Heaven: 2021 Proof Americans and Brits speak a different language

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  • I seem to recall that GWB used to say nook-you-lah.
  • Golden KeyGolden Key Shipmate, Glory
    edited March 2020
    In the US, usually "NEW'-Klee-er" (or "-ur"). (IME.)
  • in my "often" the t isn't fully pronounced, but it's definitely not silent, more like a d ? a gluttal stop ? I'm not sure

    but soften is "soffin"
  • we spoke about IKEA a while back, and I've found another "foreign word" curiosity

    how would you pronounce the Chinese telecoms company, Huawei?
    here in the UK, it seems to be like hwhah-way, but the German radio station I'm listening to say it more like "hoo-ah why"
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I'm more-or-less with Wet Kipper on "often/soften": in "often" the t is a barely-there glottal stop, which sounds almost like a soft k; in "soften" it's even barelier there.
  • Robert ArminRobert Armin Shipmate, Glory
    Wet Kipper wrote: »
    we spoke about IKEA a while back, and I've found another "foreign word" curiosity

    how would you pronounce the Chinese telecoms company, Huawei?
    here in the UK, it seems to be like hwhah-way, but the German radio station I'm listening to say it more like "hoo-ah why"

    I used to pronounce it "Who are we", until I heard it said on TV.
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    Yes, it was Dubya, but why? Is that Texas-speak, or more general in the South?
  • Eirenist wrote: »
    Yes, it was Dubya, but why? Is that Texas-speak, or more general in the South?

    General ignorance.
  • There seem to be lots of people who have trouble with where the vowels fall in nuclear (and say “nu-ku-ler) and realtor (and say real-a-tor).

  • Nick Tamen wrote: »
    There seem to be lots of people who have trouble with where the vowels fall in nuclear (and say “nu-ku-ler) and realtor (and say real-a-tor).
    And they add a vowel to make "overture" into "over-a-ture."
  • I hadn’t heard that one, but I believe it.

    I realized some years ago that I add an extra n in front of the t in “united.” Don’t know where that came from.

  • We get "Viet-na-nese" a lot. And it doesn't help to correct it, they just go on saying it that way. We've given up.
  • That's like Banff, which is bamf, but Banff is hard to say.

    Which doesn't lead to poo versus poop. More often it is poop here.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    That's like Banff, which is bamf, but Banff is hard to say.
    How about Kingussie?
    Which doesn't lead to poo versus poop. More often it is poop here.
    Normally poo in the UK.

  • The new trains were pronouncing Kingussie as Kin-gussy. I haven’t been on one recently to see if they have corrected it. It drew laughter from the carriage!
  • Cathscats wrote: »
    The new trains were pronouncing Kingussie as Kin-gussy. I haven’t been on one recently to see if they have corrected it. It drew laughter from the carriage!
    You realize that most will know what country it is in and how the locals might say it? Looks like king-gussy to me.
  • King-you-see with the emphasis on the U. KingUssie. Ancient captital fo Badenoch.
  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Purgatory Host
    I heard Craigellachie pronounced Craig-e-latchie on the radio once.

    Originally posted by Eirenist:
    There's the old story of the American being told by a Parisian 'Vous parlez Francais comme un Belge' (You speak French like a Belgian) and taking it for a compliment. To even the score, remember Chaucer's Nun's Prioress,, who spoke French 'after the fashion of Stratford-atte-Bow'.

    When standardised school subject testing was introduced to Scotland in the 1870s, it transpired that different parts of Scotland had their own Latin. My bit of Scotland mounted a spirited campaign in favour of "Aberdeenshire Latin" but lost. I think "Edinburgh Latin" was adopted as the standard Scottish Latin.
  • Lightning or lightening? The latter sounds like a hair treatment, or the result of turning on the lights.
  • I heard Craigellachie pronounced Craig-e-latchie on the radio once.

    Originally posted by Eirenist:
    There's the old story of the American being told by a Parisian 'Vous parlez Francais comme un Belge' (You speak French like a Belgian) and taking it for a compliment. To even the score, remember Chaucer's Nun's Prioress,, who spoke French 'after the fashion of Stratford-atte-Bow'.

    When standardised school subject testing was introduced to Scotland in the 1870s, it transpired that different parts of Scotland had their own Latin. My bit of Scotland mounted a spirited campaign in favour of "Aberdeenshire Latin" but lost. I think "Edinburgh Latin" was adopted as the standard Scottish Latin.
    Craigellachie is pronounced Craig-e-latchie. The one in BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigellachie,_British_Columbia

    Never heard it said anyway else.



