[OT] Spelling

[spndnchz]

sherbet anyone?

[inkman]

sherbet anyone?

Love some just don't ask me to pronounce it!!

[darksabre]

sherbet anyone?

 

When I go to buffalo I have to remember to say it wrong so that people don't look at me funny. It's like a crime to say it right.

[Eleven]

When I go to buffalo I have to remember to say it wrong so that people don't look at me funny. It's like a crime to say it right.

 

Oh, no. Please don't tell me that everyone here says "sherbert." I only know one person who does that, and since he happens to be my dad, he gets a pass from me. (He also says "aigs" for "eggs." He doesn't get a pass on that one; my sis and I always get on his back for that.)

[Cereal]

The same nine-letter word I named that has only one vowel, also has only one syllable.

 

Ah nice, you're right! SCRATCHED and SCREECHED were supposed to be the answer to my question.

 

SCRATCH is a seven-letter word with only vowel per chz's question.

[Eleven]

Ah nice, you're right! SCRATCHED and SCREECHED were supposed to be the answer to my question.

 

SCRATCH is a seven-letter word with only vowel per chz's question.

 

Mine went unanswered, the two-letter word with no vowel: sh.

 

Yeah, it's actually a word.

[Stoner]

Joanna Pasceri just said someone went "salling" around the world (in a boat). Is she ignorant?

 

The weather guy is going to say "tomarrow."

[Cereal]

Mine went unanswered, the two-letter word with no vowel: sh.

 

Yeah, it's actually a word.

 

Hm, according to http://www.trussel.com/scrabble/2words.htm we also have HM and MM in addition to SH. :nana:

[JujuFish]

Mine went unanswered, the two-letter word with no vowel: sh.

 

Yeah, it's actually a word.

As a former avid Scrabble player, I can say that 'hm' and 'mm' are legal words in the game.

[rbochan]

When I go to Buffalo, I've noticed people pronouncing "soda" as "pop".

[That Aud Smell]

Since- pronounced sense

Milk- pronounced melk

I say melk and pellows.

my wife's family is from NW PA (not sure what they owe their regional accent to, given that there's brooklyn, jersey, and oil city in the mix), and some, but not all, of her siblings say "sence", "melk", and "pellow". the fact that some of the kids say it (there's a bunch of them), but not others is fascinating to me.

 

Who's to say how they're supposed to be pronounced?

this is a legitimate debate. dictionary editors are in two camps: descriptive and prescriptive. the former seek to capture how people are pronouncing words and what they're intending them to mean, the latter seek to tell people how those words should be pronounced and what they are to mean.

 

as is typical for me, i'm torn on which side to come down on. the descriptive camp gives more respect to the malleable, evolving nature of language; the prescriptive camp sometimes seems like the vanguard of western frickin' civilization and the last stand against the lowest common denominator winning out. simple example: the paper of record now regularly uses crescendo to mean the peak or height of sound/drama/action; that's the result of descriptive usage winning out (because that ain't what the word means ... well, it wasn't what it meant anyway). i'm generally against changing the meaning of words based on sloppy and ill-informed usage. the fine distinctions as and amongst closely related words and concepts are worth preserving.

 

i have less of a problem with dictionaries recognizing regional pronunciations of words. although i think it tends to make people sound a bit goofy or ignorant when they're giving a soft "e" sound to an "i".

 

The one that bugs the hell out of me is "lackadaisical" vs. "laxadaisical".

You can either be lax, or you can be lackadaisical, but you can't be "laxadaisical."

when i was in college, our star running back coined the term "lack-a-daisy" -- i always liked that one. (see? that's me in the descriptive camp.)

 

"irregardless" --- not even a F'n word.

for me, that was the best bit in the history of barney miller - dietrich has a collar who was arrested for assaulting people on the streets of NYC for using bad syntax and grammar - after the perp gets through an insane rant to the squad room, dietrich begins the booking with "well, irregardless of all that ..."

 

/cue bass line.

 

When I go to Buffalo, I've noticed people pronouncing "soda" as "pop".

yer dern skippy.

[FogBat]

When I go to Buffalo, I've noticed people pronouncing "soda" as "pop".

I take it you haven't been to the Anchor Bar & Grill. I went there in April and picked up their "I am from Buffalo" sheet. It's useless trivia, but the one line that I remember is this. "It's not soda, it's pop, and it's Pepsi, not Coke."

[spndnchz]

Pronouncing sneakers "tennis shoes".

[Taro T]

my wife's family is from NW PA (not sure what they owe their regional accent to, given that there's brooklyn, jersey, and oil city in the mix), and some, but not all, of her siblings say "sence", "melk", and "pellow". the fact that some of the kids say it (there's a bunch of them), but not others is fascinating to me.

