TheFlyingGerbil Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 I guess a lot of us read a word and get used to internally sounding it a certain way before we hear it out loud from someone else. Sometimes the two vary wildly. I guess I'll start with a videogame one: Ad appears on TV. Me: Ooh, an advert for scrim Voice over guy: get excited about sky rim. me: wot?... and a weird one. When I was at school and used the word beta in science lessons I pronounced it correctly as "beater". Then when I started using it in relation beta tests in video games I started reading it as "better". I have to make a conscious effort now to get back to 'beater'. Any examples where you've thought 'thank god I heard that before I said it out loud'? Bonus points if you actually did say it to someone and made a total fool of yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted December 1, 2011 Report Share Posted December 1, 2011 You should clarify what dialect you are using. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffles Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 When I was at school and used the word beta in science lessons I pronounced it correctly as "beater". Then when I started using it in relation beta tests in video games I started reading it as "better". I have to make a conscious effort now to get back to 'beater'. I'm assuming you're British? I've always pronounced beta like "bayta", but I'm American. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I've heard it pronounced as "bay-ta", but I use bee-ta. It's greek anyway so... Melee is one. I say Mel-Ee. Tom and ben say may-lay. (turns out I was right). @FSD: If my memory isn't foggy Gerbil is Welsh. They don't have a dialect, they just make it up as they go along. Case in point: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingGerbil Posted December 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I went there last month. The name is infinitely more interesting than the place. Yes I'm Welsh, The correct pronunciation in Britain is to rhyme with "Sanjay and Gita" to borrow an example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrainHurtBoy...2 Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 My pronunciation of English words varies depending on the country. It's easiest for me to assimilate with whatever accent the region I'm in has. After I get back to America from spending time in India, Singapore or Hong Kong, though, my accent becomes quite noticeable, and when I talk to a Singaporean, I immediately lapse back into Singlish, "Why you hang out wit him? Dat boy, very blur one, lah!" I could never pronounce 'Descartes', either. I speak French, and pretty damn well, but for some reason, I always end up pronouncing 'Descartes' wrong. Like, 'Dess-cart'. I think it's mostly a mental thing. I have never, ever met anyone outside of my immediate family from anywhere other than Arabia and Northern South Asia that can pronounce my name, either. Nobody. I feel special! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) Melee is one. I say Mel-Ee. Tom and ben say may-lay. (turns out I was right). Sorry, in no way were you right. Mel-ee just sounds dumb. May-lay is using the French style, but I don't mind mel-ay. Either way, I am probably most fussy about the fact that there is originally an é, so the end takes on an 'ay' sound. One thing I thought was clever is that Segway uses the actual pronunciation of segue, and it is a way of getting from one point to another, smoothly. Edited December 2, 2011 by Hot Heart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 The whole bee-tah, bay-tah, bet-ah thing really makes me cringe. I heard another one the other day. A radio advert for "My week with Marilyn" the guy pronounced "Lang lang" (which I've only ever heard pronounced as in "Bang") as "Lung lung". Made me shudder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I always try to see if I can get Welsh pronounciations right before I meet relatives there. It's not always easy but hey S4C's there to help lol. I do have serious issues with pronounciation personally because I tend to switch accents at the drop of a hat having lived in far too many countries in my youth (which I suppose I still am in considering human longevity today). If I speak to my older friends a lot of my regular acquaintances from here are confused if I'm generic Canadian or American (the ones who have no clue about accents), I can switch to a South California accent with ease but there's the issue. I can't drop my pronounciations or enunciations easily because I was raised in RP with a slight North London twinge. When I speak to people in the Middle East I immediately switch to Dubai-isms with the whole 'tell me'. I hate that. It's highly annoying cause you pick up a phone and call someone and the first thing they say is- 'So, tell me' and it's really easy to pick up. Just as easy as Yallah Bye. I can also switch to a slight Indian if I speak to someone from India and suddenly my Vs become Ws and god that's annoying. I really adjust my accent and my pronounciation to fit the group I'm talking to. However if I can't see the person and I'm on the phone then I speak in my normal Londoner. I've done other accents when I used to perform and my singing voice is definitely not British but more generic western as is the case for most people who sing here. I know there are a few pronounciations that irk me but it's mostly because I try to pronounce every word as appropriate in that culture. I suppose I have the attitude that if I can learn so why can't others. I must admit that amongst my acquaintances, those that are Dutch are the best at picking up pronounciations fast. I'm fairly decent but I'll have trouble with certain Mandarin and Icelandic words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I've heard "beeta" (mostly from British people on TV), but everyone around here says "bayta". Never heard anyone say "beater". As for "melee", in America the correct pronunciation is definitely "maylay", though they spell it "mey-ley". It's interesting to me how many words are pronounced differently in the US and UK, even beyond what you would normally think of as being an accent thing. For example methane is pronounced "mee-thane" in the UK and "meh-thane" in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 "beater" and "beeter" are the same aren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDex Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Melee is one. I say Mel-Ee. Tom and ben say may-lay. (turns out I was right). Sorry, in no way were you right. Mel-ee just sounds dumb. May-lay is using the French style, but I don't mind mel-ay. Either way, I am probably most fussy about the fact that there is originally an é, so the end takes on an 'ay' sound. One thing I thought was clever is that Segway uses the actual pronunciation of segue, and it is a way of getting from one point to another, smoothly. Meh-ley/Mel-ee is the French way. May-lay is the Anglicized/Americanized version. - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/m%C3%AAl%C3%A9e#French It's only since reading A Song of Ice and Fire that I've become accustomed to hearing may-lay. