A thread full of words Americans don't pronounce properly

[Barrel of Fun]

they pronounce football as "Soccer"

I thought the term 'Soccer' derived from the old fashioned name for football i.e. Association Football, so as to differentiate between Rugby Football and Association Football. A word invented by the English themselves.

 

[hillbilly]

My sister in law in Florida cannot say Pasta correctly - more like paasta

 

[Jahooli]

I read a meemo -not a memo- (OK an e-mail) that used slated as we use pencilled in.
"Frank was slated for today..."
I wanted to know what Frank had done wrong.

Who uses a slate nowadays?

 

[Everest]

Sorry - in fact they can't say it at all.

 

[NMH]

Lever - Levver
Aluminium - there's a SECOND I for gods sake
Any county in England ending in -shire

er....we didn't discover ALUMINUM, so they can call it whatever they want to. It's us that says it wrong, this time.

p.s. advertisement; "adver-TYSE-ment". I never got over that, and always said it "advertiss-ment"

 

[NMH]

Some of you folk are rilly getting PISSED about the US of A, today

 

[Lord Bracknell]

anything ending with "Ham", they put a pause in ie Berming-Ham, Totten-Ham

On the other hand ... us Sussex folk pronounce Beddingham as "Bedding-HAM". At least we do out here in the neighbouring parish.

Much the same with Etching-HAM.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

And I understand that the Italians have no word for Ciabatta

It was called pane morbido when I lived in Italy. And it was a more sensible shape.

 

[Nottseagull]

I read a meemo -not a memo- (OK an e-mail) that used slated as we use pencilled in.
"Frank was slated for today..."
I wanted to know what Frank had done wrong.

Who uses a slate nowadays?

Roofers and publicans.

 

[dougdeep]

I hate Builders Merchants called CENTERS.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Am I alone in finding this thread a tad snobbish?

Language is an evolving thing, the way we pronounce certain words is a million miles from the way the people of 17th Century Britain would pronounce (and spell) them.

Where's the logic in Leicester, Worcester and Bicester being pronounced Lester, Wooster and Bister, for example? Following that logic, how should we pronounce Cirencester? What about Featherstonehaugh (fanshaw)?


Of more direct relevance, if the English language hadn't evolved, most of you would still be calling that referee yesterday a "queynte", instead of the more popular modern term...

 

[Nottseagull]

The fires brenne upon the auter cleere,
Whil Emelye was thus in hir preyere;
But sodeynly she saugh a sighte queynte,
For right anon oon of the fyres queynte,
And quyked agayn, and after that anon
That oother fyr was queynt and al agon;
And as it queynte, it made a whistelynge
As doon thise wete brondes in hir brennynge;
And at the brondes ende out ran anon
As it were blody dropes many oon;
For which so soore agast was Emelye
That she was wel ny mad, and gan to crye;
For she ne wiste what it signyfied

Reproduced by kind permission of Geoffrey Chaucer.

I wonder what we'll all be talking like in another 600 years; hopefully innit will have died a death.

 

[Nemesis]

Am I alone in finding this thread a tad snobbish?

Definitely not alone...maybe we should change the thread into "Words the English don't pronounce correctly?"

 

[Nottseagull]

Definitely not alone...maybe we should change the thread into "Words the English don't pronounce correctly?"

Septic? Welsh? New Zealandic?

 

[Nemesis]

Septic? Welsh? New Zealandic?

English

 

[Gritt23]

Sorry - in fact they can't say it at all.

They pronounce it "colateral damage".

 

[FamilyGuy]

Asparagus = Asper arrr gus

My name = Les (they always call me Less)

 

[Deleted User X18H]

PRE ME ER SHIP .........on ESPN

 

[Deleted User X18H]

They pronounce TERMINATION correctly just inappropriately