My surname is Prussian and ends in -witz, pronounced 'vitss'

Yet almost every brit i meet ends up making a 'which' out of it.

I won't mind if it was some weird slavic cjk type ending but it really isn't difficult.

(It also pisses me off that they can't pronounce 'von' either! Its 'fonn' not 'Vonn'!)

Is there a reason for this?

Do you mean they can't as in even after careful explanation they're unable to or that they just generally don't because they don't already know the 'correct' way to say it?

My surname is Prussian and ends in -witz, pronounced 'vitss'

Yet almost every brit i meet ends up making a 'which' out of it.

I won't mind if it was some weird slavic cjk type ending but it really isn't difficult.

(It also pisses me off that they can't pronounce 'von' either! Its 'fonn' not 'Vonn'!)

Is there a reason for this?

No. If it's spelled "witz" it's pronounced "WITZ!" If it's spelled "von" it's pronounced "VON!" One doesnt say "fampire," or "sandVich."

I love you 'Ketch :D

Do you mean they can't as in even after careful explanation they're unable to or that they just generally don't because they don't already know the 'correct' way to say it?

The former, even my own mother still seems to struggle and i've used the name (among many other I might add) now for almost 20 years.

There are 0 english speakers that can pronounce my surname correctly since it uses a sound only dutch uses.

(well there might be a few who can pull it off among the millions :p)

Is there a reason for this?

it´s the leitmotif of the language that makes them speak it that way.

my first name is jörg, when I introduce myself to english speakers I say it´s like cirk from captain cirk just with a "jay" at the beginning.
"nice to meet you jaycirk" ..

it´s the leitmotif of the language that makes them speak it that way.

my first name is jörg, when I introduce myself to english speakers I say it´s like cirk from captain cirk just with a "jay" at the beginning.
"nice to meet you jaycirk" ..

Like Kirk, from Star Trek and with a 'J' infront.....?

Doesn't that make 'jerk'?

:P

*takes out a shotgun and points at everyone in the crowd*

oh it does? does it? DOES IT?

My Grandfather changed his surname from Müller to Muller for that reason. Everyone seemed to stumble over the Umlaut 'Geez, what are the little staple marks up there for?'
He found it easier just to remove them and let people call him whatever the hell they liked.

(And to my own embarrassment, I can't do the actual, correct Welsh pronunciation for my own first name. I just cannot recreate the sounds. My parents aren't Welsh, but I was born in the arse end of the eighties, where everyone tried to name their kids the most 'unique' names they could.)


There are 0 english speakers that can pronounce my surname correctly since it uses a sound only dutch uses.



Bloody Dutch. The last time I tried speaking dutch to a dutchman, he laughed in my face. Hard. I won't be trying that again.

To add insult to injury, until careful observation I'd always thought of your totse name as "Jack Tech"

And I always thought you were english, you dirty Preussicher bastard

You're a big guy, I'm sure you can get over it.

To add insult to injury, until careful observation I'd always thought of your totse name as "Jack Tech"

I always thought his user name came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ketch

I always thought his user name came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ketch

Kinda sorta..its London style humour. I got the nick name years ago before the internet cos "jack ketch was well hung in London"....and I ain't.

:(

My surname is Prussian and ends in -witz, pronounced 'vitss'

Yet almost every brit i meet ends up making a 'which' out of it.

I won't mind if it was some weird slavic cjk type ending but it really isn't difficult.

(It also pisses me off that they can't pronounce 'von' either! Its 'fonn' not 'Vonn'!)

Is there a reason for this?

You answered your own question.

My surname is Prussian and ends in -witz, pronounced 'vitss'

Yet almost every brit i meet ends up making a 'which' out of it.

I won't mind if it was some weird slavic cjk type ending but it really isn't difficult.

(It also pisses me off that they can't pronounce 'von' either! Its 'fonn' not 'Vonn'!)

Is there a reason for this?

Who gives a fuck?

Your kid can not read.

There are 0 english speakers that can pronounce my surname correctly since it uses a sound only dutch uses.

(well there might be a few who can pull it off among the millions :p)

I'm from the Detroit area, and I can say:

aardig
huis
schoen
gebruiken

...and any other Dutch word that I've heard. But I also have studied German, Spanish, Italian and Aramaic. Engels is mijn moedertaal.

