Item and Trosley, for the uninitiated.)  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ham on 02 June, 2017, 05:18:54 pm
Booie is East Anglian.  The US accent owes quite a bit to East Anglia.

If you have trouble pronouncing French place names don't expect your satnav to help you.  Mine makes 'Rouen' completely unrecognisable as a word of any kind.

Satnav can be WEIRD everywhere! Last week it told my driver to 'Turn right onto the Aten Undred' and only my local knowledge recognised this as the A1000...

American satnavs name Colindeep Lane Co-LINE-deep Lane.

I am aware of certain satnavs that like to include the postcode when they read out the address or instructions, but haven't quite got the hang of splitting the letters and numbers up - "Turn left onto Trafalgar Road Sehten."

Ridewithgps voice instructions try their best with road numbering: recently, in the Lugo area of Spain, LU-P500 was translated to "loopy five hundred"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 10 August, 2017, 01:02:14 pm
The France Info radio station have their own app and refer to it as "l'appli mobile France Info", which always comes across as "la Playmobil France Info".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Vince on 01 September, 2017, 10:15:14 am
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 October, 2017, 08:24:37 am
Yet again heard someone - on the box, natch - say FREquented when they meant freQUENTed. Bleh.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 03 October, 2017, 11:03:22 am
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!

That one gets me too.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 03 October, 2017, 12:51:42 pm
I am aware of certain satnavs that like to include the postcode when they read out the address or instructions, but haven't quite got the hang of splitting the letters and numbers up - "Turn left onto Trafalgar Road Sehten."

My great aunt Fil pronounces Trafalgar as "truffle-gar"  :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 November, 2017, 06:21:38 pm
If TV's Reeta Chakrabarti refers to the German motor-car maker that uses a three-pointed star on its badge as "Mercy-dees" once more I may turn violent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 11 November, 2017, 07:07:29 pm
I am getting a bit discombobulated by the on-board bus stop announcements putting the stress in the wrong places eg 'Gondor GARdens' or 'Colindale AVEnue'.

This makes the announcement much less useful as there are many streets called *** Gardens.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 13 November, 2017, 02:19:47 pm
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!

That one gets me too.
This one! 

And, why do they pronounce 'mirror' as 'mere'? 
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 13 November, 2017, 03:24:09 pm
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!

There's an 'r' in 'solder' which I don't pronounce.  I've not had any rhotacizing Americans complain about that to me.

I don't have the resources to check the etymology, but it appears there was an old French 'soudeur' along the line somewhere.  Maybe the dialects of some of the US settlers still reflected that, and that was the one that stuck. Vive la différence!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 13 November, 2017, 06:28:56 pm
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!

That one gets me too.
This one! 

And, why do they pronounce 'mirror' as 'mere'?

Step forward His Bobness.  That many lyrics sites have him singing "She's delicate and seems like veneer" in Visions Of Johanna shows just how guilty he is.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 13 November, 2017, 06:42:52 pm
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!

That one gets me too.
This one!

I looked this one up last night.  The evidence isn't entirely clear, but suggests that, as usual, it's a case of the leftpondians sticking with the original pronunciation while the Brits went and Frenched it up, but that doesn't make it any less grating.

Anyway.... I propose a moratorium on previous pronunciations, and that we all adopt the following system:

Solder ('sole-derr') for an alloy primarily composed of tin and lead, and as a verb for joining metal using a low-melting-point filler.

Sodder ('sod-er') for all non-lead-based alloys optimistically intended to be used for soldering electrical connections, and as a verb for failing to make such connections in a satisfactory manner.

Hence: "My cheap shitty pink USB charger from China stopped working because of crappy sodder joints, so I had to re-solder them."

Or: "Ach, you've soddered it!" "But I'm using 60:40!" "Try turning the soldering iron temperature down a bit and use more flux..."

It's easy to remember...  "L is for lead" and "sodder's a right sod to work with".


Quote
And, why do they pronounce 'mirror' as 'mere'?

I think it's more 'me-orr', which just makes me imagine Eyore's obnoxious younger sibling...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 14 November, 2017, 09:26:02 am
Dear American friends, there is an 'L' in solder. Please use it!

There's an 'r' in 'solder' which I don't pronounce.  I've not had any rhotacizing Americans complain about that to me.

I don't have the resources to check the etymology, but it appears there was an old French 'soudeur' along the line somewhere.  Maybe the dialects of some of the US settlers still reflected that, and that was the one that stuck. Vive la différence!

Old old French has it as souldre, so they lost the L and the UK lost the U.  Confusingly, souder also means to weld.

This bloke's missing Ts make me wince: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM6mzE5lQ0w&t=201s bu wha do you expec these days?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 02 December, 2017, 07:41:14 pm
I have just started working at a place where they have an enormous number of mnemonics. But why does everyone insist on calling them pneumonics?

I've also logged an issue that, although the company is from the US, we work in in the UK, and here schedule does not have a K in it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 02 December, 2017, 08:02:10 pm
I've also logged an issue that, although the company is from the US, we work in in the UK, and here schedule does not have a K in it.

I can never remember which one it's supposed to be  :-[
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 04 December, 2017, 07:31:22 pm
Apparently the cricket team of the BRITONS' England taking four quick Australian wickets has given them a slither of hope of salvaging the second Test :facepalm:

Get in the cannon.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 December, 2017, 01:06:44 pm
Not a new one but I've heard it a few times recently and it's most irksome...

'Coup de grace' pronounced as 'coo de grah'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 05 December, 2017, 01:12:30 pm
Not a new one but I've heard it a few times recently and it's most irksome...

'Coup de grace' pronounced as 'coo de grah'.

That's really common. So common that I though it was correct (its not its "Coo de grass") Mind you I never did French at school so have no idea how French pronunciation works.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 December, 2017, 01:21:32 pm
Mind you I never did French at school so have no idea how French pronunciation works.

I have to admit that I am on shaky ground here - I studied French to degree level but my pronunciation is appalling. Once when I was speaking to a French friend he cracked up laughing because my pronunciation of 'coup' sounded more like 'cul' to him...

If you're not careful, you could end up saying 'fat arsehole' rather than 'killer blow'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 05 December, 2017, 01:28:50 pm
Master Pcolbeck has an impeccable southern French accent (Arles to be precise) due to him attending French classes with a teacher who was a native of Arles on a farm down the road when he was at primary school (she was a qualified teacher as well as farmers wife and the kids had a ball learning the names for piglets etc). Unfortunately he hated languages at secondary school (said the teacher couldn't pronounce anything correctly) and gave it up ASAP.
This has resulted in him at 21 having a French  accent like a native but the vocabulary of a 10 year old English primary school kid. Always results in much hilarity on holiday when he asks for something in a shop etc as they assume he can speak French properly and reply with a high speed tirade of French which leaves him completely clueless.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 05 December, 2017, 01:41:07 pm
I pronounce all French words as though they are English, mostly to annoy people, and especially to annoy French people.

And then there's the English people who throw their nasally Frenchified inflections onto such words as 'entourage.' I'd guillotine the pretentious fuckers.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 05 December, 2017, 01:46:52 pm
Mrs Pcolbeck annoys me when she's navigating by doing that. She will make a stab at the French pronunciation of some town saying something like "take the exit of the roundabout in the direction of xxxxxxx" then get annoyed when I get it wrong as her pronunciation bears no resemblance to how the place is spelt. How the hell am I to know that's how it sounds?
Apart from that she is a fantastic navigator I must admit, has got us all over France with just a Michelin map for years before we had SatNav and even now she often comes up with a better route.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 December, 2017, 01:53:44 pm
In my first year of secondary school, I had two French teachers, both French natives. One was from Paris, the other from Marseille. They could barely understand a word each other said. What chance did us poor kids have?

(I think the Marseille accent is roughly the French equivalent of Glaswegian. If they ever did a French remake of Rab C Nesbitt, it would have to be set in Marseille.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 05 December, 2017, 02:02:04 pm
I've described what a bunch of dialectically challenged English schoolchildren did to the French language and our poor teacher Ms Brassiere. God, that must have been grim, we couldn't even speak English that was intelligible to anyone who lived more than 5 miles away. I think she gave up in the end and just downed a bottle of Courvoisier before and after every lesson.

For entertainment, get a formal Frenchy and drop them in a room with a Quebecois. Get some popcorn and find a comfy seat.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: SteveC on 05 December, 2017, 07:05:07 pm
For entertainment, get a formal Frenchy and drop them in a room with a Quebecois. Get some popcorn and find a comfy seat.
I used to have a Quebecois colleague whose French girlfriend would only speak to him (and only acknowledge what he was saying) in English as she thought his French was so bad.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 06 December, 2017, 08:48:19 am
Not a new one but I've heard it a few times recently and it's most irksome...

'Coup de grace' pronounced as 'coo de grah'.

'Cul de gras'? ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ham on 06 December, 2017, 03:48:46 pm
Mrs Pcolbeck annoys me when she's navigating by doing that. She will make a stab at the French pronunciation of some town saying something like "take the exit of the roundabout in the direction of xxxxxxx" then get annoyed when I get it wrong as her pronunciation bears no resemblance to how the place is spelt. How the hell am I to know that's how it sounds?
Apart from that she is a fantastic navigator I must admit, has got us all over France with just a Michelin map for years before we had SatNav and even now she often comes up with a better route.

Are Mrs Ham & Mrs Pcolbeck related? Anyhow we opt for AngliFronk names to avoid confusion, such as aiming for Clement Freud - doesn't everyone?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 13 December, 2017, 01:35:05 pm
Consequences of not pronouncing your aitches: just saw a French advert for an Overboard Electrique.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 29 December, 2017, 11:57:33 am
I do not know who was fronting the BBC News Channel last night before Martine Croxall and her new specs took over, but it seems that new Liberian president George Weah made his name playing foopball for "AC Milaaahhhhn".

FX: >>> THWACK!!1! <<<
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 29 December, 2017, 06:15:49 pm
'Often', pronouncing the 'T', is becoming more common—"Spelling pronunciation" says the Oxford Guide dismissively.

I have only once heard 'soften' pronounced with the 'T'. 
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 30 December, 2017, 12:16:18 am
'Often', pronouncing the 'T', is becoming more common—"Spelling pronunciation" says the Oxford Guide dismissively.

I have only once heard 'soften' pronounced with the 'T'.

I think this is subject to regional variation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 January, 2018, 09:10:53 pm
In a similar vein: Gee-ography and Thee-atre

Diphthongs, people. Diphthongs.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 January, 2018, 09:13:40 pm
Also: tyoomeric

Ignorant tyoods
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: spesh on 05 January, 2018, 09:37:44 pm
Diphthongs, people. Diphthongs.

Aren't they Brazilian beach wear (hence the "Brazilian" wax)?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 06 January, 2018, 08:14:22 am
In a similar vein: Gee-ography and Thee-atre

Diphthongs, people. Diphthongs.

Newsreader on BBC WS last weekend kept talking about the eye-ron fist.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 06 January, 2018, 08:18:22 am
Also: tyoomeric

Ignorant tyoods

Tyoomeric is what you add to Basmarti rice. For a dish flavoured with coomin.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 06 January, 2018, 06:50:17 pm
In a similar vein: Gee-ography and Thee-atre

Diphthongs, people. Diphthongs.

Newsreader on BBC WS last weekend kept talking about the eye-ron fist.

Isn't this common usage north of Hadrian's Wall?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 January, 2018, 08:35:09 pm
Chemistry teacher used to deliberately talk about "eye-ron ions" to avoid confusion. Normally he was non-rhotic.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 06 January, 2018, 09:13:11 pm
Chemistry teacher used to deliberately talk about "eye-ron ions" to avoid confusion. Normally he was non-rhotic.

In computer science we had "class of class clarse" because it's hard to do CamelCase and courier font in speech.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: izza on 07 January, 2018, 08:57:15 am
Shrewsbury is not a home for shrews.

It is a place for adding an ‘r’ to a show.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 January, 2018, 11:01:07 am
I was surprised when my Aberystwyth-dwelling daughter pronounced it "Shrew". She maintained that both pronunciations were correct because people used both "these days". "Aye, and lots of them are wrong" she didn't appreciate.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: izza on 07 January, 2018, 11:19:07 am
I was surprised when my Aberystwyth-dwelling daughter pronounced it "Shrew". She maintained that both pronunciations were correct because people used both "these days". "Aye, and lots of them are wrong" she didn't appreciate.

Haha.

Ask her to speak to a Shrewsbury resident for the correct pronunciation. It’s the outsiders (which make up the major majority) that don’t get it.

Am listening to Talksport where DJ says one version whilst newsreader says the other. Sort it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 07 January, 2018, 11:31:43 am
I used to know a chap from Whitchurch who pronounced it to rhyme with shrew.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 07 January, 2018, 01:04:40 pm
Shrewsbury is not a home for shrews.

It is a place for adding an ‘r’ to a show.

When I explained this to barakta she didn't believe me.  Cited the destination announcements on the train.

The problem comes when you use the correct pronunciation and people don't know what you're talking about.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 07 January, 2018, 01:13:10 pm
Has anyone been to or is from Keighley, W Yorks?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 07 January, 2018, 01:15:24 pm
Has anyone been to or is from Keighley, W Yorks?

It's one of those places that people come from rather than go to, isn't it?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 07 January, 2018, 01:20:55 pm
Oh lots of people go there...on their way to Haworth.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 07 January, 2018, 01:22:26 pm
I used to know a chap from Whitchurch who pronounced it to rhyme with shrew.

I think it's always been Whitchurch......
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 07 January, 2018, 01:30:28 pm
I used to know a chap from Whitchurch who pronounced it to rhyme with shrew.

I think it's always been Whitchurch......

:facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 07 January, 2018, 01:31:26 pm
Heppy New Year, D!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 January, 2018, 01:36:15 pm
Back when I was young enough to have a girlfriend, I had a girlfriend who lived in Shrewsbury. She and all her family, who had lived there since the early Pleistocene, pronounced it like the small mammal. Just to add to the confusion, we met in the capital of the Ukraine; which back then was generally known as Kiev, is now Kiyiv and which my wife would probably call Kijów.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 January, 2018, 01:36:48 pm
The problem comes when you use the correct pronunciation and people don't know what you're talking about.
Erm yes...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 07 January, 2018, 01:37:59 pm
Cited the destination announcements on the train.

Meopham in Kent has always been Meppem to me, but the on-train robot pronounces it as Meffum. Presumably based on a set of prescribed pronunciation rules rather than being taught the idiosyncratic reality.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 January, 2018, 01:57:01 pm
Shrewsbury is not a home for shrews.

It is a place for adding an ‘r’ to a show.

When I explained this to barakta she didn't believe me.  Cited the destination announcements on the train.

The problem comes when you use the correct pronunciation and people don't know what you're talking about.

I wonder if the deviant pronunciation wasn't promulgated by railway announcements in the first place, for the sake of "clarity".

@Lee: How about shrew in Shrewsbury? The Romans ate dormice, after all.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 07 January, 2018, 01:57:16 pm
Has anyone been to or is from Keighley, W Yorks?

Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) was born there.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: andrew_s on 07 January, 2018, 02:30:57 pm
When I was a kid, my dad used to routinely (and deliberately) mispronounce Penelope as "Penny-lope", and Persephone as "Percy-phone". Both were used regularly (family friend, name of pattern on better set of crockery), and my sister picked up on the incorrect pronunciation without realising it was wrong.
This led to considerable hilarity, not to mention embarassment on her part, when she first met her future sister-in-law, and introduced herself with "Hello Penny-lope, I'm Margaret".


Awre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awre)

I've not been there, but I have seen signposts pointing to it. How the blurry eck am I supposed to pronounce it?
I pronounce it as "oar", more or less, as in rowing. I have been there, but I don't suppose I'll go back now the pub is defunct.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 07 January, 2018, 03:06:04 pm
Back when I was young enough to have a girlfriend, I had a girlfriend who lived in Shrewsbury. She and all her family, who had lived there since the early Pleistocene, pronounced it like the small mammal. Just to add to the confusion, we met in the capital of the Ukraine; which back then was generally known as Kiev, is now Kiyiv and which my wife would probably call Kijów.

Would that rhyme with Lemberg?  ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 07 January, 2018, 03:59:06 pm
If you wish to pronounce 'Poughill' correctly, you have first to enquire whether it's the one in Devon, or the one in Cornwall.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: orienteer on 07 January, 2018, 04:03:19 pm
Has anyone been to or is from Keighley, W Yorks?

Four cousins were born there, as my uncle was relocated from London with the factory he worked in during WW2.

Three have managed to escape by now. It was always pronounced to match my name - Keith(ly).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 January, 2018, 04:36:14 pm
Back when I was young enough to have a girlfriend, I had a girlfriend who lived in Shrewsbury. She and all her family, who had lived there since the early Pleistocene, pronounced it like the small mammal. Just to add to the confusion, we met in the capital of the Ukraine; which back then was generally known as Kiev, is now Kiyiv and which my wife would probably call Kijów.

Would that rhyme with Lemberg?  ;)
Or with Leopolis? <where's that Roman emoji?> Call it Stickville!*

*Kij = a stick in Polish. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the actual name. Mind you I'm not really sure what connection there might be between Lvov/Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg and lions.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 07 January, 2018, 05:17:21 pm
If you wish to pronounce 'Poughill' correctly, you have first to enquire whether it's the one in Devon, or the one in Cornwall.

Like Wymondham Leics and Wymondham, Norfolk or Gillingham, Kent or Dorset then...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 07 January, 2018, 06:16:26 pm
If you wish to pronounce 'Poughill' correctly, you have first to enquire whether it's the one in Devon, or the one in Cornwall.

Like Wymondham Leics and Wymondham, Norfolk or Gillingham, Kent or Dorset then...

Though pronunciation is not obvious in either case.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 07 January, 2018, 09:40:17 pm
If you wish to pronounce 'Poughill' correctly, you have first to enquire whether it's the one in Devon, or the one in Cornwall.

Like Wymondham Leics and Wymondham, Norfolk or Gillingham, Kent or Dorset then...

Though pronunciation is not obvious in either case.
"Cavalcade" pronounced success.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 07 January, 2018, 09:53:21 pm
...pronounced it like the small mammal...

How does the small mammal pronounce it?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 07 January, 2018, 10:02:30 pm
I don't think it matters too much whether you pronounce Shrewsbury Shrewsbury or Shroesbury. My brother has lived there for over 40 years and I think (but can't be sure) that he pronounces it as spelt.

Bobb otp may be able to confirm this, but there is a similarly silly pronunciation of Chelmsford that used to do the rounds - Chompsfud. It was quite often used when I went to school there pre-1972 but I have had little reason to go there since other than passing through.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 07 January, 2018, 10:32:37 pm
Back when I was young enough to have a girlfriend, I had a girlfriend who lived in Shrewsbury. She and all her family, who had lived there since the early Pleistocene, pronounced it like the small mammal. Just to add to the confusion, we met in the capital of the Ukraine; which back then was generally known as Kiev, is now Kiyiv and which my wife would probably call Kijów.

Would that rhyme with Lemberg?  ;)
Or with Leopolis? <where's that Roman emoji?> Call it Stickville!*

bah!  beat me to it.

Quote
*Kij = a stick in Polish. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the actual name. Mind you I'm not really sure what connection there might be between Lvov/Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg and lions.

Kyïv (Київ) is named after Kyj (Кий), one of the founders of the city.

The lion connection of L'viv is this: King Daniel of Galicia, the founder, named it in honour his son Lev - the Ukrainian for Leo.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 08 January, 2018, 02:07:24 am
I will be back in Shrooooosbury in August for the festival. All the locals I meet there are of the insectivore persuasion in re pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 January, 2018, 08:02:48 am
When I was a kid, my dad used to routinely (and deliberately) mispronounce Penelope as "Penny-lope", and Persephone as "Percy-phone". Both were used regularly (family friend, name of pattern on better set of crockery), and my sister picked up on the incorrect pronunciation without realising it was wrong.
This led to considerable hilarity, not to mention embarassment on her part, when she first met her future sister-in-law, and introduced herself with "Hello Penny-lope, I'm Margaret".

That is almost how the French pronounce it - Penny-lopp. French also has the execrable habit of transliterating the Greek kappa as C and pronouncing it S; and since -es is almost always silent, a name such as Ἀλκιβιάδης comes out as Alsibiad.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 08 January, 2018, 12:02:41 pm
Back when I was young enough to have a girlfriend, I had a girlfriend who lived in Shrewsbury. She and all her family, who had lived there since the early Pleistocene, pronounced it like the small mammal. Just to add to the confusion, we met in the capital of the Ukraine; which back then was generally known as Kiev, is now Kiyiv and which my wife would probably call Kijów.

Would that rhyme with Lemberg?  ;)
Or with Leopolis? <where's that Roman emoji?> Call it Stickville!*

bah!  beat me to it.

Quote
*Kij = a stick in Polish. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the actual name. Mind you I'm not really sure what connection there might be between Lvov/Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg and lions.

Kyïv (Київ) is named after Kyj (Кий), one of the founders of the city.

The lion connection of L'viv is this: King Daniel of Galicia, the founder, named it in honour his son Lev - the Ukrainian for Leo.
Thanks! I think I did know, or had known, that it was named for the founder's son, but not about King Daniel of Galicia. Perhaps he used the stick in lion taming?  :D :hand:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: fimm on 08 January, 2018, 12:52:58 pm
I think I say "gee-ography". Or "Jog-graphy". Depending on which comes out of my mouth at the time.
I can't think of more than one way to say Theatre. Unless you go for some fancy "thay-atre" pronunciation.

On unpronounceable towns, come to Kirkudbright and Milngavie.
My mother says Athelstaneford should be pronounced "Elshenford" but I don't know her authority for that.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 January, 2018, 01:06:56 pm
Gee-ography here too, but with a short ee. Do the jography clan also talk about jology, jophysics or (always need three instances) jodes?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 08 January, 2018, 01:25:18 pm
Do the jography clan also talk about jology, jophysics or (always need three instances) jodes?

No, of course not.  They're pronounced differently, because they're different words.  Just because they have the spelling and meaning in common doesn't mean that we can't needlessly muddle things up for the befuddlement of FOREIGNS, colonials or anyone who expects language to make sense.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 08 January, 2018, 02:31:29 pm
I mostly say jeeography but have said jography when rushed or sloppy.

Geological words like geode or geophysics ar always jeeo...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 08 January, 2018, 05:19:48 pm
The 'o' sound is different in geophysics and geology*, so I see no reason why it can't be different again in geography. If you're taking the view that the pronunciation of geography should follow other geo- compounds, it would be more like 'gee-oh-GRAPHy' rather than 'gee-OGG-raphy'.

Also: a nomination for POTD for Kim.




*cue for classics pedant to say it isn't.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 09 January, 2018, 08:17:37 pm
The 'o' sound is different in geophysics and geology*, so I see no reason why it can't be different again in geography. If you're taking the view that the pronunciation of geography should follow other geo- compounds, it would be more like 'gee-oh-GRAPHy' rather than 'gee-OGG-raphy'.

I think the bold version would be an excellent way to wind up pronunciation pedants. I shall try it out ..
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 10 January, 2018, 09:25:44 am
The 'o' sound is different in geophysics and geology*, so I see no reason why it can't be different again in geography. If you're taking the view that the pronunciation of geography should follow other geo- compounds, it would be more like 'gee-oh-GRAPHy' rather than 'gee-OGG-raphy'.