 

 

this is a legitimate debate. dictionary editors are in two camps: descriptive and prescriptive. the former seek to capture how people are pronouncing words and what they're intending them to mean, the latter seek to tell people how those words should be pronounced and what they are to mean.

 

as is typical for me, i'm torn on which side to come down on. the descriptive camp gives more respect to the malleable, evolving nature of language; the prescriptive camp sometimes seems like the vanguard of western frickin' civilization and the last stand against the lowest common denominator winning out. simple example: the paper of record now regularly uses crescendo to mean the peak or height of sound/drama/action; that's the result of descriptive usage winning out (because that ain't what the word means ... well, it wasn't what it meant anyway). i'm generally against changing the meaning of words based on sloppy and ill-informed usage. the fine distinctions as and amongst closely related words and concepts are worth preserving.

 

i have less of a problem with dictionaries recognizing regional pronunciations of words. although i think it tends to make people sound a bit goofy or ignorant when they're giving a soft "e" sound to an "i".

 

 

when i was in college, our star running back coined the term "lack-a-daisy" -- i always liked that one. (see? that's me in the descriptive camp.)

 

 

for me, that was the best bit in the history of barney miller - dietrich has a collar who was arrested for assaulting people on the streets of NYC for using bad syntax and grammar - after the perp gets through an insane rant to the squad room, dietrich begins the booking with "well, irregardless of all that ..."

 

/cue bass line.

 

 

yer dern skippy.

"These chips are the crun, crun, crunchiest." :lol:

I take it you haven't been to the Anchor Bar & Grill. I went there in April and picked up their "I am from Buffalo" sheet. It's useless trivia, but the one line that I remember is this. "It's not soda, it's pop, and it's Pepsi, not Coke."

Actually, it's RC, (Cherry Crush and Squirt were good too) but I digress. ;)

[Patty16]

Oh, no. Please don't tell me that everyone here says "sherbert." I only know one person who does that, and since he happens to be my dad, he gets a pass from me. (He also says "aigs" for "eggs." He doesn't get a pass on that one; my sis and I always get on his back for that.)

 

it is "aigs" according to webster's

 

sherbert is an alernative and correct word for sherbet.

[WannabeGM]

The one that's always given me trouble is Penalize. Can't stand it. If it's a pen-al-tee, while is he pee-nal-ized and not pen-al-ized. Oh, and from Rochester, Crayon has no y or o. it's a cran.

[inkman]

it is "aigs" according to webster's

That's unfortunate.

[Eleven]

That's unfortunate.

 

It also depends on which "Webster's," which isn't a brand anymore. The one I looked at yesterday, which had a "Webster's" name, gave aigs as a second pronunciation.

 

I would imagine that we could look at the OED and not see it at all.

[SwampD]

The one that's always given me trouble is Penalize. Can't stand it. If it's a pen-al-tee, while is he pee-nal-ized and not pen-al-ized. Oh, and from Rochester, Crayon has no y or o. it's a cran.

For the record, I hate the way people from Rochester say Rochester.

[Patty16]

It also depends on which "Webster's," which isn't a brand anymore. The one I looked at yesterday, which had a "Webster's" name, gave aigs as a second pronunciation.

 

I would imagine that we could look at the OED and not see it at all.

 

the merriam-webster dictionary, the one that can be purchased online and in bookstores, and used as a standard almost everywhere. The pronunciation either way is technically correct, which doesnt mean one isnt complete silly.

[Sabre Dance]

The one that's always given me trouble is Penalize. Can't stand it. If it's a pen-al-tee, while is he pee-nal-ized and not pen-al-ized. Oh, and from Rochester, Crayon has no y or o. it's a cran.

 

True, but then if you are talking about the legal code, it is penal (pronounced pee-nal not pen-al).

 

 

Weird, huh? :blink:

[Eleven]

True, but then if you are talking about the legal code, it is penal (pronounced pee-nal not pen-al).

 

 

Weird, huh? :blink:

 

I still laugh at that word. It's like I'm Beavis or something.

[Guest]

And soda is not "pop" it's "pahp" in these parts.

[SabresneedaCup]

The things that makes me want to tear my hair out by the handsful are incorrectly quoted phrases. For instance:

 

It is "wreak havoc", not "wreck" havoc.

It is "card sharp" not "card shark"

It is "get used to it" not "get use to it"

 

You get the idea. (Also, there's a lot of "to, too and two" and "lose and loose" issues out there, too. <-correct!

 

...and the plural of moose is "moosen". (OK, not really. I got that from comedian Brian Regan).

the big yellow one is the sun!

[inkman]

For the record, I hate the way people from Rochester say Rochester.

I had no idea what you're talking about until my ex moved to Rochester with me, obviously prior to being my ex. I guess my pronunciation isn't too bad as my parents weren't from here but the whole mashing of the middle syllable is bizarre.