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Was it worth it to ya? (aka Fire the Nuclear Wessels)

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  • #61
    Quoth Jay 2K Winger View Post
    Re: the proper pronunciation of words.

    I have an ear for how "natives" pronounce things. It goes with my knack for accents and the like. So I know that what Jester says is more or less true.
    I seem to have a natural ability to pronounce places the way it drives most people mad. Bi-cester vs. Bista gets a great reaction around here.
    I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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    • #62
      Quoth Gizmo View Post
      I seem to have a natural ability to pronounce places the way it drives most people mad. Bi-cester vs. Bista gets a great reaction around here.
      When traveling, I make it a point to find out how the locals pronounce the local names, and attempt to do so. Seems to make sense to me, yet gets me odd looks all the time when I mention a place. I just don't get why anyone would mispronounce a name on purpose once you know how it's supposed to be pronounced (and how the locals pronounce it, IMO, is the correct way).

      When we lived in Wales, one guy at the US navy facility where my hubby worked drove me up a wall, he would go on and on about how "dumb" it was to pronounce something a particular way - dude, it's pronounced the Welsh way, the name is in Welsh, you're in Wales! Could not get thru to this guy that not everything in the entire world should be pronounced according to American English rules of pronunciation. Needless to say, I avoided him like the plague.

      Madness takes it's toll....
      Please have exact change ready.

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      • #63
        Quoth Merriweather View Post
        I just don't get why anyone would mispronounce a name on purpose once you know how it's supposed to be pronounced (and how the locals pronounce it, IMO, is the correct way).
        Its usually to do with a brain burp rather than purpose. Sometimes my brain just wont 'remember' how to say it quick enough!
        I am so SO glad I was not present for this. There would have been an unpleasant duct tape incident. - Joi

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        • #64
          Quoth Jester View Post
          Interesting.

          My roommate, who is Estonian, but spent his childhood under Soviet control (he was born in 1978) pronounces vodka as "wodka" but has no trouble saying v's. For instance, he might say "That wodka is very good." He has a strong accent, yes, but he is very well-spoken, more than a lot of immigrants in this country. I just always assumed that the "wodka" was not an inability to say v's, but rather the way they always said certain words. The dialect, if you will. Just as most Americans will say pronounce mozzarell as "MOTTS-uh-RELL-uh," whereas most Italian Americans will pronounce it "MOOTS-uh-rell."
          I can only assume he's thinking of it as starting with the letter V like how we say it then. Cos the spelling i found for it I've seen at several sources ranging from my mac translate, to actual russian-english text books.

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