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) Methane is an interesting one in the sense that Mee Thane is technically correct as opposed to Meth ane. The thing is it was originally ee thane and that's pretty much where it all comes from. Since Faraday (damn fool is pretty much the reason why we have differing pronounciations in Chemistry's Nomenclature) was the one credit to the discovery of ethane, pretty much all the alkanes are technically correct in the RP pronounciation as opposed to the US pronouciation. However when it comes to Methyl both are more or less correct (though in some ways the US pronounciation is more accurate) since the origin of the word is from derivatives of the word 'Mead' which has different pronounciations in a few languages. The best way to go about those names is stick to what your science base country of origin is. Edited December 2, 2011 by WTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDex Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 It's interesting to me how many words are pronounced differently in the US and UK, even beyond what you would normally think of as being an accent thing. For example methane is pronounced "mee-thane" in the UK and "meh-thane" in the US. And Ireland is stuck right in the middle, sharing both US and UK colloquialisms - we use both mee-thane and meh-thane, so much so that I couldn't tell ya which one I use more. Potayto, Potahto is a different matter. It's either a Potayto or a spud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Surely you mean "Mee-tane" or "Meh-tane". ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 It's either a Potayto or a spud. You know, POE-TAY-TOE? Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew? I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. You know, the only place I've ever heard anyone say "potahto" is in that saying, "I say potayto, you say potahto." I've never actually heard anyone use that pronunciation in normal conversation. Also, not quit on topic, but isn't it weird that the second "o" in "pronounce" gets dropped when you write "pronunciation"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 I think it's more common to say either "to-may-to" or "to-mah-to" than "po-tay-to" or "po-tah-to". Pretty sure Potahto was just for the song. Battra will likely know as it's his era sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Melee is one. I say Mel-Ee. Tom and ben say may-lay. (turns out I was right). Sorry, in no way were you right. Mel-ee just sounds dumb. May-lay is using the French style, but I don't mind mel-ay. Either way, I am probably most fussy about the fact that there is originally an é, so the end takes on an 'ay' sound. One thing I thought was clever is that Segway uses the actual pronunciation of segue, and it is a way of getting from one point to another, smoothly. Meh-ley/Mel-ee is the French way. May-lay is the Anglicized/Americanized version. - http://en.wiktionary...l%C3%A9e#French It's only since reading A Song of Ice and Fire that I've become accustomed to hearing may-lay. Hmm, interesting. Makes me wonder how they say entrée, toupée and fiancée (and I'm sure there are probably others like that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Yeah, the French pronunciation of "é" is really somewhere between the English "ee" and "ay". Neither one is really quite right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 You say bay-zil, we say, ba-zil, You say lee-chjure, we say lie-chjur-e-ay. You say erbs, we say herbs. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 You say lee-chjure, we say lie-chjur-e-ay. We say what now? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 You didn't watch the video did you? (also I have no idea how to make into letters the sound S makes in leisure, hence "chj") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 There's a lot more really when it comes to pronounciations. It's Parme zan not Parme jan technically. Thing is the original word is Parmeggiano yeah but the word we use in English comes from the French usage which basically gives it a z/zh sound. The only thing that does irk me though is coupon cause it is a cou pon not a cue pon. We never say cue for coup which we do pronounce cou. The thing about pronounce and pronounciation probably has to do with the word enunciate and historically them being used together must have resulted in that pronouciation. Because I'm sure I've heard it pronounced both ways in plays. Regardless there is a common notion here that h is pronounced haytch when it's actually aitch. There's also the weird, I'm not sure where it originates from, pronounciation of debut as deboo which isn't technically British or American nor French for that matter. Penchant is pronounced differently in the US and the UK as well where the former takes after the French and the latter takes after how the word sounds which isn't entirely wrong because pendant is also a derivative of the same word yet we don't really go pendont. Certain pronounciations are always going to be that way. However the important thing is to not stand out ridiculously at a social function when you're not in your native territory unless you enjoy that of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 A lot of the pronunciation issues boil down to the fact that when we stole all these words we'd write them down in reports and letters back home n such but we didn't tend to send along a native speaker too. So the words picked up a bit of how it would be sounded in English, or a bit of how it would be sounded in the original native tongue (if we knew much of it). Pronunciations would be a lot different if several hundred years ago we could send along an SD card full MP3s with the native sounding along with the various writings home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 You didn't watch the video did you? (also I have no idea how to make into letters the sound S makes in leisure, hence "chj") I'd go with "zj", but really I don't think there is a "phonetic" spelling for that sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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