Also: a nomination for POTD for Kim.




*cue for classics pedant to say it isn't.

The sound isn't different, the emphasis is. That's no reason to totally elide the ee sound, though.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 10 January, 2018, 10:32:34 am
This is not a hill I'm prepared to die on but what the heck...

The 'o' sound is different in geophysics and geology*, so I see no reason why it can't be different again in geography. If you're taking the view that the pronunciation of geography should follow other geo- compounds, it would be more like 'gee-oh-GRAPHy' rather than 'gee-OGG-raphy'.

The sound isn't different, the emphasis is. That's no reason to totally elide the ee sound, though.

geophysics: dʒiːoʊfɪzɪks - https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/geophysics
geology: dʒiɒlədʒi - https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/geology

The first O sound is clearly different in those two words, as you can see from the phonetic transcription.

geography: dʒiɒgrəfi - has the same phonetic transcription as geology for the geo part, but if you listen to the audio clip on the Collins website, the first syllable is somewhat clipped - not totally elided, but definitely shorter than in geology.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/geography

It's the overlong pronunciation of the first E in geography and theatre, that I was getting at when I brought this up (William G Stewart, when he was quizmaster on 15 to 1, was a prime culprit for this).

If you're arguing for consistent pronunciation, the graph part of geography should sound different too - grɑːf (for southerners) or græf (for northerners).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 10 January, 2018, 10:50:50 am
Aye well, the woman in their video was pronouncing geography differently from the bloke under their wee red symbol beside the phonetics. But yes, the O is different in Collins examples, but not when I pronounce them, which is of course the correct way. ;)

BTW, Chambers gives:

geology: ʤɪˈɒləʤi
geography:ʤɪˈɒgrəfi

And so do this bunch: https://tophonetics.com/

Go ˈfɪgə.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 10 January, 2018, 11:13:21 am
Chambers is Scottish. Nuff said.  ;)

I didn't watch the video, only listened to the audio clip. Interesting.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 10 January, 2018, 01:01:38 pm
Surprise, surprise:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Collins,_Sons

Murdoch-owned these days.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 10 January, 2018, 01:16:15 pm
Ha! I didn't know that (neither the Scottish origins nor the Murdoch ownership - I didn't realise Harper was American either).

 :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 15 February, 2018, 06:06:36 pm
Vase - it's vars not vaze. I know they use vaze in the US but the guy on the program about Ikea last night was middle class English.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 15 February, 2018, 07:27:41 pm
The Oxford English Dictionary gives both JOGraphy and jeOGraphy:

/dʒɪˈɒɡrəfi/, /ˈdʒɒɡrəfi/.

Both are "correct".

The same goes for "geometry":

/dʒɪˈɒmᵻtri/, /ˈdʒɒmᵻtri/

Note the different stress between each pair.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 04 March, 2018, 09:50:10 pm
Watching C5's 'WWI In Colour'

No, you flangebracket, it is either Eeper, or Eeprrrrrrr. It is NOT Ippress.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 05 March, 2018, 12:01:24 am
or Wipers...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: nicknack on 05 March, 2018, 09:51:12 am
or Wipers...
The Ypres Arms in Sittingbourne is usually Wipers.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 March, 2018, 10:05:40 am
Same goes for the Ypres Castle in Rye.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: clarion on 05 March, 2018, 10:22:26 am
or Wipers...
In hte context of WWI, it can be 'Wipers'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Torslanda on 05 March, 2018, 10:31:43 am
Just as Auchonvillers nr. Beaumont-Hamel was colloquially known as 'Ocean Villas'. Typical Tommy humour.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 05 March, 2018, 10:32:16 am
or Wipers...
In hte context of WWI, it can be 'Wipers'.

+1; sanctified by usage and sacrifice. Ditto for US "Bastone".  But only from people who were there.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 05 March, 2018, 10:34:39 am
"Torte" pronounced "taut".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 05 March, 2018, 01:41:50 pm
"Le Cateau", obv, is pronounced "Leaky Too".  Or possibly "Two".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 25 April, 2018, 10:31:32 am
There's a trailer that's getting repeated a lot on 6music at the moment in which Miranda Sawyer pronounces biopic as 'bi-opic' rather than 'bio-pic', with the emphasis on 'op'. Makes me shout at the radio every time.

Stuart Maconie picked up on it yesterday as well.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 25 April, 2018, 11:31:44 am
Shallot pronounced SHALLet. US, natch.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 25 April, 2018, 11:36:12 am
Shallot pronounced SHALLet. US, natch.

Growing up in the US (and left in my late 20s), I never hears anyone say 'SHALLet'.  It may be regional, or perhaps just one person's ignorance.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 25 April, 2018, 11:59:57 am
There's a trailer that's getting repeated a lot on 6music at the moment in which Miranda Sawyer pronounces biopic as 'bi-opic' rather than 'bio-pic', with the emphasis on 'op'. Makes me shout at the radio every time.

Stuart Maconie picked up on it yesterday as well.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "bio-pic". But then it's not a word I encounter much.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 25 April, 2018, 01:47:41 pm
Shallot pronounced SHALLet. US, natch.

Growing up in the US (and left in my late 20s), I never hears anyone say 'SHALLet'.  It may be regional, or perhaps just one person's ignorance.

Two, then, one of them being Julia Child, t'other being Danny de Vito. JC spoke fluent French (échalote), too.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 25 April, 2018, 01:56:52 pm
 ::-)

I leave the country for a few decades and the whole place falls to pieces.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 25 April, 2018, 03:00:34 pm
Veering off-topic, but hardly worth starting a new thread...

Pronunciation that makes me cringe slightly less:  "Kim Vaul"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 25 April, 2018, 03:47:38 pm
I say bi-OP-ic. And shall-OT.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 25 April, 2018, 10:07:13 pm
There's a trailer that's getting repeated a lot on 6music at the moment in which Miranda Sawyer pronounces biopic as 'bi-opic' rather than 'bio-pic', with the emphasis on 'op'. Makes me shout at the radio every time.

Stuart Maconie picked up on it yesterday as well.
Phew. Not just me then.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 26 April, 2018, 10:37:20 am
There's a trailer that's getting repeated a lot on 6music at the moment in which Miranda Sawyer pronounces biopic as 'bi-opic' rather than 'bio-pic', with the emphasis on 'op'. Makes me shout at the radio every time.

Stuart Maconie picked up on it yesterday as well.
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "bio-pic". But then it's not a word I encounter much.

I'd always say  bio-pic, bi-opic means having two opics whatever opics are.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 26 April, 2018, 10:56:12 am
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say "bio-pic". But then it's not a word I encounter much.

Nor do I generally, but 6music is my background noise during the day and they've been playing the trailer at least once an hour for the past week, so it begins to be conspicuous.

Fortunately, that episode has been on now so they've started playing the trailer for the next episode instead, which doesn't feature any especially annoying pronunciations, just the usual self-congratulatory smugness of 6music presenters (I'm well and truly bored of these idiots telling me how 'eclectic' they are).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 April, 2018, 11:03:15 am
Apparently this genuinely is a US v UK difference:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/biopic
As movies are a US-dominated industry, it makes sense that the US pronunciation would become dominant. Though bio-pic makes more sense.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 April, 2018, 01:24:15 pm
The cover blurb on my copy of Iain Banks' "Espedair Street" describes it as a "rock biopic", and thus was clearly written by an idiot.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 April, 2018, 01:43:02 pm
I'm sticking with bi-OP-ic. It gives the word a spritely bunnyish appeal. I think we should put the emphasis on more middle syllables. They're forced to linger there, journeymen stressfully bookended by other more emphatically delivered syllables. I say give them life! Give them omph! This is my manifesto for the neglected syllables.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Torslanda on 26 April, 2018, 02:08:21 pm
AIUI the word is a contraction of 'biographical picture'. Therefore it should be pronounced 'bio - pic' and hyphenated when written.

Can of worms anyone . . . ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 26 April, 2018, 02:35:59 pm
No relation of 84 Charlie.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 30 April, 2018, 02:03:49 pm
I listened to the latest Kermode and Mayo film podcast yesterday, in which they covered the thorny bio-pic question (presumably inspired by the same 6music trailer, though all the news and trailers are cut out of the podcast version of the show).

They agreed with me on the pronunciation, as did their guest Eddie Marsan.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 15 May, 2018, 09:16:54 pm
Son.  It is pronounced 'samosa'.  Not bloody 'samoza''. 
Someone brought brought up in Birmingham has no excuse.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 15 May, 2018, 10:18:22 pm
Son.  It is pronounced 'samosa'.  Not bloody 'samoza''. 
Someone brought brought up in Birmingham has no excuse.
Wasn't he El Pres of Nicaragua? (Samoza, not your son, obvs.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: CAMRAMan on 20 May, 2018, 02:24:22 pm
I think we should put the emphasis on more middle syllables. They're forced to linger there, journeymen stressfully bookended by other more emphatically delivered syllables. I say give them life! Give them omph! This is my manifesto for the neglected syllables.
Don't ever travel to Hungary or Finland...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 May, 2018, 02:55:00 pm
Or Slovakia. Though you might enjoy Poland.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 17 July, 2018, 09:17:19 am
David Millar's pronunciation of 'travails' on last night's TdF rest day program.  :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ben T on 17 July, 2018, 02:30:56 pm
Chris Evans on radio 2 completely omits a syllable from certain words, e.g. 'balloon', which he says as 'bloon'.  ;D ;D  :facepalm: :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 17 July, 2018, 03:19:45 pm
French commentators leave out half of "Kwiatkowski" - something like "Katofski".

We used to have an underboss called Kwiatkowski: we called him Kiwi.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 17 July, 2018, 09:45:45 pm
French commentators leave out half of "Kwiatkowski" - something like "Katofski".

We used to have an underboss called Kwiatkowski: we called him Kiwi.

That surname is three syllables - Kwiat-kow-ski - not, as British commentators tend to say Kwi-at-kow-ski.  And pronounce the 'w' as 'v'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 28 July, 2018, 01:18:01 pm
French commentators leave out half of "Kwiatkowski" - something like "Katofski".

We used to have an underboss called Kwiatkowski: we called him Kiwi.

That surname is three syllables - Kwiat-kow-ski - not, as British commentators tend to say Kwi-at-kow-ski.  And pronounce the 'w' as 'v'.


The Germans made four of it as well, but Kiwi was German and did it too.

Then there's Castroviejo, that the French commentators pronounce Castroviero because French, like English, doesn't have a voiceless velar fricative and usually substitutes an R instead.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Torslanda on 28 July, 2018, 07:01:15 pm
That's easy for you to say.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 26 August, 2018, 04:09:42 pm
When I was a kid there was often an ad in the paper that said "Say Noilly Prat and your French is perfect".

Imagine being in the pub: "Can I have an oily prat, please?"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 05 September, 2018, 11:07:48 am
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
I hope you won't mind if I stick with
"Paris"
Instead of "Par-ee"

(At least while I'm in the UK)
:-P

Us trying to explain to our French hosts that we were going to Rheims  :facepalm:

Mrs P's pronunciation was approved on this year's visit  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 05 September, 2018, 11:50:36 am
De Sisti's comment about Glastonbury is puzzling.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ham on 12 September, 2018, 09:11:57 pm
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
I hope you won't mind if I stick with
"Paris"
Instead of "Par-ee"

(At least while I'm in the UK)
:-P

Us trying to explain to our French hosts that we were going to Rheims  :facepalm:

Mrs P's pronunciation was approved on this year's visit  :thumbsup:

Are you certain she was't just clearing her throat in preparation for an attempt at Rheims?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pedaldog. on 13 September, 2018, 12:24:02 am
In a Buk!  "I would of had to go too the office again... "
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 13 September, 2018, 07:22:08 am
New-car-sul
Glars-go


I bet most southerners cringe when they pronounce Glastonbury. ;D
I hope you won't mind if I stick with
"Paris"
Instead of "Par-ee"

(At least while I'm in the UK)
:-P

Us trying to explain to our French hosts that we were going to Rheims  :facepalm:

Mrs P's pronunciation was approved on this year's visit  :thumbsup:

Are you certain she was't just clearing her throat in preparation for an attempt at Rheims?

Just say rancid without the id.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 10 December, 2018, 10:57:28 pm
Slightly amused that Ritula Shah seems to refer to the 'gilets jeunes'. 

If she means gilet jaunes, then this is the correct thread.
If she means jeunes gilets, then this should be in the grammar thread.

Ok. I'll get my dressing gown.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 11 December, 2018, 08:14:42 am
IIRC one of Lawrence Durrell's characters referred to eastern ladies of doubtful reputation as jaunes filles.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 05 March, 2019, 07:19:51 pm
I'm spending too long listening to Classic fm.

I wish Bach was not pronounced by some to rhyme with 'Lark'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Basil on 05 March, 2019, 07:28:53 pm
Woof woof.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Paul on 05 March, 2019, 08:02:23 pm
Placate with a soft c. Not cringe, just curious.
Anyone else come across this?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 05 March, 2019, 08:57:00 pm
Was the perpetrator Russian?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Paul on 05 March, 2019, 10:11:34 pm
He was moving quickly now you mention it.

Sorry.

No, very English. I wondered if he’d learned it from reading it rather than hearing it . He seemed genuinely surprised when I told him it was a hard c, so much so that I thought I’d check here.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 05 March, 2019, 10:57:03 pm
Then there's Castroviejo, that the French commentators pronounce Castroviero because French, like English, doesn't have a voiceless velar fricative and usually substitutes an R instead.

I just looked that up, is Standard English the only Germanic derived language not to have it?

I'm spending too long listening to Classic fm.

I wish Bach was not pronounced by some to rhyme with 'Lark'.

I'm sure I've heard it pronounced correctly in the mornings.


A bigger challenge would be to expect Van Gogh to be pronounced correctly...


or maybe even just Mallaig...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 06 March, 2019, 12:29:31 am
They aren't ALL guilty.
Presenters' proficiency with foreign tongues is very variable.
Some are cringeworthy, others are rather good.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 06 March, 2019, 07:55:50 am
Hum. Someone from the Beeb's pronunciation unit once said in an interview that if newsreaders had pronounced Khrushchev properly nobody would have recognized it.

I watched a 90s documentary about submarines the other day. The 1990s Americans all said SUBmaREENers and the Brits subMARiners; however, the Americans in a 1950s clip they included said subMARiners.

I wonder if somebody important mispronounced submariner and nobody dared correct him, so the new version stuck.  I once read that the Thames rhymed with flames until George I got hold of it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 07 March, 2019, 06:04:02 pm
Hum. Someone from the Beeb's pronunciation unit once said in an interview that if newsreaders had pronounced Khrushchev properly nobody would have recognized it.

Murray Walker offered the same excuse when picked up on his pronunciation of Ayrton Senna by the man himself - ie it's not that he didn't know the correct pronunciation, just that the viewing audience would have balked at it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 07 March, 2019, 10:53:55 pm
They aren't ALL guilty.
Presenters' proficiency with foreign tongues is very variable.
Some are cringeworthy, others are rather good.
I saw the billboard poster for them today, Bach to Bach, it might work in England, but in Scotland where its more common to pronounce a /x/ in when it should be a /k/...

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 07 March, 2019, 11:00:36 pm
It's time to go Bach to basics.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 07 March, 2019, 11:01:37 pm
Hum. Someone from the Beeb's pronunciation unit once said in an interview that if newsreaders had pronounced Khrushchev properly nobody would have recognized it.

Murray Walker offered the same excuse when picked up on his pronunciation of Ayrton Senna by the man himself - ie it's not that he didn't know the correct pronunciation, just that the viewing audience would have balked at it.
I remember the variability in commentary from muddly on that front, the story I read was that Ayrton asked him why he'd changed from saying it right to saying it wrong.

Correct pronunciation is Aye-aeton iirc




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Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 07 March, 2019, 11:05:59 pm
It's time to go Bach to basics.
I think my campaign to dispose SSE adoptions of Scots words of the imposter z is doomed to failure, it took me ages to find the yough in character map.

And I've still not found out how Shetland swapped a yough (Hjatland to Zetland*) for a sh.

*im on my phone there's no yough symbol at all...

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 07 March, 2019, 11:20:25 pm
It's time to go Bach to basics.
I think my campaign to dispose SSE adoptions of Scots words of the imposter z is doomed to failure, it took me ages to find the yough in character map.

And I've still not found out how Shetland swapped a yough (Hjatland to Zetland*) for a sh.

*im on my phone there's no yough symbol at all...

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

Maybe it evolved via/like the Swedish 'sj'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 07 March, 2019, 11:39:19 pm
It's time to go Bach to basics.
I think my campaign to dispose SSE adoptions of Scots words of the imposter z is doomed to failure, it took me ages to find the yough in character map.

And I've still not found out how Shetland swapped a yough (Hjatland to Zetland*) for a sh.

*im on my phone there's no yough symbol at all...

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

Maybe it evolved via/like the Swedish 'sj'
Hm, seems Zetland was named Zetland in 1931 as the common corruption of yetland,  (where I've substituted a y for a yough) but for the 1970s reorganisation everything else was Sh, but that's all I've found.

Can't think of any examples where the yough corruption has gone to anything other than a zed or a stop,
Stop: Menzies,
Zed: lenzie, Edzell, macenzie

The yough should be  like in Göteborg

Sh is a common corruption of Th in East central Scotland, e.G.  Fifers count wan, too, shree

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Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 March, 2019, 11:48:39 pm
There is a Zetland Road in Bristol. I think it was built around 1900, maybe a bit earlier. Pronounced as spelled. That is all I have to say for now.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 March, 2019, 01:28:23 pm
It's time to go Bach to basics.

Taxi for Pingu!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 08 March, 2019, 04:17:45 pm
There's a Zetland Road besides Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

I worked in Shetland 30 years ago and can't remember anyone pronouncing 'Shetland' differently. I liked the dialect.

ZE postcodes were memorable.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 05 April, 2019, 06:13:14 pm
so this morning Nick Robinson on the Today prog was reading something out about the bow of a boat. The bow, rhyming with toe!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 05 April, 2019, 07:48:53 pm
Correct pronunciation for a bow tie or part of an archer's weapon; they'll expect to pronounce a deferential lowering of the head that way soon...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 18 April, 2019, 12:38:51 pm
People who put a "y" into "Cool"- mainly weather presenters.

"Kyool" is how I'd probably spell their version of it.

"getting Kyooler toward the weekend" etc ...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 24 April, 2019, 04:13:08 pm
Jacinda Ardern pronouncing the name of our beloved Prez as if he were from Norn Iron: Emmanyuel McRon. But the NZ eccint is weird anyway.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 24 April, 2019, 04:57:17 pm
Lifetime beetroot consumption will do that.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 25 April, 2019, 10:22:57 am
https://www.change.org/p/new-zealand-government-name-beetroot-new-zealand-s-official-national-vegetable

41 signatures!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 06 May, 2019, 11:18:43 am
Sivin pingwins ix  :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 27 May, 2019, 05:12:12 pm
What if English pronunciation were phonetically consistent?

https://youtu.be/A8zWWp0akUU
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 May, 2019, 05:19:17 pm
Yesterday, at a mid-ride cafe, I overheard someone talking about Waitrose Duchy Organics range, with the second word pronounced "doochy". And a couple of days ago someone was having a loud phone conversation with a taxi driver who seemed to be refusing to come and pick them up from Pedro's Bridge – not unreasonably, because there is no such place (it's actually Pero's Bridge and once that had been cleared up, it's still not a reasonable taxi pick up spot because it's a footbridge with no vehicular access at either end) – so they settled on "Broad Kway". And why on earth is that word spelled with a Q?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 27 May, 2019, 11:22:12 pm
French origin I think.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 28 May, 2019, 08:48:53 am
Yup, it's quai in French but apparently (Chambers) that was originally kay. The Académie Française seems to have taken a scunner against the letter K in the 17th century, with the wonderful result that in many classical names they transliterate kappa as a C and pronounce it S, e.g in Alcibiades.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 May, 2019, 11:32:18 am
Hence Florida Keys. Maybe, I'm just guessing.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 May, 2019, 12:50:54 pm
They have Keys and Cays in that part of the world.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 28 May, 2019, 02:39:11 pm
Keys of coke are what I heard
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 01 June, 2019, 10:26:18 am
There was a BBC4 programme on the other day about Neanderthals. There were loads of academics and scientists in the programme and they all said "Neandertal" ie no "TH" sound and which how I've always heard it said, but the presenter kept on saying it as NeanderTHal!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 01 June, 2019, 12:03:34 pm
The presenter is some kind of NeanderAustralopithecus.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 01 June, 2019, 12:15:55 pm
There was a BBC4 programme on the other day about Neanderthals. There were loads of academics and scientists in the programme and they all said "Neandertal" ie no "TH" sound and which how I've always heard it said, but the presenter kept on saying it as NeanderTHal!

It probably helps if you know that thal is German for valley. There are a lot of words like that where the obvious etymology informs the pronunciation.

Although you do have to be wary of being caught out - the obvious etymology isn't always the correct etymology...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: spesh on 01 June, 2019, 12:20:51 pm
The presenter is some kind of NeanderAustralopithecus.

That's easy for you to say.   ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 01 June, 2019, 01:21:54 pm
There was a BBC4 programme on the other day about Neanderthals. There were loads of academics and scientists in the programme and they all said "Neandertal" ie no "TH" sound and which how I've always heard it said, but the presenter kept on saying it as NeanderTHal!

I had a teacher who pronounced this as Nee-an- DER- thul man.

It was only some years later my Mum (whose first language was German) used authentic German pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 01 June, 2019, 01:45:04 pm
Wondering where the H came from anyway, in a language with supposedly no unvoiced letters, I looked it up.  The valley is called the Neandertal in German these days, but (laut Wiki.de) in the 19th century it was the Neanderthal, which is when English would have assimilated it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 01 June, 2019, 01:50:06 pm
The word Tal is also the origin of the word dollar.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jakob W on 01 June, 2019, 03:15:21 pm
19th-c. German seems to have had more unvoiced Hs, e.g. _Die Forelle_ has »Ein Fischer mit der Ruthe wohl an dem Ufer stand«, whereas the modern spelling would be 'Rute'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 02 June, 2019, 06:36:21 am
And of course Martin Luther is ‘Luter’ here. They all look at me strangely if I say ‘Luther’ with the soft th
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 02 June, 2019, 02:29:41 pm
My mother was named Ruth by her German parents.
She's used the soft 'th' since she arrived here in 1956 when in GB but not when in FOREIGN climes.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 02 June, 2019, 03:25:26 pm
Come to that, why does English turn the letter U into a diphthong in so many words?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 02 June, 2019, 06:14:08 pm
Dunno; ask the Russians!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 02 June, 2019, 08:11:38 pm
Dunno; ask the Russians!

 ???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 02 June, 2019, 09:51:48 pm
Is it only British people who amuse themselves by trying to pronounce foreign words authentically (which generally failing, unless they're posh, in which case they do it on purpose in the hope of making the rest of us seem foolish)?

