I've noticed lately a lot of people with a curious pronunciation tic that involves words with "str" in them. They will seemingly add a kind of 'h' sound, so that street sounds like "shhtreet," rather than street. Has anybody else noticed this, and any ideas where it comes from and why it seems to be gaining ascendancy? I thought it might be an East Coast thing, but I'm not sure...
posted by jgballard
on Sep 2, 2005 -
35 answers
In the US, the first syllable of "privacy" rhymes with "eye." In the UK, it rhymes with "give." So why, when listening to an audiobook, did I hear a British reader (with a standard British dialect) pronounce it the American way? Was the reader just being weird, or is the pronunciation of "privacy" becoming Americanized? Are there any other common Brit-pronunciations that are migrating across the pond?
[more inside]
posted by grumblebee
on May 8, 2005 -
22 answers
I am a great admirer of the writings of New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier, but I am shy about recommending him to friends because I can't pronounce his name. How do you pronounce Wieseltier?
posted by shambles
on Mar 23, 2005 -
5 answers
A friend of ours reads Us Weekly (tabloid news magazine). That's not the problem, I like me some celebrity gossip as well. However, she pronounces it "You Ess Weekly" (ike U.S. News and World Report) vs "Us Weekly" (which I would assume from the spelling/punctuation). I figured this was an aberration, until I heard someone on TV using the same pronunciation. So - how is it actually pronounced? I'd like to keep laughing on the inside when she says it. Bonus points if you can tell me how to google for this - I'm stumped.
posted by true
on Feb 9, 2005 -
23 answers
I'm sure I'm mangling the pronunciation, and I'm sure I misheard a few syllables, but last night while waiting for a bus in Brooklyn, a man came up to me and more than once said something that sounded like "Sheh-deh-mah-shen-see."
Does it mean anything?
Some clues: He was polish, also spoke -- in english -- about having just gotten out of a hospital, about how he was crazy, about how his wife was in poland, not america, about how he hadn't eaten, about how he was crazy, about "oh my god" (x3). I gave him some food and a cigarette: he walked a few paces away, looked up at the windows of a second-floor gym, laughed, and did a little dance that mimicked the man on the treadmill. Oh, and he kept apologizing: "I'm so sorry. I so crazy. Oh my God." (x3). Any ideas? I hope to see him again, and I hope to be able to reply appropriately.
posted by nobody
on Feb 8, 2005 -
15 answers
I need an application (preferably web based) in which I can enter a word, including surnames, and get the phonetic spelling in return. Any ideas?
posted by Heatwole
on Feb 1, 2005 -
7 answers
Portuguese pronunciation. I'm a fan of Brazilian singer/songrwriter Jorge Ben. How do you pronunce his first name? I've heard "Yor-gay", "Hor-hay", "Zhorzhj", and plain ol' "George".
posted by TiredStarling
on Dec 17, 2004 -
14 answers
It's a word I've know for years but don't know how to pronounce because I've never had to say it out loud. [mi]
[more inside]
posted by TiredStarling
on Nov 26, 2004 -
33 answers
Why, when romanizing Arabic words and names, is the U-less Q used instead of K?
posted by davebug
on Nov 1, 2004 -
17 answers
PronunciationFilter: I've noticed that there's two ways to render the "L" sound. One is the standard palatal way, and the other is to draw the back of your tongue back, close to a french "r". I find my self using it occasionally, and though I'm not sure if I've heard other use it it sounds pretty close to the normal way. Is this a documented thing?
posted by abcde
on Jun 9, 2004 -
10 answers
Can someone tell me how the name of Saint Coemgen (patron saint of blackbirds, and Dublin) is supposed to be pronounced? Somehow it's anglicized as Kevin. Even after consulting several Gaelic pronunciation sites, I still don't get it.
posted by vraxoin
on Feb 26, 2004 -
6 answers