  • I heard Craigellachie pronounced Craig-e-latchie on the radio once..
    That's the common Canadian pronunciation of a town in British Columbia.

    Anent Kingussie, does anyone remember the comic strip called King Gussie? I wonder if it was DC Thomson in Dundee taking a shot at the highlanders.

    Has 'mischievious' (with an extra 'i') appeared in the UK yet? It sounds weird to me, but people get upset if you comment on it. 'Homogen(e)ous' without the final 'e' is commonplace here too.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Has 'mischievious' (with an extra 'i') appeared in the UK yet? It sounds weird to me, but people get upset if you comment on it. 'Homogen(e)ous' without the final 'e' is commonplace here too.

    That could be heard here when I was growing up. It was a sign of a poor education.
  • Gee D wrote: »
    Has 'mischievious' (with an extra 'i') appeared in the UK yet? It sounds weird to me, but people get upset if you comment on it. 'Homogen(e)ous' without the final 'e' is commonplace here too.

    That could be heard here when I was growing up. It was a sign of a poor education.

    The "i" version is what I grew up with. "Mischievous" sounds funny.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Gee D wrote: »
    Has 'mischievious' (with an extra 'i') appeared in the UK yet? It sounds weird to me, but people get upset if you comment on it. 'Homogen(e)ous' without the final 'e' is commonplace here too.

    That could be heard here when I was growing up. It was a sign of a poor education.

    My old mother would have been gratified to hear your judgmentalism.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host
    mousethief wrote: »
    Lightning or lightening? The latter sounds like a hair treatment, or the result of turning on the lights.
    For me they’re two different things. The first is visible electrical activity in the sky. The second is something you might do to hair, an over-heavy load, or an under-exposed photo in Photoshop.

    <snip>
    Has 'mischievious' (with an extra 'i') appeared in the UK yet? It sounds weird to me, but people get upset if you comment on it. 'Homogen(e)ous' without the final 'e' is commonplace here too.
    Yes 'mischievious' (with an extra 'i') has appeared. Homogeneous appears with both spellings, though the Oxford English Dictionary notes that missing the second ‘e’ is generally regarded as an error as homogenous is a separate word with a different meaning.

    Homogeneous is pronounced both as homOgenus (both ‘o’s match the ‘o’ sound in horrid) and hom-oe-JEENius.
  • Gill HGill H Shipmate
    I never heard MISS-che-vuss when I was growing up (UK, 1970s), apart from a record (yes, record) I had called 'Misty the Mischevous Mermaid' which came with a handy song, so there could be no doubt about the pronunciation. But I thought it was a UK/US difference, like al-you-min-i-um vs a-loo-min-um.

    Where I was, it was miss-CHEE-vee-us all the way.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    I heard 'miss-cheev-i-ǝs' in a vox pop on the BBC less than two hours ago. The accent was an English one.

    I'd (also English) regard the normal pronunciation as 'misschǝvǝs'.

  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    Haitch or aitch?
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I could really have done with the schwa symbol at college. we had a day training to use th e Initial Teaching Alphabet, which we would have had to produce all the classroom materials in. As practice, we had to transcribe the story of Cinderella. I did OK until the name which, when I sounded it out had two schwas, one between d and r, and one at the end. Only the ITA didn't do schwas. I asked how I was supposed to write it, and was told that I had to use the e sign and the a sign. At which point I decided to have nothing to do with ITA. It was supposed to be completely phonetic and easily moved on from to normal orthography. But it couldn't be both.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Enoch wrote: »
    I heard 'miss-cheev-i-ǝs' in a vox pop on the BBC less than two hours ago. The accent was an English one.

    I'd (also English) regard the normal pronunciation as 'misschǝvǝs'.

    Miss-CHIEV-ious was all I ever heard growing up. I was most surprised to learn how it was spelt.
  • Penny S wrote: »
    I could really have done with the schwa symbol at college. we had a day training to use th e Initial Teaching Alphabet, which we would have had to produce all the classroom materials in. As practice, we had to transcribe the story of Cinderella. I did OK until the name which, when I sounded it out had two schwas, one between d and r, and one at the end. Only the ITA didn't do schwas. I asked how I was supposed to write it, and was told that I had to use the e sign and the a sign. At which point I decided to have nothing to do with ITA. It was supposed to be completely phonetic and easily moved on from to normal orthography. But it couldn't be both.