Certainly, the French and Italians don't seem to bother. I think we should follow their lead. Chorizo in my house is chor-eez-o and it's fucking staying that way.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 02 June, 2019, 10:24:48 pm
My mother was named Ruth by her German parents.
She's used the soft 'th' since she arrived here in 1956 when in GB but not when in FOREIGN climes.

My friend’s German partner is called Judith, which he pronounces in a very English way. I haven’t asked her how she feels about it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 03 June, 2019, 12:21:43 am
Being in a Jewish primary school, we often usedHebrew names. My classmate Yudit was never known as Judith...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 June, 2019, 06:58:01 am
Is it only British people who amuse themselves by trying to pronounce foreign words authentically (which generally failing, unless they're posh, in which case they do it on purpose in the hope of making the rest of us seem foolish)?

Certainly, the French and Italians don't seem to bother. I think we should follow their lead. Chorizo in my house is chor-eez-o and it's fucking staying that way.

I would have expected chor-aye-zo, but never mind.

I have a Scots-Polish chum who was born in France and first went to Poland in his mid-twenties.  Before he went, Warsaw was Warsaw to both of us. After he came back I mentioned Warsaw and he bellowed "Varshava!" at me.  But then, he's been a Tory all his life.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 03 June, 2019, 08:12:11 am
It's an odd thing - at what point do we cross over from the Anglicised pronunciation to the local one? Anyone who pronounces Paris as parEE is either French or being facetious. There's a BBC correspondent covering the missing Himalayan climbers who pronounces it Him-AH-laya. We have no problem putting the right stress on Málaga, but not on Córdoba. As for Sevilla, it seems the place is Seville but the kickball team is Sevilla (pronounced mostly as severe).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 June, 2019, 08:50:56 am
Curious.  When I'm speaking English I pronounce the S in Paris but pronounce Marseille as the French do. Mar-sails sounds daft/ignorant.

Re the BBC bloke, an Indian chap I used to know years ago pronounced it Him-al-AH-ya. I used that pronunciation exactly once and my geography master bit my head off.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Salvatore on 03 June, 2019, 08:56:18 am
And then there's AC Milan, an Italian football club which for historical reasons uses the English name of the city. Do you use the English pronunciation of the English name, or the Italian "Meeelan" (as the locals do)?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 03 June, 2019, 09:55:49 am
This pronunciation thing does seem to be a class signifier. Upper class uberposhos will deliberately mispronounce, middlers and aspirationals will bump for what they believe is authenticity and a make a big fuss of doing so and reminding others that they're doing it wrong. Those the at the bottom don't care, they're on their fifteenth pint of San Miguel in Ma-lager.

If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected. That said, I was in a shop the other day and someone was asking for jalapeños with a j. Honestly, I was almost ready to correct him my best mildly racist comedy Speedy Gonzales accent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 10:42:30 am
Is it only British people who amuse themselves by trying to pronounce foreign words authentically (which generally failing, unless they're posh, in which case they do it on purpose in the hope of making the rest of us seem foolish)?

Certainly, the French and Italians don't seem to bother. I think we should follow their lead. Chorizo in my house is chor-eez-o and it's fucking staying that way.

I would have expected chor-aye-zo, but never mind.

I have a Scots-Polish chum who was born in France and first went to Poland in his mid-twenties.  Before he went, Warsaw was Warsaw to both of us. After he came back I mentioned Warsaw and he bellowed "Varshava!" at me.  But then, he's been a Tory all his life.
I've tried pronouncing London the English way in Polish sentences. It's virtually impossible. Polish has fairly rigid stress patterns and initial stress just doesn't work, it unbalances the whole sentence. Saying "Varshava" in an English sentence is easy but as it's an important enough place to have a standardised English name, it's silly not to use that in English. But there is a mid-ground of names which are reasonably familiar to English ears but not so much as to have a standard English version, and often the Polish pronunciation is sufficiently different as to be a different word. Lodz/Łódż is a case in point. I remember one Polish friend used to compromise on "Worsoff" for Warsaw in English, which sounds like a Pole mangling an English name.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 June, 2019, 10:52:20 am
Then there's paella.  Even after I'd heard Spaniards say it I couldn't quite believe it shouldn't end in ella.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2019, 11:02:59 am
As for Sevilla, it seems the place is Seville but the kickball team is Sevilla (pronounced mostly as severe).

And then there's AC Milan, an Italian football club which for historical reasons uses the English name of the city. Do you use the English pronunciation of the English name, or the Italian "Meeelan" (as the locals do)?

Football club names are an odd case. Napoli play in Naples. Fiorentina play in Florence. Slavia Prague play in Praha. Steaua Bucharest play in Bucuresti.

And Bayern Munich play in München, which is in Bavaria.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2019, 11:05:20 am
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 11:36:30 am
As for Sevilla, it seems the place is Seville but the kickball team is Sevilla (pronounced mostly as severe).

And then there's AC Milan, an Italian football club which for historical reasons uses the English name of the city. Do you use the English pronunciation of the English name, or the Italian "Meeelan" (as the locals do)?

Football club names are an odd case. Napoli play in Naples. Fiorentina play in Florence. Slavia Prague play in Praha. Steaua Bucharest play in Bucuresti.

And Bayern Munich play in München, which is in Bavaria.
If you're trying to be totally authentic, there's the added problem of clubs with numbers in their names. And the initials. "eff see schalke oh four" or "eff tsay schalke zero vier"? Or something else? (The answer of course is not to talk about German football!)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: The French Tandem on 03 June, 2019, 11:45:04 am
Is it only British people who amuse themselves by trying to pronounce foreign words authentically (which generally failing, unless they're posh, in which case they do it on purpose in the hope of making the rest of us seem foolish)?

Certainly, the French and Italians don't seem to bother. I think we should follow their lead. Chorizo in my house is chor-eez-o and it's fucking staying that way.

I would have expected chor-aye-zo, but never mind.

I have a Scots-Polish chum who was born in France and first went to Poland in his mid-twenties.  Before he went, Warsaw was Warsaw to both of us. After he came back I mentioned Warsaw and he bellowed "Varshava!" at me.  But then, he's been a Tory all his life.

It's not that the French just don't bother. They actually take great pride in completely distorting foreign names. London becomes "Londres", and Warsaw becomes "Varsovie".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 11:46:47 am
I'd say "Varsovie" is actually closer to the Polish than "Warsaw" is.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Guy on 03 June, 2019, 12:46:22 pm
For us ( ;)) pignorant John Bulls "Warsaw" is a lot easier to say.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 03 June, 2019, 01:20:57 pm
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'

 ??? what should it be? Sh- or K- ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 June, 2019, 01:23:27 pm
Is it only British people who amuse themselves by trying to pronounce foreign words authentically (which generally failing, unless they're posh, in which case they do it on purpose in the hope of making the rest of us seem foolish)?

Certainly, the French and Italians don't seem to bother. I think we should follow their lead. Chorizo in my house is chor-eez-o and it's fucking staying that way.

I would have expected chor-aye-zo, but never mind.

I have a Scots-Polish chum who was born in France and first went to Poland in his mid-twenties.  Before he went, Warsaw was Warsaw to both of us. After he came back I mentioned Warsaw and he bellowed "Varshava!" at me.  But then, he's been a Tory all his life.

It's not that the French just don't bother. They actually take great pride in completely distorting foreign names. London becomes "Londres", and Warsaw becomes "Varsovie".

Apparently this is due to the English swallowing the end of the word, leaving others to make up their own. The written words came later, with Londres even pre-dates London.  The S, though, is admitted to be spurious.

http://andresordes.e-monsite.com/pages/london-et-pourquoi-londres.html
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Paul on 03 June, 2019, 01:27:11 pm
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'
I say it like this. But that’s how I learned it. To say it otherwise would be an affectation on my part.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2019, 01:29:17 pm
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'

 ??? what should it be? Sh- or K- ?

https://youtu.be/yNM8rN7vf2w

(closer to 'sh' than 'tch', I'd say)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 03 June, 2019, 01:34:54 pm
This pronunciation thing does seem to be a class signifier. Upper class uberposhos will deliberately mispronounce, middlers and aspirationals will bump for what they believe is authenticity and a make a big fuss of doing so and reminding others that they're doing it wrong. Those the at the bottom don't care, they're on their fifteenth pint of San Miguel in Ma-lager.

I don't think that's strictly true, given the amount of abuse that you can get for speaking too posh in certain contexts.  Northerners will do it to anyone speaking RP, of course, but southerners will latch onto authentic pronunciation of foreign words as a poshness signifier (unless you can plead some sort of foreignness).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 03 June, 2019, 01:42:41 pm
I confess that I've never heard anyone British pronounce chorizo that way. It always comes out as a comedy (I use the word advisedly) Allo Allo accent. Once in Bingley our waitress did a rather splendid chor-IT-toh! which was delivered with such verve that I feared she was about to fight a bull or commence the flamenco mid-order. I can't really capture it though, because it was also in broad Yorkshirese. She didn't, unfortunately, start dancing and singing and the only bovine was plated.

Come to think of it, I'd like to hear Italians Talk Cockney, the first of my podcasts in Making Foreigns Talk Proper series.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 03 June, 2019, 01:52:25 pm
This pronunciation thing does seem to be a class signifier. Upper class uberposhos will deliberately mispronounce, middlers and aspirationals will bump for what they believe is authenticity and a make a big fuss of doing so and reminding others that they're doing it wrong. Those the at the bottom don't care, they're on their fifteenth pint of San Miguel in Ma-lager.

I don't think that's strictly true, given the amount of abuse that you can get for speaking too posh in certain contexts.  Northerners will do it to anyone speaking RP, of course, but southerners will latch onto authentic pronunciation of foreign words as a poshness signifier (unless you can plead some sort of foreignness).

Reverse posh is as bad as forward posh, you're still socially weaponising pronunciation. Probably I have a chip on my shoulder because I grew up down a coal mine speaking a near impenetrable dialect of English and learned all my words out of books, so really I could only manage a stab at phonetic pronunciation. Added to the fact I can't talk proper anyway and have a bit of a weird speech thing where I just can't pronounce some words as my brain insists on breaking them into linear phonetic units (for instance, Appalachian, episcopal, pheromone) so by the time I've sussed out the actual pronunciation they're all out of my mouth.

Which means a lifetime of being corrected which isn't at all annoying.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 01:58:36 pm
And then there's AC Milan, an Italian football club which for historical reasons uses the English name of the city. Do you use the English pronunciation of the English name, or the Italian "Meeelan" (as the locals do)?
I didn't know that Milan was the actual name. I'd always wondered why Polish football commentators talked about Inter Mediolan, that being the Polish name of the city, but AC Milan, neither Polish nor Italian. (They pronounce Milan as if it were a Polish word – short i but more like a short "ee" than an English "i" – but then they would do, because they are even if it is not.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 03 June, 2019, 02:00:57 pm
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'

 ??? what should it be? Sh- or K- ?

https://youtu.be/yNM8rN7vf2w

(closer to 'sh' than 'tch', I'd say)

Something wrong with my ears.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 03 June, 2019, 02:02:06 pm
Added to the fact I can't talk proper anyway and have a bit of a weird speech thing where I just can't pronounce some words as my brain insists on breaking them into linear phonetic units (for instance, Appalachian, episcopal, pheromone) so by the time I've sussed out the actual pronunciation they're all out of my mouth.
Wasn't "Appalachian" the second album by Episcopal Pheromone? It was rubbish.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 June, 2019, 02:55:35 pm
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'

 ??? what should it be? Sh- or K- ?

https://youtu.be/yNM8rN7vf2w

(closer to 'sh' than 'tch', I'd say)

Try this: https://forvo.com/word/chorizo/#es
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2019, 03:58:34 pm
Something wrong with my ears.

When you hear it being pronounced the way I mean, the difference is quite obvious.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Salvatore on 03 June, 2019, 04:10:30 pm
Football club names are an odd case. Napoli play in Naples. Fiorentina play in Florence. Slavia Prague play in Praha. Steaua Bucharest play in Bucuresti.

And Bayern Munich play in München, which is in Bavaria.

Unless they are playing in Monaco (or Monaco di Baviera, to avoid confusion with any other Monaco (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-munich/munichs-italian-name-diverts-tourists-from-monaco-idUSL0972024920080409)).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 05:02:29 pm
Something wrong with my ears.

When you hear it being pronounced the way I mean, the difference is quite obvious.
It does sound more like an English ch than sh to me (both the youtube example and those on forvo). But it's definitely not quite either, which is probably part of the reason it's difficult for English speakers.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 03 June, 2019, 06:29:16 pm
Something wrong with my ears.

When you hear it being pronounced the way I mean, the difference is quite obvious.
It does sound more like an English ch than sh to me (both the youtube example and those on forvo). But it's definitely not quite either, which is probably part of the reason it's difficult for English speakers.

Yes, there's a difference, but even the IPA guide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish) says the closest English sound is as in choose (not shoes), so it's not really cringeworthy. Pronouncing it as a proper soft sh- might be.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 03 June, 2019, 06:36:06 pm
Football club names are an odd case. Napoli play in Naples. Fiorentina play in Florence. Slavia Prague play in Praha. Steaua Bucharest play in Bucuresti.

And Bayern Munich play in München, which is in Bavaria.

Unless they are playing in Monaco (or Monaco di Baviera, to avoid confusion with any other Monaco (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-munich/munichs-italian-name-diverts-tourists-from-monaco-idUSL0972024920080409)).
My tame German says the team is Bayern München.

I guess in English-speaking places the München is translated to Munich but it’s not in use here.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 06:37:16 pm
tʃ is the same IPA symbol I remember learning for an English ch sound. But that was 20 years ago so I might be misremembering and/or the notation might have changed a little. In any case, cringeworthiness is more a personal reaction than a hard and fast standard. I'm not sure even "kway" for quay (as in early post of mine) makes me cringe: it might amuse me or make me ponder the strange ways we spell words. (Though if I ever have to say quinoa it makes me cringe a bit: it either sounds poncy or mistaken. I guess if I actually ate the stuff, "keenwah" would sound right, and if I'd never heard of it, "kwinoa" would be the obvious way to say it.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2019, 07:02:34 pm
I guess in English-speaking places the München is translated to Munich but it’s not in use here.

Yes, that’s the point - no one in England calls them Bavaria Munich.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 June, 2019, 07:08:14 pm
Something wrong with my ears.

When you hear it being pronounced the way I mean, the difference is quite obvious.
It does sound more like an English ch than sh to me (both the youtube example and those on forvo). But it's definitely not quite either, which is probably part of the reason it's difficult for English speakers.

Yes, there's a difference, but even the IPA guide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish) says the closest English sound is as in choose (not shoes), so it's not really cringeworthy. Pronouncing it as a proper soft sh- might be.

It’s all very well for you to say it’s not cringeworthy but wait until you hear someone say it the way I’ve heard it said.

Which you obviously haven’t or you’d know what I meant.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 June, 2019, 07:59:56 pm
I'm sure I've heard that foopball team from Gelsenkirchen referred to as Schalke null vier ???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 June, 2019, 08:52:05 pm
Something wrong with my ears.

When you hear it being pronounced the way I mean, the difference is quite obvious.
It does sound more like an English ch than sh to me (both the youtube example and those on forvo). But it's definitely not quite either, which is probably part of the reason it's difficult for English speakers.

Yes, there's a difference, but even the IPA guide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish) says the closest English sound is as in choose (not shoes), so it's not really cringeworthy. Pronouncing it as a proper soft sh- might be.

It’s all very well for you to say it’s not cringeworthy but wait until you hear someone say it the way I’ve heard it said.

Which you obviously haven’t or you’d know what I meant.
'koritzo'? I'm not sure I've heard that, but it's logical, given that Italian tends to be higher regarded (in food at least) than Spanish.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 03 June, 2019, 09:03:05 pm
Everyone in financial services pronounces "leverage" the USian way  :facepalm:

I still can't work out why Stephen Rea also pronounces "lever" the  American way in "V for Vendetta".  It really grates.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 04 June, 2019, 12:21:53 am
Everyone in financial services pronounces "leverage" the USian way  :facepalm:

I tend to regard that one as a useful warning.  But then I was trying (without much success) to get "soddering" adopted for the unsatisfying lead-free version of the process.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 04 June, 2019, 12:45:34 pm
Everyone in financial services pronounces "leverage" the USian way  :facepalm:

I think this is SOP among the kind of management wonks who use the hateful verb.  Not sure I've ever heard it pronounced otherwise, though at the kind of meetings where it customarily cropped up I was usually in la-la-not-listening mode after three minutes.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 04 June, 2019, 12:50:38 pm
I'd always assumed leverAGE for the financial sense can LEVERage for the actual levering. Though I probably made this up in a manner so convincing that I can no longer accept another explanation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 04 June, 2019, 12:53:10 pm
I've never heard leverAGE. Do they say that? I've heard the financial version rhyming with clever and the moving rhyming with leaver.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 04 June, 2019, 01:00:14 pm
Everyone in financial services pronounces "leverage" the USian way  :facepalm:

I tend to regard that one as a useful warning.  But then I was trying (without much success) to get "soddering" adopted for the unsatisfying lead-free version of the process.

Leaving out the -er would probably get turfed out and all.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 04 June, 2019, 01:04:20 pm
In managementese it's LEVVER-age or LEV-RIDGE or something else wrong and unpleasant and generally likely to give me an itchy shovel finger.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 05 June, 2019, 06:17:49 pm
'koritzo'? I'm not sure I've heard that, but it's logical, given that Italian tends to be higher regarded (in food at least) than Spanish.

No - I have heard it said with a k but that’s not what I meant. Perhaps I’m being over-sensitive to what is really a minor nuance of pronunciation, but then it also riles me when cloth-eared northerners can’t discern a difference between a “long” a (as in the correct pronunciation of bath) and an “ar” sound.

And I am *definitely* in the right on that one.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 06 June, 2019, 03:49:29 pm
'koritzo'? I'm not sure I've heard that, but it's logical, given that Italian tends to be higher regarded (in food at least) than Spanish.

Funny, though: I reckon the koritzo clan all know how to pronounce macho. They probably don't realize they're both Spanish, though.

I like chilometro in Italian.  I know it's kilo- but the idea of a chillometer is rather Inherent-Vice-ish.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 June, 2019, 03:51:39 pm
I've heard people say "mako" (and not just for the shark). Okay, only one person. But "makismo" seems to be an accepted pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 06 June, 2019, 04:06:57 pm
I was reminded yesterday evening of one of the weird transatlantic things – Anthony Bourdain was eating 'turbo' which is, of course, turbot (which any fool knows rhymes with robot). The Americans also insist on the Frenchish pronunciation of Fillet o' Fish. Even in poorest southern backwater that can host a McDonalds, they'll fillet like a mignon. See also clique and niche which I pronounce properly (like an Englishman, and the correct way to pronounce chorizo is, of course, sausage).

Though just to fuck with my expectations, in Texas (or it might have been Colorado) some years back I asked for the buffet [pronounced buff-eh!] and the waiter looked back at me for a second and said don't you mean the buffet, sir? OK, more of a burrf-it. No, I replied brightly, I mean the buffet. Anyway, it was Texas (or Colorado), so we solved our pronunciation dispute through an exchange of medium-to-high calibre gunfire.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 June, 2019, 04:35:11 pm
"I've got a car as big as a turbot
And it's got a turbo driven by a robot"
As the B52s sang. I think.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 June, 2019, 04:37:42 pm
Though just to fuck with my expectations, in Texas (or it might have been Colorado) some years back I asked for the buffet [pronounced buff-eh!] and the waiter looked back at me for a second and said don't you mean the buffet, sir? OK, more of a burrf-it. No, I replied brightly, I mean the buffet. Anyway, it was Texas (or Colorado), so we solved our pronunciation dispute through an exchange of medium-to-high calibre gunfire.
Buffet the vampire slayer (with medium-to-high calibre gunfire)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 06 June, 2019, 05:25:56 pm
German colleagues used to translate 'File not found' as 'Filet nicht gefunden'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 06 June, 2019, 06:17:41 pm
Apparently, turbot is turbut. There's seems some dispute on the correct American pronunciation, but Anthony definitely said turbo.

This all said, I don't think I've ever encountered a turbot, plated or otherwise. I can, as a gentleman of class and refinement who enjoys only the splendid things, confirm the US pronunciation of Fillet o' Fish. Except I'm, in part, wrong-o. It's apparently a Filet-o-Fish®. All these years I've been ordering it like a jaunty devil-may-care Franco-Irishman, the bastard son of a Breton fisherman and flame-haired Irish maiden, freshly arrived and seeking my fame and fortune in America.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 07 June, 2019, 12:04:54 pm
USAnians of my acquaintance pronounce the sossidge "ch-ree-zo" and the locally-built stuff I had once in Nevada knocked the Spaignish version into a cocked hat.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 June, 2019, 03:14:51 pm
I was reminded yesterday evening of one of the weird transatlantic things – Anthony Bourdain was eating 'turbo' which is, of course, turbot (which any fool knows rhymes with robot). The Americans also insist on the Frenchish pronunciation of Fillet o' Fish. Even in poorest southern backwater that can host a McDonalds, they'll fillet like a mignon. See also clique and niche which I pronounce properly (like an Englishman, and the correct way to pronounce chorizo is, of course, sausage).

Though just to fuck with my expectations, in Texas (or it might have been Colorado) some years back I asked for the buffet [pronounced buff-eh!] and the waiter looked back at me for a second and said don't you mean the buffet, sir? OK, more of a burrf-it. No, I replied brightly, I mean the buffet. Anyway, it was Texas (or Colorado), so we solved our pronunciation dispute through an exchange of medium-to-high calibre gunfire.
There might be solid historical reasons why USAnians are more receptive than Britannians to French pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 June, 2019, 04:49:45 pm
I noticed that what USAnians pronounce the au jus Brits pronounce gravy.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 07 June, 2019, 08:36:22 pm
Gravy in the US is a Different Beast. Eaten with biscuits.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andrij on 08 June, 2019, 09:35:29 am
Gravy in the US is a Different Beast. Eaten with biscuits.

That's sausage gravy.

Now I'm hungry...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 June, 2019, 09:41:48 am
Right enough, we once had a bloke who'd spent years in NY to dinner, and he pronounced my roquefort/madeira/cream sauce to be 'lovely gravy'.  We put it down to his ancestral Mancunian barbarity, but maybe he'd been indoctrinated over there.

Hum. Maybe it was œufs meurettes. Anyway, gravy was the term.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 08 June, 2019, 11:41:52 am
I confess that I've never heard anyone British pronounce chorizo that way. It always comes out as a comedy (I use the word advisedly) Allo Allo accent. Once in Bingley our waitress did a rather splendid chor-IT-toh! which was delivered with such verve that I feared she was about to fight a bull or commence the flamenco mid-order. I can't really capture it though, because it was also in broad Yorkshirese. She didn't, unfortunately, start dancing and singing and the only bovine was plated.

Come to think of it, I'd like to hear Italians Talk Cockney, the first of my podcasts in Making Foreigns Talk Proper series.
If we're saying words how they're written  then Chorizo gets a bit weird up here

/X/ oh rrr ee * oh

The * depends on how you want to pronounce the yough, properly or as a glottal stop.

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Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 08 June, 2019, 12:13:41 pm
If we're speaking English then, as far I care, we should use the anglicized pronunciation rather than mangling foreign pronunciation with comedy lisps and the like. Quite often it just sounds affected.

