<p>I wouldn’t have come up with that pronounciation on my own. </p>
<p>So what about Terre haute and Coeur d’Ilene (CC does not let me use accents)?</p>
<p>Note: My French relatives massacre English, so it’s not a one-way street.</p>
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<p>In this particular example it would also be a change in spelling. In France the city is spelled Versaille. In the US we often spell it Versailles.</p>
<p>And… the Thames River in Norwich Connecticut is pronounced just as it’s spelled. As a kid, hearing of the “Tems” overseas made no sense to me.</p>
<p>No need to send our kids across the pond junior year when they can ponder variant pronunciations right here in the US–we have Houston Street in NYC, while way south of SoHo we have Houston TX!
Which leads (not Leeds) me to consider other humbling homographs, such as desert, bass, and sewer. I’m glad I don’t have to study English as a second language!</p>
<p>English is hard, no doubt about that.</p>
<p>This morning the choir I play for was sight-reading a new hymn. They were well into the syllable hear-----when everyone realized the next syllable (some metric distance away) was -ken. Funny. “Harken” would have made much more sense.</p>
<p>Speaking of proper pronunciation of “Iraq”, I’ll relate the joke that went around the British community in Iran (would that it were still called “Persia”!), where I had a privilege of living in the 1960’s.</p>
<p>First man: “I say, I say, my brother has gone to Persia.” </p>
<p>Second man: “You mean ‘Iran’?” [incorrectly pronounced as Eee-ran (as in “to run”)]</p>
<p>First man: No, no, no he told a plane!</p>
<p>Iran is like Iraq – pronounced Ear-ron.</p>
<p>Actually, more like Eer-aan (Where aan rhymes with Han (as in the Dynasty), and eer with Key (though slightly shorter))</p>
<p>I’ve never quite been able to stand hearing I-ran :)</p>
<p>On the subject of Middle East country names, what is the correct pronounciation for Qatar?</p>
<p>Qatar = cutter</p>
<p>“cutter” - I know that is how Americans have been pronouncing it but is it correct?</p>
<p>Hmm. I thought it was closer to “gutter” but Arabic is a near void for me. I don’t even pronounce “al gebra” correctly.</p>
<p>If you want the Arab version, I’d say (I’m trying to anglicize based upon the three years of Arabic that I studied), cutter’s about right, only the ‘k’ sound comes from the back of the throat, sort of like in Bach, but less forceful, and the ‘t’ sound’s a bit softer. If anyone reads IPA: ˈqɑ̱.tˁɑ̱r.</p>
<p>lay (something somewhere), lie (person reclining). I remember my 5th grade teacher harping and harping on this until we all got it right.</p>
<p>k_twin - Thank you!</p>
<p>I get annoyed when people use “good” instead of “well,” as in 'you done good" instead of 'You did well." Just this morning, I heard this typical exchange: “How are you?” “I’m good.” My reaction was to mutter:" Who asked whether you were a good little girl?"</p>
<p>But it looks like another lost cause.</p>
<p>marite–I’ve used that and I think it’s a colloquialism (sp?) by people who do know better. “I’m good” means “Things are good by me.” (which isn’t standard English either but you get the idea!) “I’m well” refers solely to health, I think.</p>
<p>I know my interest level goes down when someone says, “I’m good.”</p>
<p>Since when did people start answering this question this way: “Would you like a cup of coffee?” “No thanks–I’m good”? It’s everywere these days. . .is it something someone says on a TV show that I haven’t been watching?</p>
<p>I admit to saying all of those things on occasion, even though it makes me want to hurt myself. I suspect it’s a defense mechanism; I already get called “pretentious” much more often than I’d like (because correct grammar is just so condescending). :eek:</p>
<p>I believe “I am fine, thanks, how are you?” still works – unless people have an aversion to the word ‘fine’. Maybe, it is too elitist and makes the common man feel… well…common! So, in the interest of preserving that all-important self-esteem of those poor souls who may feel thus slighted, I think “I am coarse, thanks, and yourself?” might just do the trick!</p>