I dunno. Brits have some pretty fucking silly pronunciation habits. They pronounce words like "idea" as though they have an invisible "r" at the end, it would seem that many of them don't know the difference between "f" and the soft "th", and apparently, I guess they don't know the difference between "ch" and "z" either (according to you :p).

But, to be fair, "v" and "f" are distinct in English. If your name is written "von", then I wouldn't hold them against it for pronouncing it with an English "v".

Is it kinda like the way Elie Wiesel's last name is pronounced?

Everyone in my class called him Elie "Weasel" before the teacher told us how to say his name haha...

I dunno. Brits have some pretty fucking silly pronunciation habits. They pronounce words like "idea" as though they have an invisible "r" at the end, it would seem that many of them don't know the difference between "f" and the soft "th", and apparently, I guess they don't know the difference between "ch" and "z" either (according to you :p).

British people DerDrache has spoken with in real life: 0

Was just on the phone to a lady from a government department. I spelt put my name for her and also told her twice how it was pronounced. Three attempts later and she was still making a 'which' out of the 'vitts'.

Get over it, English people speak.. yep you guessed it, English.
You wouldn't expect a Jap to pronounce sausage like an English person would, but then again American's don't pronounce it the way English people do yet they speak the same language.

American's don't pronounce it the way English people do yet they speak the same language.

You sure about that?

British people DerDrache has spoken with in real life: 0

Are you denying that Brits (many, probably not all) put random r's after vowels? Are you telling me you haven't heard the wankers that go around saying shit like "fank you"?

I'm from the Detroit area, and I can say:

aardig
huis
schoen
gebruiken

...and any other Dutch word that I've heard. But I also have studied German, Spanish, Italian and Aramaic. Engels is mijn moedertaal.

You can pronounce the "sch" correctly? That's great.

Pronouncing the name of the city "Scheveningen" was the way the dutch resistance picked out non-dutch spies in the second world war. Because even Germans can't do it.

You can pronounce the "sch" correctly? That's great.

Pronouncing the name of the city "Scheveningen" was the way the dutch resistance picked out non-dutch spies in the second world war. Because even Germans can't do it.

lol @ shibboleths

The english made suspected german spies say 'squirrel'.

No german born german can ever get it quite right. Even though I am a brit by birth and was brought up speaking english, I've been speaking german now daily now for over two decades and I have to really try hard to say 'squirrel' the english way.

lol @ shibboleths

The english made suspected german spies say 'squirrel'.

No german born german can ever get it quite right. Even though I am a brit by birth and was brought up speaking english, I've been speaking german now daily now for over two decades and I have to really try hard to say 'squirrel' the english way.

Sk + whirl = squirrel.

Sk + whirl = squirrel.

UHm not in brit english. Fuck knows what mongrel dialect you speak to get 'sk+whirl =squirrel'.

:P

Are you denying that Brits (many, probably not all) put random r's after vowels? Are you telling me you haven't heard the wankers that go around saying shit like "fank you"?

I have NEVER heard a SINGLE brit EVER add an r after a vowel... I have heard Americans do that though...

The "fank you" and "you're bovering me' only happens in the more lower class east end london kind of places...

I'm from the Detroit area, and I can say:

aardig
huis
schoen
gebruiken

...and any other Dutch word that I've heard. But I also have studied German, Spanish, Italian and Aramaic. Engels is mijn moedertaal.

Detroit = 3762 miles (6054 km) (3269 nautical miles) away from England, Seriously dude, he was talking about English people. read the post.

Just because you can type it doesn't mean you can pronounce it properly.

Well done on your supposively extensive language vocab ^^.

I have NEVER heard a SINGLE brit EVER add an r after a vowel... I have heard Americans do that though...

The "fank you" and "you're bovering me' only happens in the more lower class east end london kind of places...

You're either oblivious to it, or maybe you just don't live in a region where they say it.

No DerDache. You are talking a load of shit.

No DerDache. You are talking a load of shit.

Rofl. I googled it, and apparently lots of you Brits like to deny it. I'm not saying every single Brit says it like that; I mean, you guys have tons of different accents. By that same logic, it's retarded to act like there are no groups of Brits that say it that way. Apparently "idear" is common in Boston English too, but I've definitely heard it more frequently from Brits.