What really grates is people affecting the Castilian lisp for chorizo but starting it with a hard English 'tch'

 ??? what should it be? Sh- or K- ?

https://youtu.be/yNM8rN7vf2w

(closer to 'sh' than 'tch', I'd say)

That is definitely a ch as in chore (IPA: tʃ), and definitely not sh (ʃ) as in shore.

And it seems Spanish doesn't even have ʃ as a "normal" sound, only occurring in foreign words.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 08 June, 2019, 12:42:35 pm
That is definitely a ch as in chore (IPA: tʃ), and definitely not sh (ʃ) as in shore.

Yes, but there’s a difference between a soft ch and a hard ch. The Spanish ch is softer than the English ch - not sh as in shore, just a bit more towards that end of the spectrum.

Am I really the only one who can hear this?

Possibly a hang-over from my trumpet playing days.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 June, 2019, 04:36:26 pm
Gravy in the US is a Different Beast. Eaten with biscuits.

Biscuits in the US is a Different Beast.  Scones.  Eaten with wallpaper paste.  For breakfast.  :sick:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 08 June, 2019, 06:46:15 pm
That is definitely a ch as in chore (IPA: tʃ), and definitely not sh (ʃ) as in shore.

Yes, but there’s a difference between a soft ch and a hard ch. The Spanish ch is softer than the English ch - not sh as in shore, just a bit more towards that end of the spectrum.

Am I really the only one who can hear this?

Possibly a hang-over from my trumpet playing days.

There is a difference, a Spanish ch is lighter and slightly more aspirated. My Spanish teacher explained it like this: for an English ch you push your lips forwards and form an "O" shape; for a Spanish ch, stretch your lips to a grin. But the sound is still a ch, much closer to  tʃ than ʃ.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 08 June, 2019, 08:46:41 pm
There is a difference, a Spanish ch is lighter and slightly more aspirated.

Which is exactly what I said in the first place, so I really don’t understand why you challenged me on it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 10 June, 2019, 09:45:42 am
Gravy in the US is a Different Beast. Eaten with biscuits.

Biscuits in the US is a Different Beast.  Scones.  Eaten with wallpaper paste.  For breakfast.  :sick:

I quite like it as an occasional novelty (like giant pancake stacks*, which I always regret when I attempt to move and realise I've achieved the sort of mass usually found orbiting G class stars). That said, I've lived for the while in the South. You might think things are a slower pace down there because of the humid climes but mostly it takes till 7pm to digest breakfast. This is generally not helped by the average drink size being 32 fluid oz.

*I've told the story before, but it deserves retelling, I once ate two helpings of pancakes just to stay tuned to the adventure of two wizards in LA. Seriously, these two guys were deep in conversation about how to use magic to get themselves noticed in Hollywood. They were quite serious if it turned out ill-equipped since it seemed they had yet to learn any wizardry, but I admired their career plan to learn to be professional full-qualified wizards and only then take Hollywood by storm.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 14 July, 2019, 11:12:52 pm
Furry boots he from?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYSgMk6A6g

 :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 15 July, 2019, 12:36:07 am
Doric probably shows best that the divergence between Scots, northumbric and English happened long before the modern forms.

Yet he still tries to make it sound like a modern English dialect, im sure he must have looked at one of the norse languages in the past...

Queen is a derivative of a proto Germanic word for woman, as is quine as used in the north east, as is Kvinna as used in the norse languages.

Still stands out to me that "long day" in Danish is said almost exactly the same as in Doric.

Lang day

You'd almost think the Germanic languages are all related...

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Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 15 July, 2019, 10:03:40 am
I was up in Aberdeen during their university charities (rag) week untold years ago. One of their slogans was FARSYADOJO, i.e. where is your money, Joseph?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 15 July, 2019, 11:06:07 am
Furry boots he from?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VYSgMk6A6g

 :)

Set Rueben on him.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 18 July, 2019, 07:50:51 am
Coming from the outskirts of Stockport in Cheshire I went to university in Aberdeen.  The first year was mainly lecture based and had little contact with locals.  However I got a summer job in a construction company 5 miles north of Inverurie erecting Dutch barns around Scotland.  I still remember the total incomprehension on the first morning of meeting the foreman. "Hi Loon, fit like, hae your piece?".  It was actually the best training for moving onto the wards later on where I was able to translate for some of my colleagues.

I also have the annoying tendency anytime we are driving around the area between Perth and Huntley of suddenly telling other occupants that I built the Dutch barn they can see.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 18 July, 2019, 12:51:04 pm
Ach, he was being considerate with that Hi on the front.
Normally it's "Ha fit Like Loun, hae yir piece wi yi?"
(How are you young man, have you got your luncheon with you?)

My Gran speaks Mearns which is a mix of Doric and Midlands Scots though mostly doric, I'll usually speak in to a mix of SSE and Midlands when speaking to her.
Such like:
"Fit like loun?"
"Nae bad gran, hows you?"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 18 July, 2019, 07:18:13 pm
Hi, Ha auto spelling. 

Mymother in law spoke gaelic till she went ti school and would still speak to her mother in gaelic.  My wife knows enough gaelic (embedded somewhere in her brain) that she was able to semi-chat to an old lady in hospital from the North west of Scotland.

We then moved to Lanarkshire and then Glasgow before Edinburgh, learning a new language in each place.

I remember the description of Edinburgh people as "come in, you'll have had your tea."  Whereas in the Northwest, any visit required a cooked meal with pancakes.  Salmon fish cakes because they were feuds with straight salmon was  amazing as was collecting the crab from the creel, rowing back to shore and 5 minutes later it would be cooking in the pan.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 18 July, 2019, 07:56:10 pm
Pancakes were certainly always on the menu at my Great Aunt's in Fort Augustus, but that was Dad's side of the family.
Being a farming/mill lassie fae Dundee she had to learn the Gaelic tae speak tae the dugs on the farm.
Didn't have the modern harsh mill dialect but can't remember if like my direct relatives on Dundee she spoke SSE or if she spoke Midlands.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Feanor on 18 July, 2019, 08:05:32 pm
Hmm, I tend to revert a wee bit to Doric when speaking with Mother Dear, who comes from Gamrie stock, but was brought up in Macduff.

When I first brought the not-yet-Mrs-F home, she struggled to understand any of it!
And I thought I was being rather mild in the use of it!

Regarding Gamrie, that's a whole other sub-language variant on the Doric!
Spoken only within about 2 fishing villages in a two mile radius!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 18 July, 2019, 08:13:21 pm
I’ve never been to Aberdeen but my favourite Aberdeen story is the hoax posted on Twitter that got picked up by Sky Sports, who ran it as a legit story - the prankster claimed Aberdeen FC had signed a player called Yerdas Selzavon.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 18 July, 2019, 08:37:07 pm
Trying to get spoof signings onto the news as a favourite of the football message board I'm on a few years ago. Not sure if that was one of them but there was various similar.

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Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 21 January, 2020, 08:56:08 am
I was out on site yesterday with a builder who repeatedly said "chimberley" (chimney, btw) and I don't think it was ironic..
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 21 January, 2020, 09:05:27 am
I was out on site yesterday with a builder who repeatedly said "chimberley" (chimney, btw) and I don't think it was ironic..

You are going to hate this then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYm3-7hkMww

 :)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 21 January, 2020, 04:55:38 pm
<shudder>
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 22 January, 2020, 12:35:15 pm
Wasn't that how it was pronounced in "Under Milk Wood"?

*googles*

Ah yes - Mr. Waldo's song:

Quote
In Pembroke City when I was young
I lived by the Castle Keep
Sixpence a week was my wages
For working for the chimbley-sweep.
Six cold pennies he
gave me Not a farthing more or less
And all the fare I could afford
Was parsnip gin and watercress.
I did not need a knife and fork
Or a bib up to my chin
To dine on a dish of watercress
And a jug of parsnip gin.
Did you ever hear a growing boy
To live so cruel cheap
On grub that has no flesh and bones
And liquor that makes you weep?
Sweep sweep chimbley sweep,
I wept through Pembroke City
Poor and barefoot in the snow
Till a kind young woman took pity.
Poor little chimbley sweep she said
Black as the ace of spades
O nobody's swept my chimbley
Since my husband went his ways
Come and sweep my chimbley
Come and sweep my chimbley
She sighed to me with a blush
Come and sweep my chimbley
Come and sweep my chimbley
Bring along your chimbley brush!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 22 January, 2020, 01:29:11 pm
I think it's a fairly common dialect variant, isn't it? Or at least used to be.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 22 January, 2020, 09:53:29 pm
I heard a song today that rhymed ours with grass.

I shuddered.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: mattc on 07 March, 2020, 12:00:25 pm
'archiepel-'AARgo

Wow. You live for nearly half a century and then hear a familiar word said in a totally new way.

Wow.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 07 March, 2020, 12:06:55 pm
I just heard that too. Took me a few seconds to process.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: tonyh on 07 March, 2020, 12:16:20 pm

Yesterday I rather liked (so this is the wrong thread) epEEdemic.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 16 June, 2020, 09:00:40 am
The other day I noticed that the narrator of $TV_PROGRAMME had ceased to utter the word "tonne*" such that it rhymes with "sun" or "bun" and now says it in a way that it rhymes with "don", "swan" or "scone".  This is, to this Unit, plain Wrong and he needs to stop it forthwith.

* I assume he's talking about these, since said prog is shot in a metric country viz. Australia
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 June, 2020, 09:29:43 am
'archiepel-'AARgo

Wow. You live for nearly half a century and then hear a familiar word said in a totally new way.

Wow.

That's how pirates say it. And they should know.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 June, 2020, 09:37:02 am
Flare pronounced flayawe, dark pronounced dawk, but USAnian speaker so yes, well.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 16 June, 2020, 09:59:49 am
Mary Anne Hobbs frequently has me shouting at the radio for her mangling of words, but she hit new heights last week when reading the title of a piece as "in E B minor".

I like Mary Anne Hobbs. She plays a good selection of music, and she has a good voice for radio. But she's just not very bright.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 June, 2020, 10:18:25 am
Maybe she'd been watching Green Eggs and Ham.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 16 June, 2020, 10:44:02 am
Dr Seuss references are wasted on me.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 June, 2020, 10:47:40 am
Shame: GE&H is magnificent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 June, 2020, 11:56:30 am
Mary Anne Hobbs frequently has me shouting at the radio for her mangling of words, but she hit new heights last week when reading the title of a piece as "in E B minor".

I like Mary Anne Hobbs. She plays a good selection of music, and she has a good voice for radio. But she's just not very bright.
Was the next piece in D hash major?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 16 June, 2020, 01:05:37 pm
Mrs Pcolbeck once had a new teacher in the class she is TA for that was straight out of college and was from the Home Counties.
He was trying to teach the kids spelling and pronunciation of new words by matching them with other words that rhymed.
The thing was that almost every pair of words he came up with may have rhymed in Surrey but in North Yorkshire they certainly didn't. Mrs Pcolbeck was crying laughing.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: nicknack on 16 June, 2020, 01:16:36 pm
Mary Anne Hobbs frequently has me shouting at the radio for her mangling of words, but she hit new heights last week when reading the title of a piece as "in E B minor".

I like Mary Anne Hobbs. She plays a good selection of music, and she has a good voice for radio. But she's just not very bright.
Was the next piece in D hash major?
Unlikely. That would be 9 'hashes' for 7 notes.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 16 June, 2020, 01:23:11 pm
Mary Anne Hobbs frequently has me shouting at the radio for her mangling of words, but she hit new heights last week when reading the title of a piece as "in E B minor".

I like Mary Anne Hobbs. She plays a good selection of music, and she has a good voice for radio. But she's just not very bright.
Mitchell and Webb. F hashtag minor.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p01mv2zh (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p01mv2zh)

(Interestingly (FSVO interstingly...) typing "F hastag minor" into google returned answers for F sharp)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: fimm on 16 June, 2020, 01:47:23 pm
Mrs Pcolbeck once had a new teacher in the class she is TA for that was straight out of college and was from the Home Counties.
He was trying to teach the kids spelling and pronunciation of new words by matching them with other words that rhymed.
The thing was that almost every pair of words he came up with may have rhymed in Surrey but in North Yorkshire they certainly didn't. Mrs Pcolbeck was crying laughing.
I once read a story of a teacher in similar circumstances whose class informed her that the opposite of "appear" was "down there"...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 June, 2020, 02:16:45 pm
One of those things about growing up a bit pikey in the part of the UK that speaks a dialect that only resembles English to someone who's had an ear candling mishap is that you spend a life being corrected on pronunciation and other little details. Don't you mean?, they'll say, pedantically. As a child, I learned most everything from books so pronunciation often had to be guessed at using the peculiarly tuned phonetics of the region. It wasn't like I could ask my mum how to pronounce 'Achilles' or 'diplodocus' or somesuch and it was before the time you could hit a button and have the computer tell you. Or 'chorizo,' though that had yet to become a menu item, the most exotic thing in the early 1980's East Midlands still came in a box labelled Vesta (not that I was allowed, as it would 'make the house smell', presumably of something other than cigarette smoke and perpetual overcooking, the madeleines of my childhood).

People still do it today, especially with foreign words (and I think often they're making them up, or adding that signature English theatrical flourish). Generally, I smile tolerantly, wait till they turn their backs and murder them. OK, I wouldn't have have done the 'E B minor' – though all I remember from music lessons at my school was the xylophone didn't have a full complement of keys and the C was quite an important omission – but mostly because I used to attempt to play the guitar (I suspect less down to a deep, abiding love for music, but more because my misguided brain thought a series of badly played chords would somehow feature as an aphrodisiac for female company, but anyway, I could play all the notes flat).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 June, 2020, 02:21:29 pm
anyway, I could play all the notes flat).
If you play all the notes flat, you're making a hash of them.


Sorry.


Okay, I'm not really.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 16 June, 2020, 06:27:02 pm
"A Scientist" on the anbaric distascope referring to those dangly things found in caves as "sta-LAGG-tites".  Get in the sea.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Davef on 16 June, 2020, 06:58:03 pm
One of those things about growing up a bit pikey in the part of the UK that speaks a dialect that only resembles English to someone who's had an ear candling mishap is that you spend a life being corrected on pronunciation and other little details. Don't you mean?, they'll say, pedantically. As a child, I learned most everything from books so pronunciation often had to be guessed at using the peculiarly tuned phonetics of the region. It wasn't like I could ask my mum how to pronounce 'Achilles' or 'diplodocus' or somesuch and it was before the time you could hit a button and have the computer tell you. Or 'chorizo,' though that had yet to become a menu item, the most exotic thing in the early 1980's East Midlands still came in a box labelled Vesta (not that I was allowed, as it would 'make the house smell', presumably of something other than cigarette smoke and perpetual overcooking, the madeleines of my childhood).

People still do it today, especially with foreign words (and I think often they're making them up, or adding that signature English theatrical flourish). Generally, I smile tolerantly, wait till they turn their backs and murder them. OK, I wouldn't have have done the 'E B minor' – though all I remember from music lessons at my school was the xylophone didn't have a full complement of keys and the C was quite an important omission – but mostly because I used to attempt to play the guitar (I suspect less down to a deep, abiding love for music, but more because my misguided brain thought a series of badly played chords would somehow feature as an aphrodisiac for female company, but anyway, I could play all the notes flat).
Vesta is still available in pretty much the same options as the 80s. As ready meals, by modern standards, they aren’t very ready.


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Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 June, 2020, 07:37:27 pm
I never had one. I used to gaze at them wistfully in the supermarket only to be dragged away by my mother. To be honest, I was a bit scared too – I never had any kind of 'ethnic' food (not even pretend) till I got to university. We did have a Chinese takeaway when I was growing up (delightfully called the 'Chinky' by everyone, probably still is) though we never went. Obviously. Fish and chips once a week though.

My mother is a bit extreme, she lives entirely off cheese cobs and has done since about 1978 when she ate something she didn't like and decided why take another chance. She refuses to believe that olive oil is for anything but cleaning ears and the colour of curry sauce makes her physically sick. My fathers claimed aversion to garlic is only rivalled by Dracula. But Dracula, I feel sure, is never found halfway through noshing a table-sized family pizza.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 17 June, 2020, 09:09:34 am
Mary Anne Hobbs frequently has me shouting at the radio for her mangling of words, but she hit new heights last week when reading the title of a piece as "in E B minor".

I like Mary Anne Hobbs. She plays a good selection of music, and she has a good voice for radio. But she's just not very bright.
Mitchell and Webb. F hashtag minor.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p01mv2zh (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p01mv2zh)

(Interestingly (FSVO interstingly...) typing "F hastag minor" into google returned answers for F sharp)

We had a couple at school we called F sharp major and B flat minor.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 17 August, 2020, 11:39:36 pm
Russell Davis, off of Radio 4, just said "di-atoms" when talking about the microscopic algae, known to everyone else as "dia-toms".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 21 September, 2020, 03:37:05 pm
Just noticed that the US pronunciation of "futile" sounds almost like "feudal".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 September, 2020, 04:08:13 pm
The “English”-speaking announcer on the Champs-Elysée yesterday referred to “el-light” cyclists.  TV's are expensive, otherwise mine would have a coffee-mug-shaped hole in the screen.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jakob W on 22 September, 2020, 08:05:25 am
Just noticed that the US pronunciation of "futile" sounds almost like "feudal".

A Texan saying 'Space Ghetto' sounds exactly like a Glaswegian saying 'Spice Girl'...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 22 September, 2020, 02:51:54 pm
Just noticed that the US pronunciation of "futile" sounds almost like "feudal".

See also phonetic similarities between a Scottish 'Pearl' and an American 'Petal'. Alveolar tap, innit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: tonyh on 22 September, 2020, 03:39:41 pm
... tries saying those with appropriate accent... repeats... improves... grasps!

Thanks Nuncio!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 23 September, 2020, 06:57:54 pm
I'm getting a new front door. As I live in a leasehold flat the landlord has some say in the matter. It must be a 30 minute fire door, fitted with strips that swell when heated to seal it against smoke. What the door manufacturers and nearly everyone refers to as "intumescent strips". Exceptions to this are the person at the landlord and the Cheery Chippy who both call them "intermittent strips." A sort of part time sealant presumably.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Davef on 23 September, 2020, 09:53:04 pm
Odd word that. I would have thought intumescent was the opposite of tumescent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 23 September, 2020, 09:57:16 pm
Inflammable is not the opposite of flammable...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 24 September, 2020, 12:28:22 am
Exceptions to this are the person at the landlord and the Cheery Chippy who both call them "intermittent strips." A sort of part time sealant presumably.

That's the stuff they use for sealing around shower tiles.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 24 September, 2020, 09:04:16 am
Inflammable is not the opposite of flammable...
Prompted me to check Merriam-Webster. I'm not sure how representative it is of the President's English, but they list inflame and inflammatory but not "flammatory". Although they do, logically, have flammation. They also say:
Quote
In the early 20th century, firefighters worried that people might think inflammable meant "not able to catch fire," so they adopted flammable and nonflammable as official safety labels and encouraged their use to prevent confusion. In general use, flammable is now the preferred term for describing things that can catch fire, but inflammable is still occasionally used with that meaning as well.
Firefighters, bold in action but worried about words.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 24 September, 2020, 10:46:56 am
Odd word that. I would have thought intumescent was the opposite of tumescent.

It's a different in-, as in information, which isn't the opposite of formation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: fimm on 24 September, 2020, 10:58:38 am
I'm not sure that this is the best thread for this, but anyway: my husband made a cake and informed me that he had used up the last of the "dissected" coconut to do so.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Davef on 24 September, 2020, 11:09:15 am
Odd word that. I would have thought intumescent was the opposite of tumescent.

It's a different in-, as in information, which isn't the opposite of formation.
Hmmm, so “tumescent” has meant “swelling” for centuries. In the 1950s someone comes up with “intumescent” meaning swelling caused by heat or fire. If I was making up a new word I would have gone for “pyrotumescent” or “thermotumescent”, maybe with a hyphen.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 24 September, 2020, 11:23:16 am
Intumescence doesn't have to be caused by heat, it's just come to be used that way. There's something about fire that leads to an urge to add an in- to the front of words. You have intumescent paint but a tumescent penis. Hopefully not at the same time, it'll get in the way.

Weirdly, no one uses tumescent paint and intumescent penises are rarely sighted.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 24 September, 2020, 11:29:39 am
Ralgex deep heat anyone ?   Ewwwwww.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 24 September, 2020, 11:35:47 am
I like your thinking. So slathering on Deep Heat to inflame one's singular passion is the distinction between tumescence and intumescence.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 24 September, 2020, 11:41:31 am
Odd word that. I would have thought intumescent was the opposite of tumescent.

It's a different in-, as in information, which isn't the opposite of formation.
It's the in- that means in!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Davef on 24 September, 2020, 12:21:43 pm
Intumescence doesn't have to be caused by heat, it's just come to be used that way. There's something about fire that leads to an urge to add an in- to the front of words. You have intumescent paint but a tumescent penis. Hopefully not at the same time, it'll get in the way.

Weirdly, no one uses tumescent paint and intumescent penises are rarely sighted.
As I said. Odd word. Tumescent, the adjective, means swollen. Intumescence the noun derived from it, meaning “a swelling” used in medicine. The very rare adjective “intumescent” meant “marked by swellings” but I cannot find a real example of it being used. Since the 1950s intumescent has been used an adjective applied to paint the swells under heat or fire. If you look up “intumescent” in the dictionary that is what it says as the main meaning.

So “intumescent” means marked by swellings or a paint the swells on heating.

A swollen penis and a penis marked by swellings are quite different things.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 24 September, 2020, 12:31:57 pm
Inflammable is not the opposite of flammable...
Prompted me to check Merriam-Webster. I'm not sure how representative it is of the President's English, but they list inflame and inflammatory but not "flammatory". Although they do, logically, have flammation. They also say:
Quote
In the early 20th century, firefighters worried that people might think inflammable meant "not able to catch fire," so they adopted flammable and nonflammable as official safety labels and encouraged their use to prevent confusion. In general use, flammable is now the preferred term for describing things that can catch fire, but inflammable is still occasionally used with that meaning as well.
Firefighters, bold in action but worried about words.

Now you’ve got me wondering why Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew et all didn’t complain about Stiff Little Fingers' debut album…
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 24 September, 2020, 12:36:20 pm
...

A swollen penis and a penis marked by swellings are quite different things.

Well, yes, that's what she said...

Intumescence doesn't just mean marked by swellings though (they'd probably be intumescences). Older medical texts refer to the 'intumescence of pregnancy' which is basically the bulge. Seems popular (along with womb and uterus in older copies of the Lancet, probably because they've digitized their back archive).

A couple of examples:

The intumescence of the uterus continued about the same and Jules Verne: Here, an intumescence which was to become a mountain, there, an abyss which was to be filled with an ocean or a sea.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: SteveC on 24 September, 2020, 12:55:18 pm
I'm not sure that this is the best thread for this, but anyway: my husband made a cake and informed me that he had used up the last of the "dissected" coconut to do so.
Known as desecrated coconut here.
Title: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Davef on 24 September, 2020, 12:57:30 pm
...

A swollen penis and a penis marked by swellings are quite different things.

