"I could care less"....???

[bammo2]

Do you pronounce "mute" as mewet or moot, or something else? Im just curious. I say the first one.

Mewt, a bit like Newt but with an M

 

[Anthony]

Yeah, we're pretty consistent (for a change) with the pronounciation of the "ute's".

oooooooh and Rowt instead of Route

What? Really? They're even more perverse than I thought. Either way, they still have to answer for re-writing the English language, dropping 'u's here and and moving 'e's there.

Ant.

 

[beli]

My "Pop Goes the Weasel" whinge

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.

is how the song goes. It means theres no money so the weasel ie one of the irons is to be hocked. Not the other version that makes so little sense that I have forgotten the lyrics. lol.

 

[A_Wanderer]

The Mel-born pronounciation throws me a bit.

What about those South Africans though

It's a linguistic journey around the Anglosphere.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Still English is a real mongrel language.

 

[beli]

Tis indeed. I dont believe theres many South Africans on this site. There are some Irish, Welsh, and Scots though whom Im sure have their share of whinges to contribute. lol.

 

[BonosSaint]

Northeast PA coalmining region. We drop our t's. Kind of do a half of a t sound where you touch the tongue to the roof of the mouth, but don't finish it. Never knew that until I ran into a linguist who told me exactly where I was from.

Of course, I don't have an accent.

This thread turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. The differences make us all sound a lot more interesting, eh?

 

[Axver]

one of my pet hates is Aluminum.

What the hell???? It's Aluminium

I HATE THAT.

They spell the rest correctly, with '-ium', don't they? So WTF is with 'aluminum'? It sounds like you've forgotten the word three quarters of the way through. "Alumin- ... um? Oh shit, what's the word?"

 

[Axver]

The Mel-born pronounciation throws me a bit.

Now, now, Mr Wanderer, I had a little rant earlier about people who incorrectly spell 'pronunciation' with three instances of 'o' rather than two.

 

[bammo2]

I HATE THAT.

They spell the rest correctly, with '-ium', don't they? So WTF is with 'aluminum'? It sounds like you've forgotten the word three quarters of the way through. "Alumin- ... um? Oh shit, what's the word?"

actually, I think they spell it Aluminum too

It's like they can't be bothered with that many syllables. Maybe that's why they drop the U's out of so many words too. Eg Harbor, color, behavior. Maybe it's just to keep it nice and simple so not too much effort is required....

 

[Axver]

Oh, can I have another whinge? Am I the only person who hates it when people say 'leisure' as 'lee-zhur' (so that it rhymes with 'seizure') rather than 'leh-zhuh'?

In twenty days, I'm going to America, and not just any part of America, but the SOUTH. Except for a few days in Boston. Now, no offence ('offence' has a 'c', folks!) to anyone from the American South, but the typical Southern accent is the only accent I hate. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard. No Tim Tams, no Turkish Delight, no Fawlty Towers, and horrible accents. I'm going to DIE.

By the way ... if we want a South African, I know GibsonGirl's from there. But I don't think she visits FYM.

 

[Axver]

actually, I think they spell it Aluminum too

It's like they can't be bothered with that many syllables. Maybe that's why they drop the U's out of so many words too. Eg Harbor, color, behavior. Maybe it's just to keep it nice and simple so not too much effort is required....

Yeah, I know they spell aluminium as 'aluminum', but I think all the other ones have '-ium'. You don't catch Americans talking about 'sodum' rather than 'sodium'. Geez, would it kill them to rectify 'aluminum'? While they're at it, could they kindly convert to Celsius and metric? The rest of us did it.

I have a theory: you know those painful teenyboppers who write 'u' instead of 'you' online? They're just using up all the 'u's leftover by the US. Couldn't let them go to waste or feel rejected!

 

[beli]

While they're at it, could they kindly convert to Celsius and metric?

You mean "Celsis"

 

[Axver]

You mean "Celsis"

No, I mean 'Sell see us', or in other words, sell the sea to us, damnit!

 

[beli]

You are probably too young to recall the days when Australians used to refer to Kiwis as South Sea Poms.

