alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Sept 12, 2017 12:18:55 GMT -5
One thing that flummoxed me for a very long time (and I DON'T think is my fault, honestly, but the fault of the Brits) is that they apparently name some of their boys St James but pronounce that 'SIN-JIN.' I've seen British movies in the past and couldn't figure out what they were calling some poor guy, until finally I watched one with subtitles and realized Sin-Jin is St James. However- they do NOT refer to the church of Saint James as 'SIN GIN cathedral.'
I had the same problem with how they pronounce the last name Beauchamp. I like English history and the Beauchamps are all up in there, since forever, but I thought they were pronounced the French way, since it's a French name - beau - champ. Then not that long ago DH and I were watching an English documentary about English castles, and thanks once again to subtitles, realized I was pronouncing it all wrong, it should be Bee-chum. It's a whole Norman thing, apparently.
Not that I can complain- in NW GA there is a town called Lafayette after the French chevalier general Lafayette, our BFF in the revolution. But the locals don't call it La fa YET, they say La FAY et. So much for slaughtering French words.
I lived in SW Ga for 30 years. I got used to town of Cairo pronounced KAY-ro and Vienna VI-en-a. Both towns in the area.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Sept 12, 2017 12:22:48 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester?
I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster".
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Sept 12, 2017 12:49:36 GMT -5
One thing that flummoxed me for a very long time (and I DON'T think is my fault, honestly, but the fault of the Brits) is that they apparently name some of their boys St James but pronounce that 'SIN-JIN.' I've seen British movies in the past and couldn't figure out what they were calling some poor guy, until finally I watched one with subtitles and realized Sin-Jin is St James. However- they do NOT refer to the church of Saint James as 'SIN GIN cathedral.'
I had the same problem with how they pronounce the last name Beauchamp. I like English history and the Beauchamps are all up in there, since forever, but I thought they were pronounced the French way, since it's a French name - beau - champ. Then not that long ago DH and I were watching an English documentary about English castles, and thanks once again to subtitles, realized I was pronouncing it all wrong, it should be Bee-chum. It's a whole Norman thing, apparently.
Not that I can complain- in NW GA there is a town called Lafayette after the French chevalier general Lafayette, our BFF in the revolution. But the locals don't call it La fa YET, they say La FAY et. So much for slaughtering French words.
No, it's Saint John that is pronounced sin-jin. I learned that while reading Jane Eyre in high school. I didn't know Beauchamp though!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2017 12:59:47 GMT -5
One thing that flummoxed me for a very long time (and I DON'T think is my fault, honestly, but the fault of the Brits) is that they apparently name some of their boys St James but pronounce that 'SIN-JIN.' I've seen British movies in the past and couldn't figure out what they were calling some poor guy, until finally I watched one with subtitles and realized Sin-Jin is St James. However- they do NOT refer to the church of Saint James as 'SIN GIN cathedral.'
I had the same problem with how they pronounce the last name Beauchamp. I like English history and the Beauchamps are all up in there, since forever, but I thought they were pronounced the French way, since it's a French name - beau - champ. Then not that long ago DH and I were watching an English documentary about English castles, and thanks once again to subtitles, realized I was pronouncing it all wrong, it should be Bee-chum. It's a whole Norman thing, apparently.
Not that I can complain- in NW GA there is a town called Lafayette after the French chevalier general Lafayette, our BFF in the revolution. But the locals don't call it La fa YET, they say La FAY et. So much for slaughtering French words.
No, it's Saint John that is pronounced sin-jin. I learned that while reading Jane Eyre in high school. I didn't know Beauchamp though! St. John = Saint John. They are both pronounced Sin-Jin. I learned this in grad school. MJ2.0 I know the sauce is pronounced wooster-shur. ETA: The British pronunciation is Wooster. We have a Helena, AL, which is pronounced very differently from Helena, Montana. Arab is pronounce A-rab when you are talking about the Alabama town. And, of course, only Yankees say New Orleans. At worse, Southerners say, "New Orlanz." Most say, "Nawlinz."
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Sept 12, 2017 13:02:16 GMT -5
No, it's Saint John that is pronounced sin-jin. I learned that while reading Jane Eyre in high school. I didn't know Beauchamp though! St. John = Saint John. They are both pronounced Sin-Jin. I learned this in grad school. MJ2.0 I know the sauce is pronounced wooster-shur. ETA: The British pronunciation is Wooster. We have a Helena, AL, which is pronounced very differently from Helena, Montana. Arab is pronounce A-rab when you are talking about the Alabama town. And, of course, only Yankees say New Orleans. At worse, Southerners say, "New Orlanz." Most say, "Nawlinz." Haha, I know St. John = Saint John. happyhoix said St James
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Sept 12, 2017 14:11:25 GMT -5
I still say "margarine" as it spells with a "ga" while the rest of the family is pronouncing it "marjorine" with a "geo" or something of sorts! What gets me going is when people refer to the rank of Colonel as "Cornel" or Kernel or something. It scratches my brain! It is CO-LO-NEL for Christ sake not some piece of corn! This one underwent a firm alteration when it entered English, so in English it is, indeed, pronounced as 2 syllables. It's one of the words the pronunciation of which will immediately identify one as a non-native speaker of English if it is pronounced in the French fashion. It's the Waterloo of English (the pronunciation of Waterloo being one of the words that can immediately identify one as a non-native speaker of French).