Well, yes, that's what she said...

Intumescence doesn't just mean marked by swellings though (they'd probably be intumescences). Older medical texts refer to the 'intumescence of pregnancy' which is basically the bulge. Seems popular (along with womb and uterus in older copies of the Lancet, probably because they've digitized their back archive).

A couple of examples:

The intumescence of the uterus continued about the same and Jules Verne: Here, an intumescence which was to become a mountain, there, an abyss which was to be filled with an ocean or a sea.
I am referring to the adjective “intumescent”. Those are a fine couple of examples of the noun “intumescence” which means swelling. My (old) paper dictionary has “intumescence” and “tumescent” but does not have “intumescent”. Looking on line I see the adjective intumescent means swollen by heat or fire (since 1953) or before that “marked by intumescences”. I was saying that I could find no real world examples of the word “intumescent” other than referring to paint. It is the specific word “intumescent” I cant find in action using its original meaning and as fine as your examples of the noun are, they have not changed that.

Edit: ok I have found a reference to an “intumescent cataract” which does reference a swollen lens. Not sure 100% whether it is being used as “marked by swellings” or “is swollen”.

Edit: an “intumescent cataract” could of course be a waterfall of special paint.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 24 September, 2020, 02:04:24 pm
Intumescent seems to have been co-opted by the fiery infammatorialists for reasons unknown (the OED doesn't say). Medicine seems to revert to tumescent tissues.

Tumescent is ascendant everywhere else. Much Victorian prose can also be described as tumescent too, all that clausal, orotund language, burdened with tumid description and sesquipedalian sentences.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 October, 2020, 02:10:50 am
I do not know on which planet the word goujons is pronounced “goo-joes” but I hope never to have to go there.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Giraffe on 03 October, 2020, 10:11:31 am
Probably on Usanus.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 03 October, 2020, 10:25:40 am
Probably on Usanus.
Yes, almost certainly.

I’ve heard their natives say goo-jones but never with the silent n before.

Not that English pronunciations of French words are any better, as I’m sure we’ve discussed before.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 03 October, 2020, 10:33:13 am
This made me flee:  https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-lesson/

Needs more work.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 25 October, 2020, 11:18:01 pm
How long has that long thin country on the left hand side of South America been pronounced “Chee-lay”?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 26 October, 2020, 08:28:41 am
How long has that long thin country on the left hand side of South America been pronounced “Chee-lay”?

All the time they've been producing Aisle of Negra, IM(W)E. :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 October, 2020, 09:18:11 am
How long has that long thin country on the left hand side of South America been pronounced “Chee-lay”?

Is this the US pronunciation that always makes it sound like they're making fun of Mexicans with a hilarious comedy accent?

I've been to Chile and they really don't pronounce it Chee-lay.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 October, 2020, 10:52:45 am
How long has that long thin country on the left hand side of South America been pronounced “Chee-lay”?

Is this the US pronunciation that always makes it sound like they're making fun of Mexicans with a hilarious comedy accent?

I've been to Chile and they really don't pronounce it Chee-lay.

This was a BBC news reader and a the BBC's South American Correspondent, though the latter slipped up mid-report and switched to “Chilly” for a couple of sentences before reverting.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 October, 2020, 11:33:54 am
How long has that long thin country on the left hand side of South America been pronounced “Chee-lay”?

Is this the US pronunciation that always makes it sound like they're making fun of Mexicans with a hilarious comedy accent?

I've been to Chile and they really don't pronounce it Chee-lay.

This was a BBC news reader and a the BBC's South American Correspondent, though the latter slipped up mid-report and switched to “Chilly” for a couple of sentences before reverting.
Chilly-challying.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 26 October, 2020, 01:05:00 pm
How long has that long thin country on the left hand side of South America been pronounced “Chee-lay”?

Is this the US pronunciation that always makes it sound like they're making fun of Mexicans with a hilarious comedy accent?

I've been to Chile and they really don't pronounce it Chee-lay.

They don't pronounce it Chilly either.

But really, if you're speaking English it should be pronounced the English way, even if it's not the way the locals pronounce it. All languages have their own versions of other countries, no Chilean would pronounce E.E.U.U. as "America" or even "United States" when speaking Spanish. When I went to Poland, all the Poles pronounced Warszawa as "Warsaw" when speaking to me, even the ones that didn't speak English.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 October, 2020, 01:25:27 pm
I've griped about false foreign pronunciation before, say it in English, though the Chill-lay things is an odd-one, but seems the insistence of the Americans. I once spent an amusing hour in a São Paulo restaurant with an American who was claiming to an audience which included several Chilians that it was, in fact, the proper pronunciation. It wasn't a war he won.

I did once hear a Canadian refer to New Delhi as New Del-HIGH which tickled.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 October, 2020, 01:35:53 pm
It doesn’t rhyme with “aisle” either, unless you’re Jimi Hendrix.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 October, 2020, 01:45:22 pm
Context is all. "Gay Paree" is not the same as "gay Paris".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 26 October, 2020, 03:26:18 pm
My partner plays a Kawai piano.
We usually pronounce this ka-why as do British videos that feature this brand.
American videos seem to pronounce it K-Y which is rather slimy...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 October, 2020, 05:24:58 pm
USAnians pronounce a certain South Korean car manufacturer as “Hunday”.  Rhymes with the day after Saturday.  I wot not whether this is closer to the original Korean but it still grates.  As do “Marzda” and “Neesan” for a couple of their Japanese rivals.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 October, 2020, 05:28:29 pm
IIRC it's "Hunday" in India too. Have a fun day in your high and dry!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 30 October, 2020, 12:27:06 am
We own a malfunctioning Kärcher floor sweeper that D has taken to the Service Centre a few miles away.

I phoned to ask about progress of the repair.

Their answering machine pronounces the brand as 'Carcher'.

I know that's fair enough for we monoglot Brits but it still grates...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 30 October, 2020, 08:52:54 am
Herbs pronounced urbs "because it's French". Why pronounce the S, then, knothead?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: nicknack on 30 October, 2020, 08:54:26 am
Herbs pronounced urbs "because it's French". Why pronounce the S, then, knothead?
'otel also.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 30 October, 2020, 11:13:48 am
Herbs pronounced urbs "because it's French". Why pronounce the S, then, knothead?
'otel also.

That's just people making liaison. The pukka grammar/pronunciation is awkward.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 30 October, 2020, 11:57:50 am
Herbs pronounced urbs "because it's French". Why pronounce the S, then, knothead?

Just checked the etymology. Apparently it's Middle English from Old French, and we only started pronouncing the H in the mid-19th century.

I've long since got over my problems with Americanised pronunciation of French words, bearing in mind how badly we treat them ourselves. But I don't think I'll ever make peace with "massoose".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 30 October, 2020, 12:08:34 pm
Because of my time in the US and the number of American ladies I lured into betweensheeted dalliances with my British Accent, I find their pronunciation of 'erbs curiously alluring. Talk dirty. Oh oh oh cilantro!

They do, in return, correct our foolhardy pronunciation of Filet-o-Fish.

Of course, to be proper, I suggest we all go back to the time before the great vowel shift (not to be confused with the great bowel shift).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 30 October, 2020, 12:29:32 pm
I will never forgive English people (with estuary accents) pronouncing "z" as zee. FFS. If USAnians can cope with pavements and lifts and flats, they can cope with zed.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 30 October, 2020, 12:38:57 pm
Of course, to be proper, I suggest we all go back to the time before the great vowel shift (not to be confused with the great bowel shift).
In Germany I live quite close to the Benrather Linie which divided a massive consonant shift aeons ago. My bit of Niederrhein the locals say “wat ist dat” and the people just a bit further south say the normal German ‘was ist das’. I find it really interesting to hear the Niederrheiners talking as it’s more like English when you hear it, even though it’s fully understandable German.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jasmine on 30 October, 2020, 12:39:46 pm
They do, in return, correct our foolhardy pronunciation of Filet-o-Fish.


To which the reply is, "What's that place called where they have the mardi gras?"
I'm fairly confident the French don't have a place called "Or-leens"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 30 October, 2020, 12:43:04 pm
I'm fairly confident the French don't have a place called "Or-leens"

They have a town called Beaulieu but I don't think they pronounce it byoo-lee.

People in glass houses and all that.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 30 October, 2020, 12:47:15 pm
They do, in return, correct our foolhardy pronunciation of Filet-o-Fish.


To which the reply is, "What's that place called where they have the mardi gras?"
I'm fairly confident the French don't have a place called "Or-leens"

To the locals, it's more of a New AHL-lee-ins. You've got to extract all three syllables yet blend the New into the AHL so its NAHL-lee-ins. But you've also got to make it sound effortless, it should be the pronunciation equivalent of rolling over in bed and going back to sleep. They'll still have warm beignets at 2pm so why hurry?

With some irony, I think one of the proposed theories for the great vowal shift is 'middle class hypercorrection.'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 30 October, 2020, 12:54:16 pm
With some irony, I think one of the proposed theories for the great vowal shift is 'middle class hypercorrection.'

I'm sure hypercorrection, middle class or otherwise, is the reason behind a lot of manglings of dirty foreign words - the aforementioned "massoose" being a prime example from the US.

Here in the UK, I often hear "coop de grah" for coup de grace, which will mean something very different to French ears. The idea of delivering a coupe de gras to finish someone off is quite amusing.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 30 October, 2020, 01:59:27 pm
No more so than Cocteau's ballon de foutre.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 30 October, 2020, 02:05:55 pm
No more so than Cocteau's ballon de foutre.

An arresting image, but not one I've come across before. Where is that from?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 30 October, 2020, 02:28:11 pm
No more so than Cocteau's ballon de foutre.

An arresting image, but not one I've come across before. Where is that from?

Apparently he asked for one in a restaurant.  It's usually rendered in English as glass of sperm.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 30 October, 2020, 03:12:24 pm
With some irony, I think one of the proposed theories for the great vowal shift is 'middle class hypercorrection.'

I'm sure hypercorrection, middle class or otherwise, is the reason behind a lot of manglings of dirty foreign words - the aforementioned "massoose" being a prime example from the US.

Here in the UK, I often hear "coop de grah" for coup de grace, which will mean something very different to French ears. The idea of delivering a coupe de gras to finish someone off is quite amusing.

I am sure I've mentioned by request for the buffet to be corrected by the waiter to the 'do you mean the burf-ET?' It turned out that I did because it was Texas and who knows if any given day isn't Bring Your Firearms to Work Day and I didn't want to the one supercilious hotel guest between him and an 'active shooter' incident on WNTV-9.

Re the great vowel shift, some didn't shift. I half-speak an obscure dialect called Erewashian and fight is generally still pronounced as 'fate', water as w-HAT-ter, etc. Time didn't so much as forget the place, as take an alternative route. Still, we only emerged blinking from our tunnels in the late 1980s, finally saved from centuries of molish servitude by the great St Margaret of Thatcher. Bless her. I never knew coal wasn't an actual vegetable before then.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 30 October, 2020, 06:22:47 pm
Herbs pronounced urbs "because it's French". Why pronounce the S, then, knothead?

Just checked the etymology. Apparently it's Middle English from Old French, and we only started pronouncing the H in the mid-19th century.

I've long since got over my problems with Americanised pronunciation of French words, bearing in mind how badly we treat them ourselves. But I don't think I'll ever make peace with "massoose".

Nor yet “shon-tooze”, as used by people talking about the German lady singer on The Velvet Underground & Nico.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 30 October, 2020, 07:29:55 pm
I think we've done several episodes of Americans vs. Irish names before. That never fails to entertain.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 04 November, 2020, 02:40:18 am
No, TV's *** Boulting, whichever city in Idaho Team CCC's Will Barta hails from it ent “Boys”.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 04 November, 2020, 09:43:37 am
That's his own private pronunciation.  ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 November, 2020, 07:58:31 pm
The new Moto GP World Champion is from Spaign-o, Mr BBC sports reporter, and thus his name is emphatically not pronounced “Jone Murr”.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 04 December, 2020, 06:57:59 pm
Various TV news types trying to say BioNTech.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 04 December, 2020, 09:15:16 pm
I'm hearing "dep-portation" instead of "dee-portation" which sounds wrong, as though it's something to do with deputy, deputising or something.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 04 December, 2020, 09:44:24 pm
Quite appropriate then; isn't it deputised Serco?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Hilldodger on 05 December, 2020, 06:06:46 pm
If you come to Leicestershire you can walk down Belvoir Street or visit Belvoir Castle in the Vale of Belvoir.

Around these parts, it's pronounced 'beaver'. :-)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 05 December, 2020, 06:10:46 pm
Is there any other way?
(H, Mayflower Junior 1965-1968)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Hilldodger on 05 December, 2020, 06:25:21 pm
According to many out-of-towners it's 'belv-wah'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 06 December, 2020, 12:01:03 am
My Danish mother was rapidly re-educated in 1964...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 06 December, 2020, 09:56:46 am
Someone on the radio yesterday actually said “pronounce-iation”
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: quixoticgeek on 08 December, 2020, 08:04:46 pm


This one from twitter...

https://twitter.com/jackremmington/status/1336291652441427970

How do you get to Meekro Wahvé?

I...

wtf.

J
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 January, 2021, 08:02:25 pm
Radio's Tim Harford: the first name of your guest Professor Beate Kampmann is not pronounced “Beatty”.  If you do not know how to pronounce a guest's name it is only polite to find out beforehand instead of making an on-air tit of yourself.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: nicknack on 11 January, 2021, 08:06:53 pm


This one from twitter...

https://twitter.com/jackremmington/status/1336291652441427970

How do you get to Meekro Wahvé?

I...

wtf.

J
I do believe she's taking the piss.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 11 January, 2021, 08:17:13 pm


This one from twitter...

https://twitter.com/jackremmington/status/1336291652441427970

How do you get to Meekro Wahvé?

I...

wtf.

J
I do believe she's taking the piss.

She's divulged that it was a riff on a meme about Ikea selling microwaves and the weird names Ikea give to products. So yes it was a joke.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 25 January, 2021, 08:09:57 pm
Someone on C4 News just pronounced chasm with the ch as in cheddar.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 26 January, 2021, 12:54:01 pm
Someone on C4 News just pronounced chasm with the ch as in cheddar.

I remember doing that as a kid, as is the way when you learn words by reading.  You'd think they'd have noticed before they got to do anything newsworthy...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 26 January, 2021, 12:57:48 pm
Someone on C4 News just pronounced chasm with the ch as in cheddar.

I remember doing that as a kid, as is the way when you learn words by reading.  You'd think they'd have noticed before they got to do anything newsworthy...

It was a person running a campaign to get pupils back to school ASAP. Maybe that's why...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 26 January, 2021, 12:59:23 pm
Someone on C4 News just pronounced chasm with the ch as in cheddar.

I remember doing that as a kid, as is the way when you learn words by reading.  You'd think they'd have noticed before they got to do anything newsworthy...

It was a person running a campaign to get pupils back to school ASAP. Maybe that's why...

*snork*
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ian H on 26 January, 2021, 02:13:44 pm
Might of, could of, etc., as a pronunciation of **'ve.  Leading of course to the written version.  You wouldn't say or write 'I of done that' so it isn't 'I could of done that'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 26 January, 2021, 02:17:45 pm
Might of, could of, etc., as a pronunciation of **'ve.  Leading of course to the written version.  You wouldn't say or write 'I of done that' so it isn't 'I could of done that'.

Corollary to the above, this is what happens when you write words you've learned through listening.  As a child with fluctuating hearing impairment, where dropping 'h's and 't's was de rigueur amongst my peers, attempts to correct this aspect of my vocabulary were met with general disbelief.

I think the moral of this story is that English is a stupid language.  But we knew that already.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 January, 2021, 02:29:23 pm
You would say chasm as in that great Cockney sonic ejaculators Chas-n-Dave-m if you weren't aware of the hard ch. I'm forgiving, I learned from books, which means you grow up to snotty people saying don't you mean? and then delivering their very correct pronunciation. Generally, I'm gracious about their correction, before burying their bodies somewhere they won't be found.

Listening to a presentation at the moment by a French lady. On every other slide there is the word 'focus' which she delivers so it sounds like a bit like 'fuck you.'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 26 January, 2021, 02:34:41 pm
Never take the mick out of people who don't pronounce words correctly, they must have learnt the word from a book. And we should encourage more of that.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 26 January, 2021, 02:36:24 pm


Listening to a presentation at the moment by a French lady. On every other slide there is the word 'focus' which she delivers so it sounds like a bit like 'fuck you.'

As pronounced by Father Ted.....
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 January, 2021, 02:44:11 pm
There's another chap now who keeps saying BioRxiv (and MedRxiv) as Bio-RX-IV (with the letters pronounced). The X is a chi, so it's should be bio-archive (the name comes from the original physics preprint archive arXiv).

I'm not criticising the poor chap, it's knobbish too-clever naming.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 26 January, 2021, 02:52:45 pm
Influenced by mobile text-speak, do you think?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 January, 2021, 02:57:25 pm
Nah, it's the physicists and their love of equations.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 26 January, 2021, 03:26:42 pm
See also the great "eye two see" vs "eye squared see" debate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C2%B2C).  Obviously the correct answer is "eye eye see", but nobody writes it like that.  Obviously nobody's going to waste brain-cells on pronunciation when they could be arguing about the problemacity of 'master' and 'slave'...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 January, 2021, 03:49:39 pm
Learning words from books is great, as is learning words from speech, but in the case of a word like chasm, it seems odd that you'd reach the stage where you were talking on the news (or whatever it was) without ever having pronounced the word in public or heard others use it aloud.

Vaguely related, there's an article in today's Independent Mispronouncing people's names is a form of racism. (https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yewande-biala-love-island-lucie-donlan-b1792717.html) The author's name is Yewande Biala. I know how I'd pronounce that but I've no idea how she does; surely names are an area where you have to accept that people don't know how to say your name and either you're going to correct them or they're going to ask, or you're going to accept their wild attempts?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 26 January, 2021, 03:55:09 pm
Learning words from books is great, as is learning words from speech, but in the case of a word like chasm, it seems odd that you'd reach the stage where you were talking on the news (or whatever it was) without ever having pronounced the word in public or heard others use it aloud.

You can fail to make the connection and go quite a long way with the two forms existing as completely separate words in your vocabulary, especially if you're wary of writing the spoken form because you're not sure how to spell it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 January, 2021, 04:00:34 pm
I'm not sure I understand that, except in the case of words two distinct meanings.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 26 January, 2021, 04:18:18 pm
I'm not sure I understand that, except in the case of words two distinct meanings.

You might come to understand that a chasm (in the Channel 4 News sense) is a big difference in something, while a kasm is a rock formation.  Deaf people are prone having overly specific definitions of words, and it's certainly something barakta's been known to do.  Overly specific (but correct) use of words doesn't usually result in the sort of semantic errors that people will question, outside of very formal contexts.  And if you're used to not understanding things, you might not question someone else's seemingly unusual use of a word...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 January, 2021, 05:39:28 pm
Possible, but only if you'd never heard 'kasm' used in the 'big difference' meaning, which seems unlikely.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 26 January, 2021, 06:17:11 pm
I think sometimes that it's easy to fall back on a phonetic pronunciation as that's the intuitive pronunciation – the hard k requires effort. This is more so the case when speaking in public, where there's some pressure. I know I've popped out words that are clearly wrong and I know they're wrong and I knew they were wrong when I said them.

I won't bother with the clickbait story about mispronouncing names being a form of racism. You have no idea how often my name is pronounced wrong.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: barakta on 26 January, 2021, 10:54:12 pm
I think mispronunciation of names as a form of racism isn't as simple as "oh noes my name was said wrong", that does indeed happen to many people quite frequently. Whether it's a weird stressing in the name, mangling the name entirely or whatever.

The racist variant tends to be more subtle and manifests as people refusing to even try and pronounce a name they're a bit scared of that turns out to be entirely phonetic, not making an effort to pronounce correctly when told how, or just assigning the 'foreignly named' person some other name that isn't theirs overly or 'just by accident every time'.

Last week in a big meeting with Boss4, it was notable that she called upon everyone who was giving contributions by name and very obviously avoided using the name of a Boss1 level colleague whose name is Indian (and pronounced EXACTLY as it is written). This is apparently a thing Boss4 does despite having been introduced to Indian named colleague several times. It was blatant enough that I noticed it, when at my workplace there's quite a lot of BME staff, some of whom have "foreign looking" names. Most people just have a go at a pronunciation and make an effort to correct themselves if the named person says it differently.

There's no excuse for not trying in my view cos you can now google "pronounce $NAME" and you'll find videos online with likely pronunciations. Sometimes there's two competing ones, and I have generally found that at introductions if person doesn't say their name, I can ask "Can I check I'm saying your name right, I have found X and Y variants, I'd like to get yours correct". It's a small thing, but seems like basic respect to me. Sometimes I've had students tell me the story of their name and how that relates to a family language - a little glimpse of life stories which are very different to my own.

Oh and for words. Google can now do word pronunciations. "Define: WORD" and click on the speaker, you can slow it down. It's in en-GB now, when it used to be en-US only. I also did a blogpost once on which dictionaries had en-GB human read pronunciations as difficulty with phonemes and sounds is common to dyslexic, deaf and some other people with certain impairments.

By deaf standards I pronounce words pretty well, cos I hear pretty well, but I can reliably tell you if a signer is deaf or hearing partly by their lip pattern cos it often matches a deaf person's guess on how a word is shaped and not how it is shaped when pronounced 'correctly'. An example is "know" many deaf people pronounce it as 'k'now' or they may be aware the k is silent, but pronounce it 'now' rather than like 'no'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 January, 2021, 11:48:28 pm
Most people just have a go at a pronunciation and make an effort to correct themselves if the named person says it differently.
I think that's all you can do really and all you can expect on first meeting. Obviously if you know in advance you're going to be meeting someone with a particular name, you can do some research, which might, again, be asking them in an email or similar.

I'm curious about your Boss 1 colleague's Indian name though. IME very few Indian names are pronounced exactly as written from an English reading. The 'th' sound for instance doesn't quite exist in English. Depends on language though...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 27 January, 2021, 09:34:24 am
I don't think normal people go around trying to mispronounce peoples' names, but mistakes are easy to make, and yes, some names are simply difficult to pronounce since not all sounds are universal. I work with an Indian team and even they mostly shorten their names for convenience, the same way the Chinese often grab a Western name or just use their initials. Calling everything racism is tedious and demeaning for actual racism.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: barakta on 27 January, 2021, 01:07:30 pm
I think a person not affected by an issue deciding what is and is not the-issue is a bit dubious to be honest. Micro aggressions are precisely problematic exactly because other people want to say "calling them an ism diminishes the real ism" or otherwise diminish their impact. When actually it's their frequent occurrence which is half of their impact.