Lol. I live in Britain, dumbass. Google that.

I probably would say Vitz however my grandparents names are Jewish and therefore im used to it.

It also means i was taught the 'Kch' sound as a kid, helpful.

Rofl. I googled it, and apparently lots of you Brits like to deny it. I'm not saying every single Brit says it like that; I mean, you guys have tons of different accents. By that same logic, it's retarded to act like there are no groups of Brits that say it that way. Apparently "idear" is common in Boston English too, but I've definitely heard it more frequently from Brits.

I heard it a few times when I was in Australia, too, but I don't know if it's common there or anything.

Yeah... Well, not brits nor americans can pronounce my first name or surname.

Pretty hardcore.

Because Brits can't pronounce anything.

/jackketch logic

Fucking up people's names is the national past-time of the British.

I mean they don't even try. After they mess up another Russian surname, and I explain how it's properly pronounced, they still pretend to not be able to grasp it.

Fucking up people's names is the national past-time of the British.

I mean they don't even try. After they mess up another Russian surname, and I explain how it's properly pronounced, they still pretend to not be able to grasp it.

Heh...I went to a McDonalds in London and asked for a "Chicken Fajita". Everyone in the US would know to pronounce it like "fa-h-ita", but the clerk there was like "Huh? A fa-j-ita?".

Granted, it's a foreign word, but seriously...Brits apparently have no interest in pronouncing foreign words correctly. Cappucino is "cap-oo-see-no", and I'm sure there is a shitload of other butchered foreign words.

Heh...I went to a McDonalds in London and asked for a "Chicken Fajita". Everyone in the US would know to pronounce it like "fa-h-ita", but the clerk there was like "Huh? A fa-j-ita?".

Granted, it's a foreign word, but seriously...Brits apparently have no interest in pronouncing foreign words correctly. Cappucino is "cap-oo-see-no", and I'm sure there is a shitload of other butchered foreign words.

All languages have stupid pronounciations of loanwords.

Fajita is terrible though, and quite widely misused. Makes me lol and die inside simultaneously, but only because I've lived in the states. Otherwise I probably couldn't give a shit. I have never ever heard anybody every say cappucino in the manner you described though, that's totally retarded. No one is getting away with that. Plenty of people who say expresso however.

I've heard a couple folk say Calzone with two syllables, which is hilarious.

so funny when brits and americans blame each other for not being interested in foreign cultures ..

Holy shit, you're a jew?

That's a very Jewish name thar.

Because they're ignorant, and lazy.

I dunno. Brits have some pretty fucking silly pronunciation habits. They pronounce words like "idea" as though they have an invisible "r" at the end, it would seem that many of them don't know the difference between "f" and the soft "th", and apparently, I guess they don't know the difference between "ch" and "z" either (according to you :p).

But, to be fair, "v" and "f" are distinct in English. If your name is written "von", then I wouldn't hold them against it for pronouncing it with an English "v".

You're stereotyping everyone because of different accents. I'd never dream of saying idear.

also don't you mean ph not th :S

Heh...I went to a McDonalds in London and asked for a "Chicken Fajita". Everyone in the US would know to pronounce it like "fa-h-ita", but the clerk there was like "Huh? A fa-j-ita?".

Granted, it's a foreign word, but seriously...Brits apparently have no interest in pronouncing foreign words correctly. Cappucino is "cap-oo-see-no", and I'm sure there is a shitload of other butchered foreign words.

That's because hardly anyone eats fajitas and shit over here, nearly all are traditionalists or just ignorant to new things, again you're mistaking one account for the general rule :s

All languages have stupid pronounciations of loanwords.

Fajita is terrible though, and quite widely misused. Makes me lol and die inside simultaneously, but only because I've lived in the states. Otherwise I probably couldn't give a shit. I have never ever heard anybody every say cappucino in the manner you described though, that's totally retarded. No one is getting away with that. Plenty of people who say expresso however.

I've heard a couple folk say Calzone with two syllables, which is hilarious.

Yea. Those people misinterpreted Canadian english.

Errm, yes and a calzone, eh? You got any of those?

Heh...I went to a McDonalds in London and asked for a "Chicken Fajita". Everyone in the US would know to pronounce it like "fa-h-ita", but the clerk there was like "Huh? A fa-j-ita?".