Languages are fun!
I'm always interested in words that are 'bad' in one language and not in another. Bloody is apparently a very bad (or it used to be) English word. F --- is a bundle of sticks, the three letter short version is a cigarette. Don't know how Americans translated that to a gay person. Someone in America who is pissed is angry, in England they're drunk. Then there is the whole 'biscuit' debacle. (That one I can kind of see, we stole the word cookie from the Dutch, so I can see how, since we already had a word for the sweet baked treats, we used the biscuit word for a round baked object for non-sweet items best served with a slice of ham in the middle).
And apparently the C word does not have the strong negative meaning in the UK that it does over here, since the Brits seem to use it A LOT.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Sept 12, 2017 14:12:42 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester? I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster". I have to go to Boston for work periodically, and I never say that word, because it always makes them laugh at me.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Sept 12, 2017 14:14:06 GMT -5
St. John = Saint John. They are both pronounced Sin-Jin. I learned this in grad school. MJ2.0 I know the sauce is pronounced wooster-shur. ETA: The British pronunciation is Wooster. We have a Helena, AL, which is pronounced very differently from Helena, Montana. Arab is pronounce A-rab when you are talking about the Alabama town. And, of course, only Yankees say New Orleans. At worse, Southerners say, "New Orlanz." Most say, "Nawlinz." Haha, I know St. John = Saint John. happyhoix said St JamesOh, John, James, I knew it was one of the big name saints.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Sept 12, 2017 15:48:04 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester? I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster". I think it's pronounced Wooster. When Paul McCartney did a concert there in 1990 (yes, I'm old), he opened with hello Wer shes ter and his wife, Linda, said, it's wooster, Paul. His wife was an American from New York.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Sept 12, 2017 15:55:31 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester?
I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster".Your mom is right "Wooster" is (also) the UK pronunication.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 12, 2017 16:42:58 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester? I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster". You are are right about the sauce. But the city in Massachusetts (Worcester) is pronounced 'wooster' or at least by New Englanders like myself. Here in in Memphis, we have the Peabody Hotel famous for its duck walk parade from the roof top to the lobby fountain (via elevator) in the morning and back to the roof top (via elevator) late afternoon. Here in Memphis, the hotel is pronounced 'Pee-body'. But in Massachusetts there is a town called Peabody just outside of Boston and it is pronounced by New Englanders as 'Pee-bud-ee'.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 12, 2017 16:48:11 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester? I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster". WISS - tah
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Sept 12, 2017 16:48:17 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester? I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster". You are are right about the sauce. But the city in Massachusetts (Worcester) is pronounced 'wooster' or at least by New Englanders like myself. Here in in Memphis, we have the Peabody Hotel famous for its duck walk parade from the roof top to the lobby fountain (via elevator) in the morning and back to the roof top (via elevator) late afternoon. Here in Memphis, the hotel is pronounced 'Pee-body'. But in Massachusetts there is a town called Peabody just outside of Boston and it is pronounced by New Englanders as 'Pee-bud-ee'. I have always thought that the official Peabody duck herder (duck wrangler?) probably has one of the world's 10 best jobs.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2017 17:10:43 GMT -5
Is it Wooster sauce?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 12, 2017 17:24:01 GMT -5
no, Woos-tur-shire.
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Sept 12, 2017 19:46:52 GMT -5
okay, how about Worcester? I try to pronounce it the English way (Wer-shes-ter) but my mom says it "wooster". You are are right about the sauce. But the city in Massachusetts (Worcester) is pronounced 'wooster' or at least by New Englanders like myself. Here in in Memphis, we have the Peabody Hotel famous for its duck walk parade from the roof top to the lobby fountain (via elevator) in the morning and back to the roof top (via elevator) late afternoon. Here in Memphis, the hotel is pronounced 'Pee-body'. But in Massachusetts there is a town called Peabody just outside of Boston and it is pronounced by New Englanders as 'Pee-bud-ee'. Or Swampscott. It's pronounced more as Swampscitt. I don't know why. And Reading and North Reading are not pronounced like the verb. They are pronounced as Redding. Of course, I am also an anomaly because I know how to pronounce my "R's" unlike the majority of Massholes.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 12, 2017 20:02:37 GMT -5
You are are right about the sauce. But the city in Massachusetts (Worcester) is pronounced 'wooster' or at least by New Englanders like myself. Here in in Memphis, we have the Peabody Hotel famous for its duck walk parade from the roof top to the lobby fountain (via elevator) in the morning and back to the roof top (via elevator) late afternoon. Here in Memphis, the hotel is pronounced 'Pee-body'. But in Massachusetts there is a town called Peabody just outside of Boston and it is pronounced by New Englanders as 'Pee-bud-ee'. Or Swampscott. It's pronounced more as Swampscitt. I don't know why. And Reading and North Reading are not pronounced like the verb. They are pronounced as Redding. Of course, I am also an anomaly because I know how to pronounce my "R's" unlike the majority of Massholes. I know the 'R' issue, or lack there of quite well.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 12, 2017 20:07:36 GMT -5
No kidding. When we went to visit my godparents in Falmouth, he told us to " Pak the ca in the yad!"