While it is common for people with "funny forrin names" to pick an anglo name, not everyone is doing that entirely by choice, given the amount of pressure to "fit in" "not make trouble or be difficult". And that fits in with wider 'colonisation' where "undesirable" minority ethnic groups would often be forcibly renamed to something 'deemed desirable'. So it's not as simple as free choice for everyone.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 27 January, 2021, 01:13:52 pm
That's just weird subjective post-modernism. I've decided I'm offended, so that's offensive, where's my newspaper column. Sorry, I don't buy it. We all make accommodations.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 January, 2021, 10:31:11 am
By deaf standards I pronounce words pretty well, cos I hear pretty well, but I can reliably tell you if a signer is deaf or hearing partly by their lip pattern cos it often matches a deaf person's guess on how a word is shaped and not how it is shaped when pronounced 'correctly'. An example is "know" many deaf people pronounce it as 'k'now' or they may be aware the k is silent, but pronounce it 'now' rather than like 'no'.
I actually know someone whose surname begins Kn and somewhat counterintuitively, both letters are pronounced separately. I think it might be of Scandinavian origin. Most of his relatives live in Kentucky – it would be interesting to know if they pronounce it the same way he does.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 28 January, 2021, 03:54:03 pm
I was just thinking about Alfred Knoller...
An erstwhile schoolmate posted on Facebook today he'd just celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary.
This man ran a boutique very popular with us as schoolgirls and still lives locally.

I saw an interview on Auntie with someone named Jamie, pronounced 'jammy' and wondered how many might call her jaymee...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 January, 2021, 04:06:11 pm
I saw an interview on Auntie with someone named Jamie, pronounced 'jammy' and wondered how many might call her jaymee...
I'd imagine almost everyone who doesn't already know her. I think if it were me, I might be tempted to change the spelling of my name.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 January, 2021, 06:28:55 pm
By deaf standards I pronounce words pretty well, cos I hear pretty well, but I can reliably tell you if a signer is deaf or hearing partly by their lip pattern cos it often matches a deaf person's guess on how a word is shaped and not how it is shaped when pronounced 'correctly'. An example is "know" many deaf people pronounce it as 'k'now' or they may be aware the k is silent, but pronounce it 'now' rather than like 'no'.
I actually know someone whose surname begins Kn and somewhat counterintuitively, both letters are pronounced separately. I think it might be of Scandinavian origin. Most of his relatives live in Kentucky – it would be interesting to know if they pronounce it the same way he does.

Knetucky?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: bairn again on 29 January, 2021, 01:53:57 pm
Increasingly I hear "fith" and "sicth" rather than "fifth" and "sixth".  Weird more than cringeworthy.   
 
I had a lengthy discussion with colleagues this morning over the word "longevity".  It crops up quite a bit in my professional life and I appear to be in small minority (of 1) who says "long-evity" rather than "long-jevity".  Perhaps  a product of having worked for a power company where pronouncing Longannet Power station as "long-gannet" was a cardinal sin.     

Our discussion turned to the pronunctiation of the word "lingerie" and my mind went elswhere..........   :o
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 29 January, 2021, 02:05:15 pm
Where's the line between "regional accent" and "lazy speech"?

There's a continuity announcer on Her Majesty's BBC TV who says "vvv" instread of "th". Like a steeering wheel in my trousers, it's driving me nuts.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 29 January, 2021, 03:00:51 pm
Long gannet power is what makes AUKs run and run.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 29 January, 2021, 07:46:21 pm
There was an Australian on the radio the other day who pronounced influencers to rhyme with influenza. Not sure if that's a regional thing.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 29 January, 2021, 07:49:40 pm
My partner‘s daughter pronounced it the same - but she‘s German.

The foster son of my landlord and landlady, an Afghan refugee who has lived here 4 years, pronounced Hollister like Polyester! Hollie-ester!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 16 February, 2021, 04:36:44 pm
Newsreader on 6music just rendered Tanzania as tan-zanier (like, more zany), which is a pronunciation I've not heard since the 80s.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 February, 2021, 06:15:39 pm
That's a pronunciation I've only heard on, IIRC, Grange Hill (or something similar – definitely 1980s TV), where it was clearly intended to mark out the (ignorant posh private school) baddies at some junior UN-type thing.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 February, 2021, 07:29:28 pm
The locals seem to pronounce it both ways, though mostly Tan-ZAY-knee-uh amongst younger people (in my experience). It's a portmanteau anyway (Tanganyika and Zanzibar).

In other matters, Ken-Ya and not Keen-Ya.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 16 February, 2021, 09:11:00 pm
Interesting that the locals say it that way. That is how I was taught to say it back in the late 70s/early 80s, whenever it was, but I’ve not heard that pronunciation for many years. Really took me by surprise.

(Wouldn’t say it made me cringe but we don’t have a ‘pronunciation that surprises you’ thread)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 16 February, 2021, 09:20:24 pm
Hmm, I've only been there once, but I certainly heard it both ways and I'd say from a limited sample size, the 'zanier' pronunciation was mostly (exclusively) older people. Google seems to agree with me that it's fallen out of fashion but isn't per se incorrect. I guess when the name was invented nobody did a handy pronunciation guide.

Arkansas, on the other hand, had quite the time deciding on their preference.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 February, 2021, 09:22:11 pm
(Wouldn’t say it made me cringe but we don’t have a ‘pronunciation that surprises you’ thread)
Just as with the grammar thread, at least half isn't really cringe.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 16 February, 2021, 11:01:45 pm
Wasn’t the Arkansas/Kansas business something to do with the Louisiana Purchase?  If I can’t blame Thatcher then Napoléon will make a reasonable substitute.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 17 February, 2021, 09:43:28 am
Sort of, it's an attempt at Frenchification (original Arcansas, a French transliteration of the Algonquian term for the Quapaw peoples of the area) by dropping the terminal s. There was a long-running tussle over the two pronunciations that resulting the State passing a resolution that would thereafter be officially pronounced -saw and not -sas.

The possessive is a bit prickly, Arkansas' versus Arkansas's. Apparently, the State legislature prefers the latter.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 17 February, 2021, 09:56:14 am
I vaguely recall reading that before they passed that resolution, they used to have one senator for ar-kansas and one for arkan-saw, to keep both sides happy. Or something like that.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 17 February, 2021, 10:00:57 am
There were two senators with alternate resolutions. I had to google the full story. I'm liking that they once called themselves Arkansawyers and more so that there was an Eclectic Society of Little Rock.

Quote from: the internet says
The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, but the territory was admitted to the United States as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically pronounced /ˈɑːrkənsɔː/, /ɑːrˈkænzəs/, and several other variants. The residents of Arkansas have called themselves either "Arkansans" or "Arkansawyers". In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed the following concurrent resolution, now Arkansas Code 1 April 105:[13]

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is discouraged by Arkansans.

Despite this, the state's name is still frequently mispronounced, especially by non-Americans; in fact, it is spelled in Cyrillic with the ar-KAN-zəs pronunciation.

Citizens of the state of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River as /ɑːrˈkænzəs/, in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 February, 2021, 11:02:30 am
Arkansawyer sounds like someone engaged to prepare timber for Noah.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Moleman76 on 20 February, 2021, 06:49:07 am
some of us over here cringe whenever Arkansaw or Arkansass is heard
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 20 February, 2021, 12:28:23 pm
I see the latest of Brenda's great-grandchildren is to be named August.

Will this be pronounced like the eighth month, AwGUST or Ow-goost?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 20 February, 2021, 01:32:58 pm
Well, the latter is the, ahem, German pronunciation :demon:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 20 February, 2021, 01:35:52 pm
Er ist nach Albert heißt, nicht wahr?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 20 February, 2021, 01:40:45 pm
Wie bitte?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 20 February, 2021, 01:55:40 pm
August Philip Hawke Brooksbank.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56137887 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56137887)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 February, 2021, 02:59:21 pm
I lose track of these royals (that's a lie, the truth is I do not try to keep up) but this Princess Eugenie bears a facial resemblance to That Emily Chappell. Bet she doesn't write such good books though.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 20 February, 2021, 03:20:05 pm
I think she's written kids' books.

She has been fitted with an internal titanium back straightener.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 20 February, 2021, 03:42:38 pm
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=67699.0
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 24 March, 2021, 12:34:10 pm
I just heard "behemoth" on a podcast with the "moth" like the annoying flying insect.

Yeah, spelling pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 24 March, 2021, 05:05:53 pm
That’s how I would pronounce it though - bee her moth.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 01 April, 2021, 05:51:30 pm
Someone on C4 News reporting from Furryboottoon saying the city is famous for 'oil and granight'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 01 April, 2021, 06:04:44 pm
And so it is. It's where everyone's Gran goes for night out.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cring
Post by: Beardy on 18 April, 2021, 02:18:42 pm
I’m subscribed to a few maths and science YouTube channels and also a few wood working channels.  A lot of these are American in origin. I also saw a bit of footage from the Elizabeth Taylor bio last night, in particular her making a statement to congress about AIDS (for wh8ch I believe she set up her own foundation for which she campaigned extensively)

When will our colonial cousins recognise that it’s a quarter, or one quarter. It most definitely is not a fourth or one fourth.
 
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 24 May, 2021, 07:36:55 pm
Amusing rather than cringeworthy, but I was tickled by the stooge from the Israeli FOREIGN Ministry accusing TV's Matt Frei of being “disingenious”.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 25 May, 2021, 09:19:05 am
I hate to say it, and I know it's partly in jest, but the entire 'Americans say something differently' thing grates because of course they do.

It's still worth it to put a Frenchy and a Québécois in the same room though. There's a moment of francophonic bonding that doesn't last very long before they demand their language back. When it comes to linguistic snoots, you can't beat the French.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: TimC on 25 May, 2021, 09:46:29 am
I’m subscribed to a few maths and science YouTube channels and also a few wood working channels.  A lot of these are American in origin. I also saw a bit of footage from the Elizabeth Taylor bio last night, in particular her making a statement to congress about AIDS (for wh8ch I believe she set up her own foundation for which she campaigned extensively)

When will our colonial cousins recognise that it’s a quarter, or one quarter. It most definitely is not a fourth or one fourth.
 

Do you have the same problem with thirds?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 25 May, 2021, 09:50:30 am
It's tertiles all the way down.

Boom boom.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 25 May, 2021, 10:24:03 am
It's tertiles all the way down.

Boom boom.
That's pretty good actually. Or maybe I just find bad jokes funny.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 25 May, 2021, 10:35:34 am
I hate to say it, and I know it's partly in jest, but the entire 'Americans say something differently' thing grates because of course they do.
Quote

Yebbut hearing a Peaky Fucking Bloinder saying clurk and skedule does grate when you realize they're doing it as a concession to the American ear.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 25 May, 2021, 11:33:43 am
I've just had a supplier tell me he needs to ly-ase with other departments.

Maybe he does mean he's going to break down bonds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyase).

But I doubt it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Paul on 25 May, 2021, 04:24:10 pm
I hate to say it, and I know it's partly in jest, but the entire 'Americans say something differently' thing grates because of course they do.
Quote

Yebbut hearing a Peaky Fucking Bloinder saying clurk and skedule does grate when you realize they're doing it as a concession to the American ear.

Could it be an Oirish pronunciation? I don’t know about clerk, but I say skedule. Both my parents were Irish. Could it be that? I don’t watch PBs, but I believe some of the characters are supposed to be Irish or of Irish decent.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 May, 2021, 12:42:55 am
What kind of a bollockbrain speaks of a price being “Thirty-nine point ninety-nine”?  I mean, apart from smarmy mid-Atlantic twats trying to flog a cheap monocular which is “taking the world by storm”.

The day after I lead the Panzers down Whitehall anyone using the phrase “taking X by storm” will wish they hadn’t.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Salvatore on 28 May, 2021, 03:36:55 am
The same bollockbrain which claimed the revolutionary monocular had been developed at Joe (sic) Hopkins University while showing a picture of New College Oxford.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 28 May, 2021, 05:54:21 am
And the same bollockbrain who's ad (a different one from the above) claimed the monocular was developed by someone who was brought up immersed in mother nature, but with the caption showing 'brought up immersed in mother'.

Incidentally I read this thread and then clicked on a YouTube subscription notification for something completely unrelated (a news item) and the monocular ad was the 'skip ad' that appeared before it which I, for once, was happy not to skip.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 28 May, 2021, 08:10:25 am
I hate to say it, and I know it's partly in jest, but the entire 'Americans say something differently' thing grates because of course they do.

Yebbut hearing a Peaky Fucking Bloinder saying clurk and skedule does grate when you realize they're doing it as a concession to the American ear.

Could it be an Oirish pronunciation? I don’t know about clerk, but I say skedule. Both my parents were Irish. Could it be that? I don’t watch PBs, but I believe some of the characters are supposed to be Irish or of Irish decent.

Not any Irish pronunciation I ever heard in N.I.  My dad in the 50s mentioned remarking on the sh/sk different to an American colleague, who replied that they had a different sheme of speaking in the shool he went to.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Paul on 02 June, 2021, 07:43:54 am
I hate to say it, and I know it's partly in jest, but the entire 'Americans say something differently' thing grates because of course they do.

Yebbut hearing a Peaky Fucking Bloinder saying clurk and skedule does grate when you realize they're doing it as a concession to the American ear.

Could it be an Oirish pronunciation? I don’t know about clerk, but I say skedule. Both my parents were Irish. Could it be that? I don’t watch PBs, but I believe some of the characters are supposed to be Irish or of Irish decent.

Not any Irish pronunciation I ever heard in N.I.  My dad in the 50s mentioned remarking on the sh/sk different to an American colleague, who replied that they had a different sheme of speaking in the shool he went to.
If I remember, I’ll ask mammy when I next speak to her.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 03 June, 2021, 12:28:43 pm
Simon Sebag Montefiore's pronunciation of "warrior" I really like his programs but this just grates every time he says it. "Wahr-rior".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 22 June, 2021, 10:42:05 pm
Kudos to Spaign-o's Marc Marquez who won Sunday's German Motorcycle Grand Prix after recovering from a crash last year that saw him break his humus.  Or possibly his hummus.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 09 August, 2021, 04:07:34 pm
A couple of days ago I heard "re" pronounced as initials. As in "We have a question from John Smith of Morgan Stanley R.E. working capital in the second quarter".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 29 August, 2021, 09:22:11 am
Komoot. Yes I know it's text-to-speech, and I know place names often have weird pronunciations, but surely you can get country-specific versions nowadays?

In the UK:

Stress is firmly on the second syllable. Eg Cotterstock comes out as K'tair-stock, and so on.
Standard words: Sing-gla-track and Brid-la-way. Goose as Juice.

Romania:

Bizarrely, given Brid-la-way, Mare and Vale are pronounced Mair and Vayle

Czechia:

Czech prononciation is hard, and mine's pretty bad, but Komoot's is hilarious.

North Macedonia:

I'm glad there was no-one in earshot when it told me to "turn left on to Strada General Tit-oh"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 02 September, 2021, 06:21:17 pm
I know I should cut TV's Lyse Doucet some slack given that she hails from rural Neptune [“New Brunswick” – Ed.] but her not-infrequent referring to the Afghan capital as “Cobble” is starting to grate.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 02 November, 2021, 10:22:33 am
Hey, USAnians: there's no such place as Glass-cow.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 November, 2021, 10:50:27 am
And if we're doing Usanians, then no, Taylan and Rumpus, I do not want to start an "online teezhur business".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 November, 2021, 03:05:40 pm
Not pronunciation this time but dialect or vocabulary. A child, maybe seven or eight years old, on a train, asked "Do trains have gas stations?" The striking thing about this Americanism was that the child and all three of her adults (who seemed to be mother, aunt and grandmother) had very British accents.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 08 November, 2021, 05:16:12 am
Probably a YouTube influence.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: De Sisti on 08 November, 2021, 07:18:49 am
Hey, USAnians: there's no such place as Glass-cow.
Southerners pronouncing the city as Glarrs-go.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 November, 2021, 08:22:05 am
Not pronunciation this time but dialect or vocabulary. A child, maybe seven or eight years old, on a train, asked "Do trains have gas stations?" The striking thing about this Americanism was that the child and all three of her adults (who seemed to be mother, aunt and grandmother) had very British accents.

Sailing along in our little 1970s time capsule, we've noticed for a long time that UK vocabulary is becoming steadily more American.  While some Americanisms are expressive and worthy of adoption, others really grate: I'm still trying to get over train station, and I know I'll never use it myself.

FWIW I learnt to drive in Germany, where gas is the colloquial term for petrol & diesel, so I often think of the accelerator as the gas pedal.  Sometimes I can still almost hear the driving instructor say "Jetzt Gas geben" as I accelerate out of a bend.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 08 November, 2021, 08:30:55 am
And of course the girl's father, who wasn't present, might be American.

Train station used to grate on me too but no longer does. You go to a bus station to get a bus, so you go to a train station to get a train. I have noticed my son occasionally using "gotten", which I put down to movies or YouTube. But language changes and you can also find "gotten" in older British usage (though it might have been in slightly different contexts).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 08 November, 2021, 08:49:32 am
Hey, USAnians: there's no such place as Glass-cow.
Southerners pronouncing the city as Glarrs-go.

Oh yes, that too.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: De Sisti on 08 November, 2021, 10:07:32 am
Hey, USAnians: there's no such place as Glass-cow.
Southerners pronouncing the city as Glarrs-go.

Oh yes, that too.
I can imagine southerners having difficulty with Glastonbury. :-D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 08 November, 2021, 11:03:36 am
And of course the girl's father, who wasn't present, might be American.

Train station used to grate on me too but no longer does. You go to a bus station to get a bus, so you go to a train station to get a train. I have noticed my son occasionally using "gotten", which I put down to movies or YouTube. But language changes and you can also find "gotten" in older British usage (though it might have been in slightly different contexts).

Several British dialects use gotten (though it's fallen out of favour), it's not really an American thing. I like the word so use it with some deliberation mostly because it might annoy someone on the internet, which is a curiously pleasant sensation.

I don't really get the criticism of placename pronunciation – it's not like we pronounce Paris the same way as the French is it?

Americans do struggle spectacularly with Edinburgh though. They gave up with the one in Pennsylvania and ran with Edinboro instead.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 08 November, 2021, 11:23:11 am
"Gotten" is definitely a recent USA import via the internet.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: De Sisti on 08 November, 2021, 12:31:26 pm
I don't really get the criticism of placename pronunciation – it's not like we pronounce Paris the same way as the French is it?
No one is criticising. ::-)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 November, 2021, 01:00:35 pm
"Gotten" is definitely a recent USA import via the internet.

Put an ill- or a for- in front of it and it's still UK English.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 08 November, 2021, 01:29:12 pm
"Gotten" is definitely a recent USA import via the internet.

Put an ill- or a for- in front of it and it's still UK English.

"Ill-gotten gains" is a set phrase. "Ill-gotten" could be analysed as a single word. "Bated" is another word that has fallen out of use but survives in a set phrase.

"Forgotten" is a separate word.

Anyhow, "gotten" will be increasing common, amongst young people it will be a normal word.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 08 November, 2021, 01:38:17 pm
Cant remember who it was now but they were English. A documentary on ancient Egypt and they kept saying "oboe-lisk". I'd take either "ob-o-lisk" or "ob-a-lisk" but how they managed to get a woodwind musical instrument into their pronunciation beats me and grated horribly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 November, 2021, 02:58:17 pm
Then there's US resprat'ry vs UK respiratory vs Dr. John Campbell resp-eye-ratory.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: cygnet on 08 November, 2021, 08:56:00 pm
Cant remember who it was now but they were English. A documentary on ancient Egypt and they kept saying "oboe-lisk". I'd take either "ob-o-lisk" or "ob-a-lisk" but how they managed to get a woodwind musical instrument into their pronunciation beats me and grated horribly.

Maybe never read any Asterix books?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Moleman76 on 15 November, 2021, 08:34:05 am
FWIW I learnt to drive in Germany, where gas is the colloquial term for petrol & diesel

Further FWIW, over a dozen years ago I rented an automobile in Aberdeen.  The rental agent pointed out the location for fuel filling and informed me "this car uses diesel petrol".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 27 November, 2021, 09:25:00 pm
TV's Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes has just referred to the “Omnicron” variant of Coronalurgi.  Nasty cough she’s got too.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 28 November, 2021, 12:14:52 am
Doesn't she know it's the Orinoco variant  ???
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 November, 2021, 01:35:16 am
I guess she's going with the flow.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 November, 2021, 11:55:16 am
I guess she's going with the flow.
Lateral thinking there Mr L.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 10 December, 2021, 07:13:10 pm
TV's Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes has just referred to the “Omnicron” variant of Coronalurgi.  Nasty cough she’s got too.

Gagh!  Now C4 News are at it!  Just stop it!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Efrogwr on 10 December, 2021, 07:27:29 pm
I know I should cut TV's Lyse Doucet some slack given that she hails from rural Neptune [“New Brunswick” – Ed.] but her not-infrequent referring to the Afghan capital as “Cobble” is starting to grate.


At the start of the Soviet fuckup in Afghanistan BBC news readers started to refer to it as Corbel.

Old documents in the India Office records list it as Kabol or Kabool... the latter is close to how I pronounce it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 10 December, 2021, 08:46:36 pm
As I bumbled through an early morning meeting about ontology-independent knowledge architecture and centroid nodal complacency paradigms (or something like that, this is incidentally my life) it occurred to me that a schism had developed without my noticing.

IT-eration versus EYE-teration.

Bring it on.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 10 December, 2021, 11:44:34 pm
Thingy, umm, not James Naughtie, on the Toady programme, probably Justin Webb pronounced the popular contraction for a biographical film as Bi-opic. 

No Christmas card for you Justin.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jaded on 10 December, 2021, 11:59:10 pm
Someone on C4 News reporting from Furryboottoon saying the city is famous for 'oil and granight'.

Grab a granight used to be a thing in night clubs?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 December, 2021, 01:04:46 am
Thingy, umm, not James Naughtie, on the Toady programme, probably Justin Webb pronounced the popular contraction for a biographical film as Bi-opic. 

No Christmas card for you Justin.

I've encountered that one before, and it’s definitely in the same bracket of cringe-induction as the newspaper reviewer who referred to Iain Banks' novel Espedair Street as “a rock biopic” :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 11 December, 2021, 12:11:57 pm
Thingy, umm, not James Naughtie, on the Toady programme, probably Justin Webb pronounced the popular contraction for a biographical film as Bi-opic. 

No Christmas card for you Justin.

We had a discussion about that at work once. Everyone thought I was wrong pronouncing it as bio-pic  ??? Then someone looked it up on teh interwebs  :smug:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 11 December, 2021, 06:44:06 pm
You mean it doesn't rhyme with 'myopic'?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 11 December, 2021, 08:11:36 pm
Thingy, umm, not James Naughtie, on the Toady programme, probably Justin Webb pronounced the popular contraction for a biographical film as Bi-opic. 

No Christmas card for you Justin.

See also Myrie C, off of Mastermind that I caught up on, using that iPlayer that they have these days.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 11 December, 2021, 08:16:04 pm
I rhyme it with myopic. Bite me, nincompoops.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 13 December, 2021, 05:23:58 pm
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=116389.msg2522361#msg2522361
See also people who pronounce biopic, bi-opic.

Kill them.  AND their families.  With fire.  Oh yes.

The only thing worse is the cover blurb on my copy of "Espedair Street", which calls said book a "biopic".

To rhyme with “myopic”?

As in

There once was a third-rate biopic
Whose viewers were somewhat myopic.
These short-sighted dolts,
Unaware of its faults,
Actually thought the film was rather good.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 08 January, 2022, 04:52:25 pm
I've just been offered that classic Italian dish Vegetable Do' Piazza
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 10 January, 2022, 08:10:49 pm
S'dentry. I always say said-en-tarry.

