Comments on: Speak English

By: rekall

rekall — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:45:22 +0000

maybe they were putting on a thick cockney for no reason.
toaster?! yikes.

that last one’s surprisingly phonetic. (no L)
po-keep’-see.

By: Uncle Whippity

Uncle Whippity — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 13:10:49 +0000

Wooster, Lester, Grovenor and Toaster. (Yeah, the ‘toaster’ one gets me every time.)

Did whoever told you it was Lie-ster Square offer to sell you a bridge?

While I’m here – how are you meant to say Ploughkeepsie (sp)?

By: Uncle Whippity

Uncle Whippity — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:24:07 +0000

Have we done the pronunciation of Marjoribanks, Molyneux, Cholmondley, Featherstonehaugh and Home yet?

Spoiler:
‘Marchbanks’, ‘Mew’, ‘Chumley’, ‘Fanshaw’ and ‘Hume’.

That’s before we get started on Worcester, Leicester, Grosvenor Square (home of the US Embassy) and Towcester.

We do it just to annoy.

:lol:

By: rekall

rekall — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:04:32 +0000

"Mommy’s alright and daddy’s alright
They just seem a little weird"

*air guitar*

By: Tyris

Tyris — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:01:52 +0000

What does this tell us, children? That Daddy isn’t always right. Or something. Oh, make up your own moral.

By: rekall

rekall — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:59:30 +0000

it’s true my dad is often contrary for the sake of it. in this case however, he was utterly convinced worcester should be pronounced the same way he mispronounces the name of the sauce.

By: Tyris

Tyris — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:56:39 +0000

rekall wrote:
"i thought wohr-chess-ter. like wohr-chess-tire sauce."

This only proves he was being silly, since the sauce is also pronouced worse-ter. Heh.

By: rekall

rekall — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:38:51 +0000

trip in the family car on route to boston, got in a huge debate with my dad once about the pronunciation of Worchester massachusetts. went something like:

[reading road sign. my dad reads many things out loud to amuse himself.]
"wohr-chess-ter."

"it’s wuhstuh." [with new englander inflection applied. only to make matters worse! hehe]

"that’s ridiculous, it’s wohr-chess-ter."

"my friend who’s lived there his entire life would beg to differ. wuhstuh."

[mom:] "would you two knock it off already, you’re driving me nuts!"

"i thought wohr-chess-ter. like wohr-chess-tire sauce."

"that’s a different word entirely. wuhstuh."

"i still don’t get it, but if you say so."

—- i think i may have mispelled it. worcester? yes.

on another topic one of my favorite little bits in eddie izzard’s "dress to kill" is:
"we pronounce it hherb, because there’s a fucking ‘h’ in it!"

hey bernie you should have abe and preston pay a visit to tea + sympathy, as a follow-up episode.
or a salt + battery. either/or. 8) [to londoners in nyc - the haddock + chips there is definitely not like you get from sea shell at lisson grove but it's not too shabby either.]

By: Jester

Jester — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:04:04 +0000

AmberEyez, Thanks for enlightening us with the ‘Mianus’ name.
It would keep the school boys of Britain entertained for years…

By: Kaiser Saucy

Kaiser Saucy — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:09:30 +0000

Wow, haven’t posted in so long my account had been deactivated. Ooops.

Anyway, I’m British & do a lot of international travelling so I’ve come across a lot of linguistic discrepancies (both American & Australian) in the last few years but I just got back from Vegas last week & I discovered one which I’d never noticed or heard of before.

Americans, if for any strange reason someone ever invites you to a "Fancy Dress" party, this does not, repeat NOT, mean putting on your best clothes (as you would to go to the Prom, say). Fancy Dress is what you would call a Costume Party.

Fortunately for all assembled Vegans concerned at the time, I was only relaying a story, rather than actually inviting them somewhere so (unfortunately for you all) there were no red-faces at the end of this cautionary tale, just blank-faces during it…

Sauce out.

PS: Weirdly enough, I saw the "chinks in my armo(u)r" gag on an old re-run of Scrubs yesterday. Small World.