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mroped
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Post by mroped on Sept 12, 2017 20:09:52 GMT -5
The most confusing thing for my older brother îs the pronunciation of Kansas-Arkansas. When I corrected him he just looked weird at me and said "that doesn't make any sense! It just f...d up!"
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 12, 2017 20:11:29 GMT -5
He has a point
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 12, 2017 20:12:26 GMT -5
No kidding. When we went to visit my godparents in Falmouth, he told us to " Pak the ca in the yad!" but I'm sure he knew the correct term for a tonic.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 12, 2017 20:16:10 GMT -5
My dad went with him and a couple of buddies to play golf and said he spent the entire day in the company of people he couldn't understand!!! 😂😂😂
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Sept 12, 2017 20:21:40 GMT -5
I used to have to translate "Cops" for people in my dorm when I was at school in Colorado. It was real fun when at least one episode a week was based in friggin' Lynn. Yes, I know where all of those places are, no, I don't live there. Well, except my cousin lives in the house next door to that one, oh, and I think I dated that guy. That was a treat.
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Sept 12, 2017 20:21:57 GMT -5
No kidding. When we went to visit my godparents in Falmouth, he told us to " Pak the ca in the yad!" but I'm sure he knew the correct term for a tonic. soda
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 12, 2017 20:22:38 GMT -5
that's way better than recognizing someone you know on peopleofwalmart.com!
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Post by empress of self-improvement on Sept 12, 2017 20:24:21 GMT -5
that's way better than recognizing someone you know on peopleofwalmart.com!
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Sept 12, 2017 20:30:49 GMT -5
The most confusing thing for my older brother îs the pronunciation of Kansas-Arkansas. When I corrected him he just looked weird at me and said "that doesn't make any sense! It just f...d up!" You should tell him about Mackinac.
I think it's funny that people get their knickers in a twist over how some American place names are pronounced. It's not just foreign visitors; people from other regions of the US can also get all worked up when the pronunciation of a place name doesn't seem to match its spelling.
It's not like their outrage is going to cause the locals to experience an epiphany and alter how the offending place names are pronounced. "OMG, you're right. Why have we never seen that before? You've opened our eyes to a terrible error we've been making for centuries. We'll change it immediately."
People are weird.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Sept 12, 2017 20:31:39 GMT -5
I used to have to translate "Cops" for people in my dorm when I was at school in Colorado. It was real fun when at least one episode a week was based in friggin' Lynn. Yes, I know where all of those places are, no, I don't live there. Well, except my cousin lives in the house next door to that one, oh, and I think I dated that guy. That was a treat.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Sept 12, 2017 20:37:24 GMT -5
I love all the different dialects/pronunciation of words from all over.
I was online for a while with guy in San Jose, CA and after about a year of back and forth I gave him my phone number. He would call on drive home from work. One time he said something and I just did not understand the word so I asked him to repeat. He laughed and ask if I had a hard time understanding him. I said occasionally then I asked if he had trouble understanding me. He said I had a tendency to drop my vowels.
My reply to him was well bend over the pick em up
He was born and raised in Wisconsin, in the Navy and wound up in San Jose and had been living there for years. So I think he had a lot of dialects going on at the same time.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Sept 12, 2017 20:44:58 GMT -5
This one underwent a firm alteration when it entered English, so in English it is, indeed, pronounced as 2 syllables. It's one of the words the pronunciation of which will immediately identify one as a non-native speaker of English if it is pronounced in the French fashion. It's the Waterloo of English (the pronunciation of Waterloo being one of the words that can immediately identify one as a non-native speaker of French).
Languages are fun!
I'm always interested in words that are 'bad' in one language and not in another. Bloody is apparently a very bad (or it used to be) English word. F --- is a bundle of sticks, the three letter short version is a cigarette. Don't know how Americans translated that to a gay person. Someone in America who is pissed is angry, in England they're drunk. Then there is the whole 'biscuit' debacle. (That one I can kind of see, we stole the word cookie from the Dutch, so I can see how, since we already had a word for the sweet baked treats, we used the biscuit word for a round baked object for non-sweet items best served with a slice of ham in the middle).
And apparently the C word does not have the strong negative meaning in the UK that it does over here, since the Brits seem to use it A LOT.
Are you familiar with Quebecois swearing?
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