Am I wrong or is this man an idiot?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Paul on 10 January, 2022, 11:55:47 pm
S'dentry. I always say said-en-tarry.

Am I wrong or is this man an idiot?
I’d like to know the answer because an ex laughed like a drain at me when I pronounced it sedENtary and I took her word for it. Sort of relieved to find I’m not alone (though we may both be wrong).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 11 January, 2022, 09:12:09 am
S'dentry. I always say said-en-tarry.

Am I wrong or is this man an idiot?
I’d like to know the answer because an ex laughed like a drain at me when I pronounced it sedENtary and I took her word for it. Sort of relieved to find I’m not alone (though we may both be wrong).

No idea. I've always pronounced it "sed N tree"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rafletcher on 11 January, 2022, 09:14:31 am
Similarly, sed-ent-tree.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Nuncio on 11 January, 2022, 10:03:00 am
It's only sed-an-try if you're sitting in the NW of France. Anywhere else it's just idle sit.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 11 January, 2022, 10:53:42 am
Similarly, sed-ent-tree.
Snap.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 11 January, 2022, 01:15:29 pm
Yesterday in a meeting we couldn't work our how to pronounce Artefact.

Google pronunciation came up with aa-te-fact
this obviously resulted in much hilarity as I managed to between coughing fits produce an RP accent and a countering welsh version.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 11 January, 2022, 01:36:59 pm
S'dentry. I always say said-en-tarry.

Am I wrong or is this man an idiot?
I’d like to know the answer because an ex laughed like a drain at me when I pronounced it sedENtary and I took her word for it. Sort of relieved to find I’m not alone (though we may both be wrong).

No idea. I've always pronounced it "sed N tree"

I pronounce it like that, but with the emphasis on the first syllable.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 11 January, 2022, 05:59:41 pm
S'dentry. I always say said-en-tarry.

Am I wrong or is this man an idiot?
I’d like to know the answer because an ex laughed like a drain at me when I pronounced it sedENtary and I took her word for it. Sort of relieved to find I’m not alone (though we may both be wrong).

No idea. I've always pronounced it "sed N tree"

I pronounce it like that, but with the emphasis on the first syllable.

+1  Something like "said-entry"

I have form for being wrong when it comes to pronouncing words though, as I've no idea which accent to use at any given moment.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: FifeingEejit on 12 January, 2022, 01:47:03 pm
Sed EN tury

Obviously because the Scottish rhotic r forces an uh sound before it that iver rules the written vowel.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 14 January, 2022, 06:18:34 pm
After many years together Mrs P has just surprised me with her pronunciation of mnemonic.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: barakta on 14 January, 2022, 08:19:57 pm
Google's Define has a kind merge of the 'seden-tree' and 'seden-tary' https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&q=define%3A+sedentry
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 14 January, 2022, 08:49:38 pm
I say seden-terry and I'm right. I've discovered a great thing, that if you insistently keep pronouncing something incorrectly, you can actually make people you are, in fact, correct. It's a diabolical power so use it wisely and often.

Also, if you are a bloke, when talking to another bloke, lower your register a little so your voice is a bit deeper, and the other man will be forced to counter you, and in the space of a brief conversation, you'll end sounding like it's a Barry White face-off. I have started doing this all the time, it's brilliant. May work less well for girls.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 14 January, 2022, 09:14:31 pm
Did Barry White save your life, ian?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 14 January, 2022, 11:42:15 pm
After many years together Mrs P has just surprised me with her pronunciation of mnemonic.

Git
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 14 January, 2022, 11:48:54 pm
Also, if you are a bloke, when talking to another bloke, lower your register a little so your voice is a bit deeper, and the other man will be forced to counter you, and in the space of a brief conversation, you'll end sounding like it's a Barry White face-off.

Is this what happened to USAnian news anchors?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 14 January, 2022, 11:52:47 pm
+1 for said entry

And Barry White did save my life and get me back with my ex-wife, so ner.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 15 January, 2022, 06:40:14 am
My chap and his company make devices for cabinet condition monitoring, which they say in English. Except they say mon-it-or-ing. I have told him it is mon-it-tring but as they all say it wrong there’s no point in changing.

His English and that of his colleagues is really good, but they use this word loads.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 15 January, 2022, 08:38:09 am
My chap and his company make devices for cabinet condition monitoring, which they say in English. Except they say mon-it-or-ing. I have told him it is mon-it-tring but as they all say it wrong there’s no point in changing.

His English and that of his colleagues is really good, but they use this word loads.

Englisch nach DIN-Vorlage Nr. 45627B/6.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Feanor on 15 January, 2022, 09:39:17 am
I have German cow-orker who pronounces 'analysis' as analyse - is.

Due to the nature of our work, this word occurs in almost every sentence!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 January, 2022, 07:12:55 pm
My chap and his company make devices for cabinet condition monitoring, which they say in English. Except they say mon-it-or-ing. I have told him it is mon-it-tring but as they all say it wrong there’s no point in changing.

His English and that of his colleagues is really good, but they use this word loads.
Are they selling it to English speakers? If not, I really doubt anyone apart from you even notices. In fact mon-it-or-ing is probably more easily understood than a more "English" pronunciation. European Standard English!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 15 January, 2022, 08:54:26 pm
They are often speaking to an American audience. I don’t actually know how an American would pronounce it. But they pronounce the (German) company name wrong anyway!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 January, 2022, 09:05:38 pm
https://youtu.be/DvQz_JKwRZg
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 16 January, 2022, 11:25:30 am
The Oxford English Dictionay has :
/ˈsɛdəntəri/
like se-den-tary, said-den-tari, with emphasis on the first syllable.

But the sound file sounds to me like:
/ˈsɛdəntri/
like se-den-tree, said-den-tree, with emphasis on the first syllable.

Anyhow, the -ary ending often gets reduced to -ry in real life. Eg, voluntary is /ˈvɒlənt(ə)ri/,
elementary, arbitrary etc
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/224561
(needs library card no to view)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 16 January, 2022, 03:04:46 pm
My initial objection was less about tree/taery than s'd EN tree rather than SAID-en-tree
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 16 January, 2022, 03:43:35 pm
I say SED en TE rry...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 January, 2022, 04:12:37 pm
I say SED en TE rry...

Ditto.  And I say SEC-ret-erry rather than sec-ret-ry.

Not to be confused with secretory.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 16 January, 2022, 11:13:02 pm
Which I pronounce se-CREET-ory...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 31 January, 2022, 08:08:54 pm
A couple of weeks ago my dear wife and I found ourselves unable to enter our house because our keys failed to unlock the front door. A locksmith was called, who gained entry for us but said that the fault had occurred because the door had dropped and that was interfering with the deadlock mechanism, and caused our problem. His recommendation was a new front door. I have contacted two local companies and have been awaiting a reply.

One arrived just now. I mentioned it to her and said "I've had a response from Classic Doors about our enquiry. They want a photo of our existing front door."

She looked at me blankly. I tried again, talking about Classic Doors. Still a blank look.

I'm finding the conversation a bit frustrating that, despite our predicament of a week or so ago, and me telling her (as I though) exactly what I was talking about, she was still looking blank and not getting hold of the right end of the stick. I raise my voice and try again. "Surely you recall when we had to call a locksmith and he recommended us replacing our front door?"

"Oh, yes! I thought you were talking about bicycles!"

My dear wife is from the Derbyshire/Cheshire triangle and clearly hasn't appreciated yet, despite living here for 46 years, that in Essex "Doors" and "Dawes" are pronounced precisely the same.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 31 January, 2022, 08:52:04 pm
Wait a minute, something's wrong
My key won't unlock this door
I got a bad bad feelin'
That my baby don't live here no more!
- Jimi Hendrix in 1967, yesterday
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 March, 2022, 02:17:37 pm
Enunciation lesson No. 354:

LM: Jim's house, is it near the police station?

MA: Yeah, yeah.  There is a play station behind there, but me, I’m not a football fan.  I’m an elderly person.  I don’t – I’m not a fan of it.

LM: No, not –

MA: But he used to play football.  Even we have our team in ***.  I think he’s a team leader for that, but I’m not participating, because I am an elderly person.

LM: Matt, Matt, not a play station.  A police – a police station.

MA: Huh?

LM: A police station.  I have written it in the chat.

MA: Hello?

LM: Hello Matt, can you hear me?

MA: Yes.  Yes.  You said police station?

LM: Police, yeah.  Police station.

When talking to someone whose first language is not English, it can be helpful to remember that "police" has at least two syllables, not one, and your correspondent might think it even has three.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 02 March, 2022, 03:02:52 pm
Sounds like a conversation with MrsT, who is, sez she, "NOT deaf".  I now have to build complete sentences in my output buffer and clarity-check them in advance of enunciation.  If I hear an "eh?" or see a puzzled frown in mid-output I have to substitute another word, ditto if I spot an ambiguity. Sometimes the alternative word requires different syntax, so that I have to re-cast the whole sentence. As a result I'm beginning to stammer and stutter and hesitate while NOT-deaf missus sits there with a "no bloody wonder I can't understand you" look on her face.

More and more I'm simply just keeping quiet.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 02 March, 2022, 03:05:28 pm
Enunciation lesson No. 354:

LM: Jim's house, is it near the police station?

MA: Yeah, yeah.  There is a play station behind there, but me, I’m not a football fan.  I’m an elderly person.  I don’t – I’m not a fan of it.

LM: No, not –

MA: But he used to play football.  Even we have our team in ***.  I think he’s a team leader for that, but I’m not participating, because I am an elderly person.

LM: Matt, Matt, not a play station.  A police – a police station.

MA: Huh?

LM: A police station.  I have written it in the chat.

MA: Hello?

LM: Hello Matt, can you hear me?

MA: Yes.  Yes.  You said police station?

LM: Police, yeah.  Police station.

When talking to someone whose first language is not English, it can be helpful to remember that "police" has at least two syllables, not one, and your correspondent might think it even has three.

It's also interesting that they think a play station is some sort of sportsball pitch, rather than an expensive computer game thinger.  Possibly explained by being elderly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 March, 2022, 03:30:39 pm
More likely explained by being in an extremely poor country (I believe it's one of the poorest countries in Africa). He'd be middle-aged here (he's 49).

Also, living near the football ground makes sense whereas living near the electronic game device probably doesn't.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 14 March, 2022, 09:33:59 am
Poo'in, Poo?n.

From the Yanks, with a glottal stop, like some gorblimey guv luv-a-duck reject from Eastenders.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 23 March, 2022, 08:20:28 pm
Jackie Brambles on the radio interviewing the legendary Marianne Faithfull.
She keeps pronouncing her name "Mary Ann" instead of "Marianne".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 April, 2022, 06:59:03 pm
The BRITONS' Broadcasting Corporation has just run a piece on bluebells, and where they may be viewed.  The clod presenting it referred to that gert big country house near Taplow, you know, the one intimately involved in the Profumo business, as “Cleeveden” :facepalm:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 April, 2022, 07:35:39 pm
Nah, North Somerset's finest seaside resort is noted for its pier, at the bottom of a hill you want to cycle down not up (and for Scarlet's cafe opposite the pier), not for bluebells.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 May, 2022, 02:08:57 pm
The colemantary team for Arsenal-Leeds on 5 Live keep pronouncing the surname of Martin Ødegaard of Arsenal & Norway as “Øligarch”.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Beardy on 09 May, 2022, 08:24:43 pm
Being a bit of a tool junkie, I like to watch YouTube videos of fancy tools and tool showdowns. I know, I knw, there’s a thread for that, but the reason I’m here is that a few of the American video boys pronounce Knippex as K-nippex and it’s driving me crazy. I accept that given that Knippex is a German brand, the K may indeed not be silent, but that’s not going to stop it treating on my nerves every time someone says it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ElyDave on 09 May, 2022, 09:34:31 pm
That really annoyed me as well, in Texas, a barman pronouncing the k in Knob Creek bourbon. I'm not sure if it was the same  or he was a prude who didn't want to say knob
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 10 May, 2022, 07:30:22 am
Being a bit of a tool junkie, I like to watch YouTube videos of fancy tools and tool showdowns. I know, I knw, there’s a thread for that, but the reason I’m here is that a few of the American video boys pronounce Knippex as K-nippex and it’s driving me crazy. I accept that given that Knippex is a German brand, the K may indeed not be silent, but that’s not going to stop it treating on my nerves every time someone says it.
It’s not silent in German but the kn is rolled together quickly. A more common similar word in German is Kneipe (local bar) and there is no pause between the k and n, they are said together.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 May, 2022, 10:33:04 am
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 10 May, 2022, 10:43:45 am
Similarly the Mb and Nd in Central African languages - and don't even think about Xhosa!  I occasionally baffle the pupils with that word when we do Miriam Makeba's "Click Song".  I just have to hope they don't ask me to say something else, because my expertise stops there!  I try to get them to say mbira (thumb piano) properly, rather than mubira.  That can sometimes take a whole lesson, which can be useful.  If they can only manage mubira, they are destined to be cricket or football pundits.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 May, 2022, 12:23:52 pm
Mubira must be Newcastle's latest midfield signing?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 May, 2022, 12:33:44 pm
I don't know how you actually say Ncuti Gatwa, the new Dr Who actor – I'd never heard of him before – but I guess that could be another example?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 10 May, 2022, 01:22:05 pm
Mubira must be Newcastle's latest midfield signing?

 ;D  He'll have to get used to being pronounced "Rubbish!" then, like the rest.  I think Newcastle will finish 17th, having got all the points they are going to get.  Their "remarkable" improvement since changing their name to Newcastle Arabia doesn't disguise that (I think) they have only beaten teams below them this season (and not all of them) except for Wolves and Leicester, who aren't exactly scalps.  I think they will go down next time, after which the Saudi owners will buy the whole of the Championship and rename it Super-Premier, or something.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 10 May, 2022, 01:56:54 pm
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 May, 2022, 02:23:12 pm
Mubira must be Newcastle's latest midfield signing?

 ;D  He'll have to get used to being pronounced "Rubbish!" then, like the rest.  I think Newcastle will finish 17th, having got all the points they are going to get.  Their "remarkable" improvement since changing their name to Newcastle Arabia doesn't disguise that (I think) they have only beaten teams below them this season (and not all of them) except for Wolves and Leicester, who aren't exactly scalps.  I think they will go down next time, after which the Saudi owners will buy the whole of the Championship and rename it Super-Premier, or something.
Like this?
(https://c.yell.com/t_galleryFit,f_auto/5512ae55-8143-46c7-bb32-eef5c8d0b0a5_image_jpeg.jpg)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 10 May, 2022, 03:21:52 pm
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.

Nor do the French, at least when they’re taunting King Arthur and his silly English kniggits.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 10 May, 2022, 03:42:22 pm
@ cudzo

That looks about the standard!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Andy64 on 10 May, 2022, 07:35:42 pm
Similarly the Mb and Nd in Central African languages - and don't even think about Xhosa! 
I worked with a guy from Zimbabwe called Mpendulo. Despite numerous attempts, my pronunciation was apparently never correct (sounded perfect to me)
He got called Brian after that, his middle name  ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 May, 2022, 08:38:49 pm
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.

Surely most people can say 'knock-knee' without it sounding like 'knocker-knee', even if they live in Hackney...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 10 May, 2022, 08:43:05 pm
I don't know how you actually say Ncuti Gatwa, the new Dr Who actor – I'd never heard of him before – but I guess that could be another example?

I saw/heard a video with an African.

It's 'Shootee Gatwa'
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 11 May, 2022, 08:29:50 am
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.

Surely most people can say 'knock-knee' without it sounding like 'knocker-knee', even if they live in Hackney...
Is it still a cluster when it's separate words though? Don't we insert a micro-pause? The final k of knock is attached to the preceding o, and the n of knee is attached to the following ee.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 11 May, 2022, 08:30:24 am
I don't know how you actually say Ncuti Gatwa, the new Dr Who actor – I'd never heard of him before – but I guess that could be another example?

I saw/heard a video with an African.

It's 'Shootee Gatwa'
Thanks! Now I'll have to find an excuse to talk about him.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 11 May, 2022, 11:43:34 am
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.

Surely most people can say 'knock-knee' without it sounding like 'knocker-knee', even if they live in Hackney...
Is it still a cluster when it's separate words though? Don't we insert a micro-pause? The final k of knock is attached to the preceding o, and the n of knee is attached to the following ee.

Knipex is pronounced sort of like kn'ipex. The k isn't silent and is like the first k in kick. Its like if you pronounced the k in "knight"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Peter on 11 May, 2022, 11:55:44 am
What is knipex - and why (or y)?

I've just thought.  Maybe a correcting fluid for unnecessary consonants?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 11 May, 2022, 04:40:32 pm
What is knipex

Molishment of the highest quality wrong tool for the job.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: pcolbeck on 12 May, 2022, 06:44:17 pm
What is knipex

Addictive.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 July, 2022, 07:05:20 pm
While I do not expect 21st century BBC announcers to sound like John Snagge I do expect them to know that the word they seek is “episode”.  Not “efisode” >:(
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Feanor on 08 July, 2022, 07:19:04 pm
While I do not expect 21st century BBC announcers to sound like John Snagge...

I just can't help myself...

Quote
Snagge: My name is Snagge, John Snagge.
FX: [Two coins land in a cup]
Snagge: Thank you Sir Ian. It was June, 19-quifty-qua that the lad, Wallace Greenslade, first came to the BBC seeking refuge from hard work.
FX: [Typewriter]
Greenslade: Good morning, Miss, I'm Mr. W. Greenslade.
Receptionist (Female - Sellers): Oh, yes, you've come for the vacant post of announcer.
Greenslade: Yes, I have.
Receptionist: Do take a seat with the other applicants.
Greenslade: Thank you. I sat down next to a man wearing a brass deerstalker, white cricket boots, and a shredded cardboard wig.
Eccles: Ha-llo!
Greenslade: Good morning.
Eccles: Winds light to variable.
Greenslade: Pardon?
Eccles: I said, "Winds light to variable."
Greenslade: Oh, really.
Eccles: Yeah. Winds light to variable. I'm practising, you know.
Greenslade: Don't tell me you're applying for the post of announcer?
Eccles: Oh, yeah! And I'll get it too, you'll see! I'm wearing a Cambridge tie!
Greenslade: You? You were at Cambridge?
Eccles: Yeah!
Greenslade: What were you doing there?
Eccles: Buying a tie.

and many others.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 July, 2022, 07:21:27 pm
Oh yes.  Good old Snaggers!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ElyDave on 08 July, 2022, 08:39:54 pm
I have that one^^ and a few others on CD, still worth a guffaw
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 25 July, 2022, 09:04:43 pm
Not a cringe, because apart from anything else I haven't heard anyone say it, but how on earth would you pronounce Auroralumina attenboroughii? The problem, obviously, is the combination of the English surname with the Latin ending. If you just stick the -ii on the end of a normally pronounced Attenborough, there's an almost overwhelming urge – even a need – for an intrusive R. (Or is it a connective R? I can't remember the technical difference now.) That would be fine in an English context, but in a scientific context, where the name is supposed to internationally uniform or at least recognizable, it could lead to confusion. If on the other hand you elide the -ii straight on to the attenbor-, then your international audience will think you've missed a syllable. There probably isn't an Auroralumina attenborii, so in practice they'll probably know what you're talking about, but still. And of course, some of them are likely to pronounce the -gh, probably in an amusing variety of ways (to English ears, but again possibly confusing to others: Attenborouf? Attenboroug? Attenburg? Attenburoh? Attenborow?).

But I guess he probably has the advantage of being sufficiently well known that many people are familiar with his name, unlike all the other names this has already happened with!

https://www.science.org/content/article/david-attenborough-gets-namesake-oldest-known-relative-living-animals
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 26 July, 2022, 10:50:45 pm
I'd say go with the sound, not the spelling.

Add "ee" /i/ to the end of atenbora*.

*approximate spelling
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 27 July, 2022, 10:39:14 am
Or even eeyee.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 01 August, 2022, 06:48:15 pm
When my headphones are running low on juice, I get a little voice message in my ears:
“Baddery very low, recharge now”

…with low rhyming with now.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 August, 2022, 02:00:58 pm
Odd pronunciation happening yesterday. I was told I have a Scottish accent. Anyone who's ever spoken to me will be surprised at this. Probably.

sent from my McAndroid.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 04 August, 2022, 08:29:49 am
What determines whether you have one 'i' or two 'i's at the end of your binomial name?  My uncle (cue tenuous claim to fame) has a prehistoric Antipodean wading bird Hakawai melvillei (http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2015/10/hakawai.html) named after him...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 25 August, 2022, 06:01:50 pm
The BBC has just run a trailer for its Poetry Season.  I had to look at the screen to learn that the voiceover artist was not, in fact, talking about chickens.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 16 December, 2022, 05:07:42 pm
People saying blonk when they mean blanc.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 03 January, 2023, 11:02:49 pm
I'm watching an online lesson thing about Safe Manual Handling (such a rock'n'roll lifestyle). The slide has a diagramof the spine with Cervical, Thoracic and Lumbar vertebrae shown.

The voiceover refers to "Thorackic". Gah.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Steph on 04 January, 2023, 02:24:51 pm
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.

Surely most people can say 'knock-knee' without it sounding like 'knocker-knee', even if they live in Hackney...
Is it still a cluster when it's separate words though? Don't we insert a micro-pause? The final k of knock is attached to the preceding o, and the n of knee is attached to the following ee.

Knipex is pronounced sort of like kn'ipex. The k isn't silent and is like the first k in kick. Its like if you pronounced the k in "knight"

And in Wales we have a mountain named after an English knight, im which all letters are pronounced: Cnicht.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 18 January, 2023, 04:12:35 pm
That particular consonant cluster doesn't seem to come easily to English speakers.

I knever had any trouble with it.

Surely most people can say 'knock-knee' without it sounding like 'knocker-knee', even if they live in Hackney...
Is it still a cluster when it's separate words though? Don't we insert a micro-pause? The final k of knock is attached to the preceding o, and the n of knee is attached to the following ee.

Knipex is pronounced sort of like kn'ipex. The k isn't silent and is like the first k in kick. Its like if you pronounced the k in "knight"

And in Wales we have a mountain named after an English knight, im which all letters are pronounced: Cnicht.

Otherwise he'd be braw and bricht.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 18 January, 2023, 04:13:49 pm
Basil pronounced baysil in the American fashion. Goes with herb pronounced urb.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 21 January, 2023, 12:37:55 am
Basil pronounced baysil in the American fashion. Goes with herb pronounced urb.

Happy enough with the British English non-pronunciation of the r though? Or not? Do you go full "herrr-b"? Or do you concede that spelling merely attempts (and fails) to reflect pronunciation, and say the word in the way that people in your part of the world do?

And how about the name of the first letter of the word in question? Have you pinned your colours to the mast of the point in history where the French hache (pronounced "ash") dropped its aitch to become aitch (like the formerly formal 'otel), or are you loyal to the anglicised haitch? Or does haitch make your (h)ackles rise, because hache should be aitch?

And, if hache should be aitch (because the French drop the (h)aitch), what about herbe?