Granted, it's a foreign word, but seriously...Brits apparently have no interest in pronouncing foreign words correctly. Cappucino is "cap-oo-see-no", and I'm sure there is a shitload of other butchered foreign words.

Everytime an american mispronounces "mandatory" or "aluminium" I die a little inside.

Only way i've ever heard cappucino said 'cappa chee no' and anyway cappucino is sooo 1985. Everyone now drinks latte (which cracks me up cos it means 'erection' in street german).

Everytime an american mispronounces "mandatory" or "aluminium" I die a little inside.

Only way i've ever heard cappucino said 'cappa chee no' and anyway cappucino is sooo 1985. Everyone now drinks latte (which cracks me up cos it means 'erection' in street german).

It's spelled "aluminum" over here, so...we're pronouncing it how it's spelled. Our early scientists must have realized how stupid "aluminium" sounded and made the appropriate changes.

How do you wankers pronounce "mandatory"? "Man-date-ory" or something gay like that?

On a more serious note: English spelling is so poorly tied to actual pronunciation that it's hard to blame English speaking nations/groups for having alternative pronunciations. We really need to reform our spelling system, because it's fucking absurd.

It's spelled "aluminum" over here, so...we're pronouncing it how it's spelled. Our early scientists must have realized how stupid "aluminium" sounded and made the appropriate changes.

How do you wankers pronounce "mandatory"? "Man-date-ory" or something gay like that?

On a more serious note: English spelling is so poorly tied to actual pronunciation that it's hard to blame English speaking nations/groups for having alternative pronunciations. We really need to reform our spelling system, because it's fucking absurd.

We (older brits at least) say it 'man d' tree'.

But yes I agree about the spelling being a mess. One of the many things I love about german is that said the way its spelt.

It's because you're a dirty kike! :mad:

It's because you're a dirty kike! :mad:

You have no idea how much family 'blood' has been shed over that question, how many dinner table arguments there have been.

You see my father in law is genuine prussian and all his family before him. He was also in the Hitler Youth back in the day. He gets somewhat agitated when i point out that our surname is not only prussian of sorbian origins but also jewish.

I went once on TraceYourFamily.Com or whatever its called and checked the emigration records for the US. As its a very very seldom surname it was easy enough to check, less than a dozen results. Seems the yiddish side of the family all went out to the US in 1900ish (they were listed as ********itz HEBREW)

B'ish people pronounce NASA as NASSER. They generally switch the AH and the ER sound.

--Crash

Seems the yiddish side of the family all went out to the US in 1900ish (they were listed as ********itz HEBREW)

hm I don´t think that proves anything, sry but at that time names were defining your religion to some institutions even if you weren´t part of it.

and why can´t brits pronunce jack´s name? because he can´t do it either :D

I realize how stupid this sounds, but WTF is a surname?

I realize how stupid this sounds, but WTF is a surname?

Your last name or family name. If your name is, for example, John Smith then Smith is your surname and John your christian name.

I realize how stupid this sounds, but WTF is a surname?

un apellido

a last name

English.... The name of the language. First spoken... England, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The words like Aluminium, Idea and Mandatory are English words. You yanks pronounce them wrong, end of argument.

And plenty of British people can pronounce the word Fajita, and Eastern European names. I for one live in Spain, so my grasp of Spanish words like Fajita is probably (definately) better than even a Mexican.

Except that fajitas are Texan/Mexican food.

Except that fajitas are Texan/Mexican food.

and where is the contradiction?

Heh...I went to a McDonalds in London and asked for a "Chicken Fajita". Everyone in the US would know to pronounce it like "fa-h-ita", but the clerk there was like "Huh? A fa-j-ita?".



I have never, ever, heard anyone pronounce it fa-j-ita in England, so either your making up more bullshit or you just met an incredibly retarded person (the location may suggest the latter), its funny that the only time i've heard it pronounced fa-j-ita was in a Family Guy episode...

Heh...I went to a McDonalds in London and asked for a "Chicken Fajita". Everyone in the US would know to pronounce it like "fa-h-ita", but the clerk there was like "Huh? A fa-j-ita?".

Granted, it's a foreign word, but seriously...Brits apparently have no interest in pronouncing foreign words correctly. Cappucino is "cap-oo-see-no", and I'm sure there is a shitload of other butchered foreign words.