NB It wasn't a compliment. lol.

 

[Axver]

You are probably too young to recall the days when Australians used to refer to Kiwis as South Sea Poms.

NB It wasn't a compliment. lol.

I have heard the term, but not regularly. Honestly, with my British ancestry, I don't think I'd mind the term. The only Kiwi insults that bug me are the sheep jokes. Yes, I've heard them already, they're tired and worn - come on, Australia, come up with something original!

 

[beli]

Axis of Just As Evil
Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil," Libya, China, and Syria today announced that they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil," which they said would be more evil than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of in his State of the Union address.

Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are just as evil...in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. "Everybody know we're the best evils...best at being evil...we're the best."

Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, although they conceded that they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil. "They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "An axis can't have more than three countries," explained Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So, you can only have three, and a secret handshake. Ours is wickedly cool."

International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, as within minutes, France surrendered.

Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in what has become a game of geopolitical chairs.

Cuba, Sudan, and Serbia announced that they had formed the "Axis of Somewhat Evil," forcing Somalia to join with Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis of Occasionally Evil," while Bulgaria, Indonesia, and Russia established the "Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeeable."

With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called the "Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be Asked to Host the Olympics."

Canada, Mexico, and Australia formed the "Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Some Nasty Thoughts About America," while Scotland, New Zealand, and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick." "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do," said Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.

While wondering if the other nations of the world were perhaps making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axis, although he rejected the establishment of the "Axis of Countries Whose Names End in 'Guay." accusing one of its members of filing a false application. Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the charges.

Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but privately world leaders said that's only because no one asked them.

 

[BonosSaint]

Celsius and metric? Too much work. On a whole, we don't grasp the concept. And we're Americans, Goddamnit, you switch!

 

[Axver]

Canada, Mexico, and Australia formed the "Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Some Nasty Thoughts About America," while Scotland, New Zealand, and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick." "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do," said Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.

 

[Axver]

Celsius and metric? Too much work. On a whole, we don't grasp the concept. And we're Americans, Goddamnit, you switch!

Celsius and metric are a hell of a lot easier than that odd Imperial system.

Though I must confess to using Imperial. I like model trains, but as the best model railway magazines come from the US, I've learnt Imperial and simply can't do model railways in metric. Also, my mother grew up during the period when NZ switched, so she alternates between the two and thus I grew up measuring my height in feet. I've still no clue how tall I am in centimetres.

 

[bammo2]

the UK supposedly switched to metric ages ago, but I still mainly work in imperial. I have no idea of my weight in kilos. If I had a baby I'd want to know its weight in pounds, if I go to the supermarket I have to ask for deli products in ounces cos I don't understand grams. And I certainly don't know who many centimetres tall I am

 

[beli]

Still, you can forgive the Australians, who tend to have accents so bleeding nasal they're actually sexy.

Ant.

Is that a joke or do you find Australian accents attractive? I always thought Australian accents were up there as one of the most internationally irritating accents.

 

[Angela Harlem]

How do we get slapped with the nasal label when Americans invented nasally?

 

[MadelynIris]

As far as the sixpence thing.. you can thank C.S. Lewis for that transformation:

The book is called Mere Christianity. A little boy asks his father for a sixpence, which is a very small amount of English currency, to go and get a gift for his father. The father gladly accepts the gift, but he also realizes that he's not any richer for the transaction because he gave his son the money in the first place.”

 

[verte76]

"Mangled grammar" is part of the slow evolution of language. That's probably why, over the centuries, "Old English" and current English are completely different from each other.

I have to wonder if English 1000 years from now will be vastly different or not.

Melon

Of course. Languages are changing faster now because of all the communication media. Remember, the Old English speakers didn't even have the printing press.

 

[meegannie]

According to Wikipedia:

"The official IUPAC spelling of the element is aluminium; however, Americans and Canadians generally spell and pronounce it aluminum.