    Interesting story. I remember the ITA, I think it's difficult to produce something completely phonetic, as some of it looks alien. I suppose schwa is like this. I remember teaching phonetic assimilation - e.g., bad boy is often pronounced bab boy - and students were incredulous, even when listening to each other. Good girl = gug girl, handbag = hambag, dusk to dawn = dust to dawn, etc.
  • Dusk to dawn became well known, as there were dusk to dawn curfews in various parts of the world, and BBC journalists often said dust to dawn, although people didn't believe it.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host
    That's probably because people go through the oral motions of making the 'k' sound in dusk, but without producing anything that can normally be heard.
  • Yes, there may be just dus to dawn, but I don't think there is any /k/. Incredulity factor.
  • Regulatory. REG u la tory. Heard a Brit on radio as reg u LATE ury. Emphasis on an odd syllable to my ears.

    The sandwich is peanut butter and jam. Never jelly. Doesn't matter if the jam is technically a jelly (no chunks of fruit in it). It's always called jam.
  • BroJames wrote: »
    Homogeneous appears with both spellings, though the Oxford English Dictionary notes that missing the second ‘e’ is generally regarded as an error as homogenous is a separate word with a different meaning.

    Homogeneous is pronounced both as homOgenus (both ‘o’s match the ‘o’ sound in horrid) and hom-oe-JEENius.
    I am reminded of what Anna Russell said in “How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera”:

    “As you know, you always have to start with a homogenous chorus. I know a lot of people are going to say that isn't homogenous, that's homogeneous. But that isn't what I mean: I mean homogenous, as in milk.”


    As for mischievous, it MISS-che-vus here.

  • Dusk with K when it stands alone or followed by a vowel.

    I think ho-MOJ-ə-nəs happens because of hoMOJenated. Clearely related, must be (mostly) pronounced the same. (That's the thinking)
  • mousethief wrote: »
    Dusk with K when it stands alone or followed by a vowel.

    I think ho-MOJ-ə-nəs happens because of hoMOJenated. Clearely related, must be (mostly) pronounced the same. (That's the thinking)

    Yes, the assimilation in dusk is to a following /t/. Similarly, bad assimilates to a /b/, hence bab boy.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    Washington State--and some other Western states--have counties, towns, even cities, that are from native American languages. Some of them are very interesting to figure out.

    Just one example Sequim. Take a stab at how to pronounce it.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    edited March 2020
    Regulatory. REG u la tory. Heard a Brit on radio as reg u LATE ury. Emphasis on an odd syllable to my ears. ...
    Now you're asking. I'm not sure. I think I say with it two stresses, on the first and third syllable, 'reg-yu-late-ǝri. Does that make it a trochee followed by a dactyl? And is one stress stronger than the other? I'm also not sure whether the 'u' is as in 'put' or 'you'. I'll have to wait until it crops up in ordinary speech and try to remember to spot what I say. It's not a word that occurs that often.

    No idea how Sequim is pronounced. I assume it's not like 'sequin' but with an 'm'. That would be too obvious. We have lots of place names that catch out those who aren't in the know, including more than one example of two places that are spelt the same but pronounced differently, e.g. Mildenhall in East Anglia and in Wiltshire.

  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Hybe Park
  • Penny S wrote: »
    Hybe Park

    Beautiful.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Not mine, sadly, read it somewhere ages ago.
  • They are part of our cultural heritage.
  • Gramps49 wrote: »
    Just one example Sequim. Take a stab at how to pronounce it.

    Like Enoch says, see-quim would be too obvious. And just a bit rude.

    Skwim? Skweem?
  • EirenistEirenist Shipmate
    People increasigly say 'Off my own back' when the expression should be 'Off my own bat' - from cricket.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Eirenist wrote: »
    Haitch or aitch?

    I would say "aitch", but I wouldn't presume that I'm right.

    In Northern Ireland, we were told that whether you say "aitch" or "haitch" is a way of telling whether you're Protestant or Catholic: Protestants will say "aitch" and Catholics say "haitch".

    I don't know how hard-and-fast that rule is, but I did notice it occasionally when I was working there.
  • Alzheimer's disease said as old timers disease. Common.

    We've a city on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border: Lloydminster. Which becomes minister frequently.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    Eirenist wrote: »
    Haitch or aitch?

    "Haitch" here used indicate in the 50s and 60s that the speaker was from a Catholic parochial school education. I've not heard it for years.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    When I first saw Sequim, I did think it should be SEEkwim, but the <e> is silent.

    Another one some Europeans seem to get wrong is Spokane. You would think, at first sight it is SpokAAn (long a). But it is a short <ah>. The <e> is silent. Originally, the name was Spokan, after the Native American cheif of the tribe that lived in the area, but an early postmaster added the e in 1883
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