Messages

1

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: May 27, 2025, 09:52:26 AM »

Just sounds wrong. 

In other news (and another GBBO pronounciation fail), in Mexican week (several years ago, I'm behind watching) they made "tackos" with "pico de gallow"! 

2

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: May 25, 2025, 03:39:33 PM »

A newscaster just said "asterick" for asterisk. In what world is "asterick" a word? 

3

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: January 30, 2025, 09:26:50 PM »

Yeah, apparently it was a legit pronounciation. And it is close to the French pronounciation. But I've never heard it pronounced that way by an American before.

4

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: January 07, 2025, 07:11:57 PM »

Yeah, I wondered if she'd studied French, as well. Can't remember anymore who said it.

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English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: January 07, 2025, 01:43:32 PM »

I don't think it's an accepted pronounciation for malaise in English. But the way she said it was very close to the way it's pronounced in French.

6

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: January 05, 2025, 09:54:44 PM »

There's was a story on NPR about President Jimmy Carter's malaise speech and the NPR reporter pronounced it ma-lez, which I guess is close to the French pronounciation, but not the way I've ever heard it pronounced in English.

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English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: August 27, 2024, 11:25:40 AM »

I didn't realize it either till I saw the meme about it.

8

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: August 19, 2024, 06:22:55 PM »

Thanks for your thoughts on it.

9

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: August 18, 2024, 08:59:26 PM »

I pronounce it the way Merriam-Webster says. So does my spouse.

Maybe the pronounciation differences are regional?

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English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: August 18, 2024, 11:26:56 AM »

So I saw a meme asking why we pronounce the "g" in "longevity" twice. Pretty sure I don't.

So what's the correct pronounciation?

11

English & Linguistics / Re: New column-type thingy

« on: June 18, 2024, 03:47:19 PM »

Ha, I had the same questions as rivka. 

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English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert

« on: February 07, 2024, 08:50:52 PM »

Ha! Yeah, something like that.

Folks use commas inappropriately a lot.

13

English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert

« on: February 06, 2024, 06:49:49 AM »

Why on earth would someone use a comma after "include" in this sentence? (Including only the part of the sentence leading up to and after "include".)

"...pain treatment strategies during procedures for newborns and infants include, breastfeeding, skin-to-skin and..."

Am I wrong to think no comma is needed after include?
It's a quote pulled from another publication and quoted in an article I'm reviewing, so if it's wrong it was probably published wrong. Unless the article writer typed the quote incorrectly.

14

English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert

« on: August 23, 2023, 05:07:26 AM »

m-w conjectures:

Spoiler: hiding my shame in using the literal dictionary (click to show/hide)

"In 16th-century France, vendre des canards à moitié was a colorful way of saying "to fool" or "to cheat." The French phrase means, literally, "to half-sell ducks." No one now knows just what was meant by "to half-sell"; the proverb was probably based on some story widely known at the time, but the details have not survived. At any rate, the expression led to the use of canard, the French word for "duck," with the meaning of "a hoax" or "a fabrication." English speakers adopted this canard in the mid-1800s. The aeronautical sense of canard, used from the early days of flying, comes from the stubby duck-like appearance of the aircraft."

Interesting, pooka. Which dictionary did you check?

15

English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert

« on: August 20, 2023, 08:37:19 PM »

Why is a canard an unfounded rumor in English and a duck in French?
Is there a relationship between the two words?

16

English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...

« on: June 28, 2023, 07:51:02 PM »

 

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English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert

« on: June 26, 2023, 10:46:01 AM »

I only know the ones Tante mentioned.

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English & Linguistics / Re: I hate journalistic writing

« on: March 06, 2023, 03:05:40 PM »

 

19

English & Linguistics / Re: I hate journalistic writing

« on: March 03, 2023, 10:25:12 AM »

Not only is it poorly written but full of misinformation.

News flash: antibiotics are not used to treat norovirus. It's a virus. Antibiotics don't work against viruses.

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English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: December 05, 2022, 09:24:06 PM »

Yeah.

My very well-read son used to be notorious for that kind of error when he was in high school, especially: Mispronouncing words he had only seen in writing. It was amusing.

After two university degrees, I don't hear him making that type of error anymore.

21

English & Linguistics / Re: Strange Proununciations

« on: December 05, 2022, 09:26:02 AM »

I was listening to a podcast put out by Ha'Aretz, as Israeli newspaper, today and one of the folks on the podcast pronounced hyperbole “hyperbowl”. Pretty sure that's not a legitimate variation of how to say hyperbole.

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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...

« on: October 12, 2022, 06:55:27 PM »

Interesting. And not too surprising, I guess. 

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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...

« on: October 09, 2022, 10:49:26 AM »

Funny. But is it true?

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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...

« on: September 10, 2022, 07:49:40 PM »

 

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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...

« on: May 26, 2022, 10:08:23 AM »

Seriously.