In 1808, Humphry Davy originally proposed the name alumium whilst trying to electrolytically isolate the new metal from the mineral alumina. A couple of years later he changed the name to aluminum to match its Latin root, but was finally persuaded to restore the -ium ending in 1812 giving aluminium. This had the advantage of conforming to the -ium suffix precedent set by other newly discovered elements of the period potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and strontium (all of which Davy had isolated himself). However, for the next thirty years, both the -um and -ium endings were used in the scientific literature.

Curiously America adopted the -ium for most of the 19th century with aluminium appearing in Webster's Dictionary of 1828. However Charles Martin Hall selected the -um spelling in an advertising handbill for his new efficient electrolytic method for the production of aluminium, four years after he had patented the process in 1888. Although this spelling may have been an accident, Hall's domination of aluminium production ensured that the -um ending became the standard in North America, even though the Webster Unabridged Dictionary of 1913 continued to use the -ium version. In 1926 the American Chemical Society decided officially to use aluminum in its publications.

Meanwhile most of Europe had standardized on the -ium spelling. In 1990 the IUPAC adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element. Aluminium is also the name used in French, Dutch, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Japanese; Italian uses alluminio, Portuguese alumínio and Spanish aluminio. (The use of these words in these other languages is one of the reasons IUPAC chose aluminium over aluminum.) In 1993, IUPAC recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant, but still prefers the use of aluminium."

"Aluminium" sounds like a metal from the future.

 

[Anthony]

Is that a joke or do you find Australian accents attractive? I always thought Australian accents were up there as one of the most internationally irritating accents

I'm a complete freak, but yes, I do find it the most attractive of accents. It makes men sound more masculine than they really are, and it gives the women a mysterious edge that makes them sound more efficient (efficient women = sexy in my thinking) than they really are.

Like I said, I'm a freak.

Ant.

 

[Badyouken]

Quebec actually has a similar problem. Their French is actually 17th century French or something of the sort. They also speak at a faster pace than Parisian French, so even French people get pissed off at Quebec French.

I'd like to set the record straight on that one, since I'm from Québec.

In Québec, we speak the same French as in France, except for the accent. Our accent is indeed very similar to what French sounded like in the 17-18th century but it has evolved quite a bit with exposure to French media. But the French understand us easily. Americans have a different accent from the British or the Scots, but it's still the same language.

In France itself, there is a wide variety of accents. We usually use Parisian French as the reference, but this is erroneous, I believe. If you go to the South of France, they have a really different accent; we say their accent is "chantant" (singing). That's also what Parisians say about the Québec accent. If you go to Belgium, you'll find similar accents to ours. Same goes with some regions in western France.

And in Québec itself there is a wide variety of accents. But the French understand us very well, like the British understand Americans perfectly. There are SO MANY Frenchmen (from France ) in Québec... And I don't think we speak faster than them...

However, the difference is in slang. Québec slang ("joual") is not the same as French slang. (same goes with English: British slang is not the same as American slang). The funny thing is that Québec is more resistant to English than France in its vocabulary: while in France they say words like "shopping", "email" and "parking", we say "magasiner", "courriel" and "stationnement". Being surrounded by 330 million English-speakers, keeping French in Québec is a major concern over here.

But it's all the same language. Going to University in Québec is quite interesting: in the same class, you can get, say, a teacher with a Parisian accent, teaching to students with various Québec, Acadian, Moroccan, Algerian, African and European accents. But it's all the same language and everybody understands everybody. This is what we call La Francophonie.

All in all, languages are so interesting... I'm currently reading a book on the history of indo-european languages and dialects; it is rather fascinating!

 

[A_Wanderer]

Now, now, Mr Wanderer, I had a little rant earlier about people who incorrectly spell 'pronunciation' with three instances of 'o' rather than two.

The internet is a place where everybody can get together and spell poorly.

 

[beli]

I'm a complete freak, but yes, I do find it the most attractive of accents. It makes men sound more masculine than they really are, and it gives the women a mysterious edge that makes them sound more efficient (efficient women = sexy in my thinking) than they really are.

Like I said, I'm a freak.

Ant.

So its only you that feels that way? If I went to Europe men wouldn't melt into a puddle of their own drool at the sound of my voice?

Somewhere on this planet freckled people with Australian accents are considered goddesses................