Well, obviously, that should be herb, because the aitch (which drops its original French initial aitch) comes at the beginning and shouldn't be dropped to form erb. But it should be herb without an r, because it's English now...

Clear?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 21 January, 2023, 08:13:09 am
Basil pronounced baysil in the American fashion. Goes with herb pronounced urb.

Happy enough with the British English non-pronunciation of the r though? Or not? Do you go full "herrr-b"? Or do you concede that spelling merely attempts (and fails) to reflect pronunciation, and say the word in the way that people in your part of the world do?


Herb has been an English word for the last 800+ years: there's no reason to elide the H any more than in hotel.  And if they're going to pronounce the word as if it were French, why pronounce the -s in the plural?

Mind you, my mum pronounced it the "American" way. She was Scottish, though. ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 January, 2023, 10:15:08 am
Basil pronounced baysil in the American fashion. Goes with herb pronounced urb.

Canadians* do it too.  You'd think they’d know better :demon:

* sample size: 1
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 January, 2023, 03:05:58 pm
And how about the name of the first letter of the word in question? Have you pinned your colours to the mast of the point in history where the French hache (pronounced "ash") dropped its aitch to become aitch (like the formerly formal 'otel), or are you loyal to the anglicised haitch? Or does haitch make your (h)ackles rise, because hache should be aitch?
However we say it, we make a hash of it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 21 January, 2023, 08:27:38 pm
And how about the name of the first letter of the word in question? Have you pinned your colours to the mast of the point in history where the French hache (pronounced "ash") dropped its aitch to become aitch (like the formerly formal 'otel), or are you loyal to the anglicised haitch? Or does haitch make your (h)ackles rise, because hache should be aitch?
However we say it, we make a hash of it.

The name of the letter H doesn’t start with an H, not even a silent one. Just like the name of the letter F doesn’t start with an F. And many others similarly.

Adding an H on the front doesn’t make my hackles rise but it always makes me think of Parker in Thunderbirds.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 22 January, 2023, 01:38:56 am
And how about the name of the first letter of the word in question? Have you pinned your colours to the mast of the point in history where the French hache (pronounced "ash") dropped its aitch to become aitch (like the formerly formal 'otel), or are you loyal to the anglicised haitch? Or does haitch make your (h)ackles rise, because hache should be aitch?
However we say it, we make a hash of it.

The name of the letter H doesn’t start with an H, not even a silent one.

Hit does in Cockney  :P
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 22 January, 2023, 08:16:56 am
As the bloke said, "if a haitch, a hay, a hie, two hars, a hie, a ho and a hen don't spell 'Arrison, wot does?"
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 22 January, 2023, 10:45:26 am
Television's Clive Myrie has an annoying habit of placing the stress in the wrong place when asking questions on Mastermind.

For example this made "Charles the second, of Prussia" sound like "Charles, the second of Prussia ".

Stop it!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 January, 2023, 07:09:26 pm
USAnian on the telly just now has spake the name of the author of “Greenmantle” and “The Thirty-Nine Steps” as “John Bew-cn” :sick:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 January, 2023, 07:40:25 pm
I heard a Usanian the other day talking about "ass burgers". Only when he went on to mention autism did I realise he wasn't describing a visit to McDonald's.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: neilrj on 26 January, 2023, 10:56:28 pm
Diane War Wick is convinced that is how her name should be spoke ;)  but on the correct (and indeed the right side) of the pond we no (see what I did there?) it is Worrick  ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: JefO on 26 January, 2023, 11:01:38 pm
Mis-pronunciation of Pronunciation.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 26 January, 2023, 11:05:02 pm
Diane War Wick is convinced that is how her name should be spoke ;)  but on the correct (and indeed the right side) of the pond we no (see what I did there?) it is Worrick  ;D

<spelling pedant>
Isn't her first name Dionne?

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 26 January, 2023, 11:06:18 pm
Mis-pronunciation of Pronunciation.

and the extraneous 'o' in the spelling...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Efrogwr on 27 January, 2023, 01:18:52 am
Diane War Wick is convinced that is how her name should be spoke ;)  but on the correct (and indeed the right side) of the pond we no (see what I did there?) it is Worrick  ;D

I know a Canadian whose name is Warwick, pronounced  Worrick....

I also know another Canadian who calls those fluffy buggers that live in trees "squrls". That makes me cringe!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 27 January, 2023, 08:25:05 am
Diane War Wick is convinced that is how her name should be spoke ;)  but on the correct (and indeed the right side) of the pond we no (see what I did there?) it is Worrick  ;D

I know a Canadian whose name is Warwick, pronounced  Worrick....

I also know another Canadian who calls those fluffy buggers that live in trees "squrls". That makes me cringe!

In Schtuggart it'd be Varvick, gel?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 January, 2023, 08:54:04 am
If you see me walking down the street
And I start to cry
Each time we meet
Make believe
That you don't hear the consonants in my name
'Cos each time I hear you
I feel such a shame
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 27 January, 2023, 09:32:38 am
Diane War Wick is convinced that is how her name should be spoke ;)  but on the correct (and indeed the right side) of the pond we no (see what I did there?) it is Worrick  ;D

<spelling pedant>
Isn't her first name Dionne?

That would be dee-on-knee, I suppose.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 27 January, 2023, 09:37:50 am
Diane War Wick is convinced that is how her name should be spoke ;)  but on the correct (and indeed the right side) of the pond we no (see what I did there?) it is Worrick  ;D

<spelling pedant>
Isn't her first name Dionne?

That would be dee-on-knee, I suppose.

Give me her money and you can pronounce T42 any way you bloody like.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 05 April, 2023, 04:59:02 pm
I'm always slightly nervous when I do this in case I have spent decades mispronouncing,

Detritus. I've always said dee-try-tuss, and this narrator is all over debt-tree-tuss. Given they also said 'acetic' when context would infer 'ascetic' I'm going to err in my own favour.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hatler on 05 April, 2023, 06:27:45 pm
Hmm. I've always heard (and used) debt-tri-tuss (with the 'i' as in 'trick'). And for the second one I would say 'a setic'.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Auntie Helen on 05 April, 2023, 08:39:53 pm
And I say debt-try-tuss…
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 05 April, 2023, 10:31:37 pm
Whereas I just say “skog” :P
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 05 April, 2023, 10:39:40 pm
I'm always slightly nervous when I do this in case I have spent decades mispronouncing,

Detritus. I've always said dee-try-tuss, and this narrator is all over debt-tree-tuss. Given they also said 'acetic' when context would infer 'ascetic' I'm going to err in my own favour.
I'm with you on those.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 06 April, 2023, 08:25:18 am
I've always read it as dett-ri-tus with a short i and a u as in us. First time I heard de-TRY-tis my reaction was "where the hell were you brought up?", yet my trusty Chambers supports it.

I'll still read it as dett-ri-tus, though.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 06 April, 2023, 09:16:24 am
...de-TRY-tis...

This.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rogerzilla on 06 April, 2023, 09:28:45 am
In the MTG list of insults (see MTG trolling in P&OBI) an American attempts to pronounce "wanker".  As USian has no hard or soft "a" like British English, just a nasal "eer", it  comes out rather badly.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: L CC on 06 April, 2023, 09:31:01 am
I'm always slightly nervous when I do this in case I have spent decades mispronouncing,

Detritus. I've always said dee-try-tuss, and this narrator is all over debt-tree-tuss. Given they also said 'acetic' when context would infer 'ascetic' I'm going to err in my own favour.
I'm with you on those.

...de-TRY-tis...

This.

OOooo maybe it's a Scots thing and I picked up my detritus in my Aberdeenshire sojourn...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 06 April, 2023, 10:09:42 am
I'm always slightly nervous when I do this in case I have spent decades mispronouncing,

Detritus. I've always said dee-try-tuss, and this narrator is all over debt-tree-tuss. Given they also said 'acetic' when context would infer 'ascetic' I'm going to err in my own favour.
I'm with you on those.

...de-TRY-tis...

This.

OOooo maybe it's a Scots thing and I picked up my detritus in my Aberdeenshire sojourn...
I would be withMrs Pingu on this dee-try-tuss.  Long e and long I, possibly coming from the Latin where they were traditionally long vowels.  But I did spend 5 years in med school in Aberdeen and the next 10 in Scotland.  The Scots of course claim to speak the best English, especially from the North
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 06 April, 2023, 11:50:25 am
We recently watched The Piano on C4 - perhaps I can let him off the hook because of his cosmopolitan upbringing, but Mika's pronunciation of various words had me cringing several times per episode.  Obviously I can't think of any particular examples atm.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 06 April, 2023, 12:13:22 pm
Detritus is a word I learned by reading, and consequently have no idea how to say, but would probably go for debt-tri-tuss.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: rafletcher on 06 April, 2023, 12:18:16 pm
Detritus is a word I learned by reading, and consequently have no idea how to say, but would probably go for debt-tri-tuss.

De-TRY-tuss, stress on the caps.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 06 April, 2023, 02:00:59 pm
A basic rule of English pronunciation appears to be that if a multisyllabic word looks foreign put the stress on the second syllable, make it sound as un-foreign as possible and get the rest of it out of the way as quickly as possible.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: ian on 06 April, 2023, 07:09:34 pm
If you're not sure how to pronounce a word, do it a bit foreign and with indubitable panache. Generally, people will then start to believe they're the ones pronouncing it wrong. This only works on middle-class people, of course. This kind of thing is also the MO of typical toffs, for whom deliberate mispronunciation is a way to put educated plebs in their place. Bally place went to pot when they started calling polytechnics universities.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: spesh on 06 April, 2023, 07:31:06 pm
Detritus is pronounced "Sarge" or "Sir". Especially when he is carrying what he calls The Piecemaker.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 06 April, 2023, 08:09:39 pm
Detritus is pronounced "Sarge" or "Sir". Especially when he is carrying what he calls The Piecemaker.

 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 06 April, 2023, 08:19:09 pm
/dɪˈtraɪ.təs/

dee TRY tas
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: cygnet on 06 April, 2023, 10:51:12 pm
Detritus is pronounced "Sarge" or "Sir". Especially when he is carrying what he calls The Piecemaker.

That is wonderful pterry wordplay.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 April, 2023, 07:30:42 am
Detritus is pronounced "Sarge" or "Sir". Especially when he is carrying what he calls The Piecemaker.

That is wonderful pterry wordplay.

Gotcha. I was searching in Gaul.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 26 May, 2023, 07:50:17 am
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/26/its-new-territory-why-is-betelgeuse-is-glowing-so-brightly-and-behaving-so-strangely

Quote
In Greek astronomy, Betelgeuse (pronounced “beetlejuice”, like the Tim Burton film character) marks one of the shoulders in the constellation Orion...

Ignorant sods.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 May, 2023, 03:10:52 pm
Absolutely, should be Yadalgeuse!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#Nomenclature
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 27 May, 2023, 04:53:45 pm
Absolutely, should be Yadalgeuse!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#Nomenclature

 :thumbsup: I like that. Yada yada yada...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 November, 2023, 10:34:43 am
A windy, wet, cold and miserable day.
"My daughter lives on the next street, she'll give us a cup of tea. And I've got lebushkins."
"What are they?"
A produces a packet of Lebkuchen. B salivates and henceforth adopts the term lebushkins. It has a softness to it that is missing from the original name.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 20 November, 2023, 11:00:10 am
Sounds Russian.  Didn't he write Tolstoy's War and Potatoes?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Ham on 20 November, 2023, 01:28:06 pm
A windy, wet, cold and miserable day.
"My daughter lives on the next street, she'll give us a cup of tea. And I've got lebushkins."
"What are they?"
A produces a packet of Lebkuchen. B salivates and henceforth adopts the term lebushkins. It has a softness to it that is missing from the original name.

The original has more body  :demon:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 20 November, 2023, 11:14:37 pm
OK it's not specific words, but creaky voice (vocal fry) and rising intonation (upspeak).
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 06 December, 2023, 09:38:39 pm
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 06 December, 2023, 11:57:24 pm
Miss von Brandenburg brought me a packet of Lebushkins back from That Germany the other day but – mirabile dictu – I et 'em all inside three days.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 December, 2023, 08:52:34 am
Miss von Brandenburg brought me a packet of Lebushkins back from That Germany the other day but – mirabile dictu – I et 'em all inside three days.
Would have been gone in two here.  ;D
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 07 December, 2023, 09:12:04 am
Magnetometer as magneto meter in a YT documentary. Forget which but accent wasn't American.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Morat on 07 December, 2023, 11:39:46 am
OK it's not specific words, but creaky voice (vocal fry) and rising intonation (upspeak).

Yes! Upspeak is irritating, but the amount of vocal fry I've encountered on video calls recently make me grumpy as it can be really hard to understand.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 07 December, 2023, 02:54:31 pm
Miss von Brandenburg brought me a packet of Lebushkins back from That Germany the other day but – mirabile dictu – I et 'em all inside three days.
D hates Lebkuchen. I have to hide them away and eat them when he's not looking.
(We both pronounce this correctly, being offsprung from German mother-tongued women.)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: PhilO on 08 December, 2023, 06:47:32 am
OK it's not specific words, but creaky voice (vocal fry) and rising intonation (upspeak).

Yes! Upspeak is irritating, but the amount of vocal fry I've encountered on video calls recently make me grumpy as it can be really hard to understand.

I'd never heard the term 'fry' in this context until a few weeks ago, when I listened to this podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/04gfq0V1ipFk8kP1TNKfSf  It seems it's fashionable to use 'sexy baby'* voice at the moment - here's hoping it's a short lived fashion!

* Just the name sounds problematic enough!  :sick:
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Rod Marton on 08 December, 2023, 07:12:14 am
Sounds Russian.  Didn't he write Tolstoy's War and Potatoes?
The Russian version of Lebkuchen are called pryaniki. Though the German ones are nicer.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 December, 2023, 07:59:37 am
Sounds Russian.  Didn't he write Tolstoy's War and Potatoes?
The Russian version of Lebkuchen are called pryaniki. Though the German ones are nicer.

We don't see them much around here unless we go and fetch them over the border.  What we do get are bredele (3 syllables), guaranteed not to outlast the closure on the packet by more than 10 minutes if kids are involved or half an hour for adults.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bredele
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 December, 2023, 11:58:34 am
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
What's the preferred pronunciation  ?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: citoyen on 08 December, 2023, 01:57:08 pm
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
What's the preferred pronunciation  ?

marsh mellow, obvs  ;)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 08 December, 2023, 02:00:32 pm
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
What's the preferred pronunciation  ?

marsh mellow, obvs  ;)

DGAS. Love 'em, not allowed 'em. :(
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Legs on 08 December, 2023, 02:16:14 pm
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
What's the preferred pronunciation  ?
Oh yeah, sorry if my post was misleading, I was saying that 'marshmallow' is the preferred/right pronunciation, and that 'marshmellow' is an abomination.  Does it originate with the DJ/music producer Marshmello, or is it older than that?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 December, 2023, 02:18:21 pm
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
What's the preferred pronunciation  ?
Oh yeah, sorry if my post was misleading, I was saying that 'marshmallow' is the preferred/right pronunciation, and that 'marshmellow' is an abomination.  Does it originate with the DJ/music producer Marshmello, or is it older than that?
Phew. I had you down as a wrong 'un for a while, until that clarification came through. 
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 18 December, 2023, 12:40:20 am
MarshmAllow.  FFS.
What's the preferred pronunciation  ?
Oh yeah, sorry if my post was misleading, I was saying that 'marshmallow' is the preferred/right pronunciation, and that 'marshmellow' is an abomination.  Does it originate with the DJ/music producer Marshmello, or is it older than that?

'tis markedly older. I remember Peter Kay's act involvwd talking about buying somebody Pick 'n' Mix sweets and insisting they get "Flumps: marshmellows...and flying saucers" so as to keep the weight down. That would have been around 20ish years ago. And that's just the first example to mind - I'm sure it's been kicking about for a fair old while.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 29 January, 2024, 06:50:55 pm
That TV's Victoria Hollins is a pretty enough gel but if she continues to pronounce “Wembley” with three syllables she'll be off to a Reëducation Camp PDQ.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hbunnet on 08 February, 2024, 09:51:03 pm
Presenter talking about "Rackmaninoff", on Radio 3 21:45 8 Feb.

To be fair, a strength of R3 presenters is normally ability to pronounce foreign names.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Wowbagger on 08 February, 2024, 10:32:57 pm
Presenter talking about "Rackmaninoff", on Radio 3 21:45 8 Feb.

To be fair, a strength of R3 presenters is normally ability to pronounce foreign names.

Arising from the above, I've noticed in recent years the strong tendency, nay, universality, of the pronunciation of Saint-Saens for the final s to be pronounced. I'm damned sure we didn't do that half a century ago and we credited Camille with his Frenchness and didn't pronounce the final s. I want to blame Sean Rafferty.

Edit: Aha! A supposedly authoritative piece about how CS-S wanted his name pronounced!

https://lynwoodf.wiki.zoho.com/penguins/How-should-we-say-it.html

Edit 2: I recall about half a century ago I was one of the "responsible" teachers on a day trip to Boulogne with the French department of the school I was teaching at at the time. I did teach some French, hence my presence, and whilst we were waiting for the ferry to arrive to take us back I bought myself an orange juice from a nearby stallholder. I asked for un jus d'orange s'il-vous-plait, and didn't pronounce the s. When the tradesmen returned with my drink, he said "un jus d'orange" and did pronounce the s. I asked him which was considered correct, to pronounce or not to pronounce the s and was provided with a Gallic shrug by way of an answer. I think it's a case of comme-ci-comme-ça.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pingu on 08 February, 2024, 11:14:31 pm
Presenter talking about "Rackmaninoff", on Radio 3 21:45 8 Feb.

To be fair, a strength of R3 presenters is normally ability to pronounce foreign names.

Like Lock Ness?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 February, 2024, 11:28:43 pm
The definitive guide to pronouncing Saint-Saens is here:

https://youtu.be/iHo-pFUE0so?feature=shared (https://youtu.be/iHo-pFUE0so?feature=shared)
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 09 February, 2024, 08:17:49 am
Edit 2: I recall about half a century ago I was one of the "responsible" teachers on a day trip to Boulogne with the French department of the school I was teaching at at the time. I did teach some French, hence my presence, and whilst we were waiting for the ferry to arrive to take us back I bought myself an orange juice from a nearby stallholder. I asked for un jus d'orange s'il-vous-plait, and didn't pronounce the s. When the tradesmen returned with my drink, he said "un jus d'orange" and did pronounce the s. I asked him which was considered correct, to pronounce or not to pronounce the s and was provided with a Gallic shrug by way of an answer. I think it's a case of comme-ci-comme-ça.

I've never heard jus pronounced with the terminal S.  He might have been pronouncing it because he knew the English word was juice.

Incidentally, asking for un petit jus in Paris will get you an espresso, whereas the same request in Alsace will elicit "un jus de quoi?" in return because they'll think you want fruit-juice.  Alsace was German for centuries.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: fimm on 09 February, 2024, 09:30:44 am
Are we in skon/scohne territory here?
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 09 February, 2024, 09:57:28 am
Sort-of.  Alsace was pinched from Germany in Napoleonic times, re-occupied from 1870-1916 or thereabouts and again from 1940-44.  The nature of the food and the incidence of heart problems are closer to those of Germany than those of France, and the everyday speech in this area, close to the border, is a dialect of German heavily larded with French.  We get Germans waltzing in here, speaking German and expecting to be understood, but speaking French just across the border in Germany will get you nothing but a [wilfully] blank look.

And scones here, if we got them, would probably be called muffins, while what sells as muffins are closer to atrophied hamburger buns.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Jasmine on 09 February, 2024, 03:04:29 pm
I attended a course a few weeks ago where the tutor pronounced nitrous as "nit-rus" rather than "nai-trus". The session was about climate change, so they said it a lot. It was really distracting.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 09 February, 2024, 03:52:06 pm
I attended a course a few weeks ago where the tutor pronounced nitrous as "nit-rus" rather than "nai-trus". The session was about climate change, so they said it a lot. It was really distracting.
I find barristers do this quite a lot.  They read medical words and then pronounce them phonetically.  Really grates
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 09 February, 2024, 06:06:00 pm
I attended a course a few weeks ago where the tutor pronounced nitrous as "nit-rus" rather than "nai-trus". The session was about climate change, so they said it a lot. It was really distracting.
I find barristers do this quite a lot.  They read medical words and then pronounce them phonetically.  Really grates

See also: Clostridium difficile, which is generally regarded as bad news however you pronounce it.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: neilrj on 09 February, 2024, 11:16:54 pm

See also: Clostridium difficile, which is generally regarded as bad news however you pronounce it.

Pronunciation is often a pain in the arse  :-X
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 12 February, 2024, 03:58:00 pm

See also: Clostridium difficile, which is generally regarded as bad news however you pronounce it.

We usually just called it C Diff...
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 12 February, 2024, 04:05:11 pm

See also: Clostridium difficile, which is generally regarded as bad news however you pronounce it.

We usually just called it C Diff...
Oh B Cereus.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hellymedic on 12 February, 2024, 04:25:09 pm
Flied Lice!
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2024, 03:08:13 pm
A YT video about recreating a hysterical blowterch, accerding to the narrater.  It's only shirt, though.

https://youtu.be/IwkxKkBI3Ug?si=SUrNjvvBs6WtnLen
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 24 February, 2024, 03:08:39 pm
The newsreader on BBC 6 Music this morning was talking about the UXB in Plymouth.  She was putting the stress on the wrong words. It was a bomb from the 39-45 war, a Second World War bomb. She kept stressing the word "war" such that was a second world War Bomb.  "War Bomb", a bit like "Weapons Grade Nerve Agent" I suppose.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Kim on 24 February, 2024, 05:02:14 pm
War Bomb rather than terror bomb, bath bomb or weather bomb, I suppose.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Tim Hall on 28 February, 2024, 10:51:30 pm
Richard Osman, presenter of the very fine Richard Osman's House of Games, the word biopic is formed by running together "bio" as in biography and "pic" as in picture. Thus it is pronounced "bio pic" and not "bi opic". Apart from that, carry on the good work.
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 February, 2024, 11:30:22 pm
Someone else did that on the distascope the other day.  Fortunately for them I can’t remember who it was, else a Reëducation Camp would beckon.  The only thing worse is describing a book as a “biopic”, as some publishing cretin did on the cover of the paperback edition of Ian Banks' “Espedair Street” :o
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: T42 on 29 February, 2024, 07:59:38 am
In a US serial the other night, a supposed academic talking about codifying data as if she were going to convert it into fish.

And a Brit in a YT video about Redcoats fighting the Japanese in the 19th century, and yakking about the sam-your-eye. Ignorant sod.

Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: Pickled Onion on 29 February, 2024, 08:15:51 pm
Richard Osman, presenter of the very fine Richard Osman's House of Games, the word biopic is formed by running together "bio" as in biography and "pic" as in picture. Thus it is pronounced "bio pic" and not "bi opic". Apart from that, carry on the good work.

But the word biography is formed from "bios" as in life and "graphia" as in writing, and it's not pronounced "bio graphy".
Title: Re: Pronunciation that makes you cringe
Post by: hubner on 29 February, 2024, 08:58:52 pm
I prefer by-oh pik.

Biography can be shortened to bio (by-oh), then tag on pic, result is by-oh pik.