Although you made a bit of a point with the fajitas, your post is so grossly full of irony I almost died from reading it. Are you trolling this thread for lulz?

It's pronounced Cap-oo-chee-noh because it's spelled cappuccino, not cappucino, and in italian two cc's together make a 'ch' sound. While I'm pointing that out, you better know that ch is a 'k' sound, like in Gnocchi. It's not notchey (or nawtchee as you'd pronounce it to fit in with 'skwerl' and 'urnge'), but knockey. And you don't have the greatest standpoint to be arguing this from, and your logic is flawed 'that's how it sounds so that is how I say it'.

Mandatory is man-d'-tree (with as little emphasis on the ee sound at the end as possible), like Jack said.

This post is so full of irony I almost died from reading it. You trolling?

Ding ding ding!

The "fank you" and "you're bovering me' only happens in the more lower class east end london kind of places...

I like those sorts of dialog, I don't think they're half bad.

Except that fajitas are Texan/Mexican food.

Except that the word fajita derives from the Spanish word 'Faja'.

Except that the word fajita derives from the Spanish word 'Faja'.

Except that fajita is a Mexican food.

Except that fajita is a Mexican food.

And the mexicans speak what now?

can we stop running in circles plz?

And the mexicans speak what now?

American with a californian accent?

And the mexicans speak what now?

It just kind of comes of as dickish and idiotic to me to suggest that living in Spain makes one more qualified to pronounce the name of a food that originated in a geographic region across the ocean than someone who actually comes from that area of origin.

He said his grasp of Spanish words is probably better.

Deviate is a moron. American English and Spanish are no less proper languages than their European counterparts. It's quite simply the way language works. There is no such thing as language purity, and britons don't speak the same language they were speaking 500 years ago or 1000 years ago. Also, English speakers in general have terrible, ear-ripping accents in spanish. They tend to overpronounce their vowels, puff their P's, and butcher the Rs, something germans and russians don't have a problem avoiding, I've heard asians speak better spanish than anglophones, so unless you've been speaking spanish from a very young age I doubt your accent is superior to any mexican person's. Let's hear an audio sample, say your name is deviate.

I can understand people pronouncing loanwords wrong, it's natural since they don't follow the linguistic rules of the language it orginated in. You can't blame people for that.

To go on topic. Original dutch names in the USA, americans can't even fucking spell them correctly, let alone pronounce them correctly. I can understand the pronouncing part but goddamnit, a few hundred years and the spelling gets butchered.

I can understand people pronouncing loanwords wrong, it's natural since they don't follow the linguistic rules of the language it orginated in. You can't blame people for that.

To go on topic. Original dutch names in the USA, americans can't even fucking spell them correctly, let alone pronounce them correctly. I can understand the pronouncing part but goddamnit, a few hundred years and the spelling gets butchered.

It interests me to find out when names were first actually written down on paper. Because that tends to be the way they stay.

For example, my Grandparents when coming to this country and their cousins who went to america both had the name 'Rothe en Childe' But In Britain its 'Rotheschilde' and in America its 'Rothschild'.

By the way, the above is an example, im not going to give out my grandparent's last name on totse, but its something similar.

ITT I will list loanwords I mispronounce and don't care.

calzone = cal + zone
guacamole = gwack + a + mole
cajones = ca + jones
quesadilla = kwes + a + dill + a

More to come.

Cajones is awesome. I'm gonna start saying it like that too.

the name 'Rothe en Childe' But In Britain its 'Rotheschilde' and in America its 'Rothschild'.

weird example, because that´s a famous german bankers dynasty ..

weird example, because that´s a famous german bankers dynasty ..

The name is similar. Possibly similar enough to be part of the family and we're jewish but thats probably not worth going into.

hopefully it´s not rothwelsch because this is a gangster dynasty ..

hopefully it´s not rothwelsch because this is a gangster dynasty ..

Nah, its pretty fucking similar to be honest. The difference between an American spelling the name differently to someone who was German i guess.

Nobody can pronounce my name right off the bat either, even though it's really quite simple... it ends in -ić, and has four consonants in a row, but it's still easy, dammit!!!!

well in the u.s. ive yet to hear someone pronounce my last name in one try. and it isnt that complicated people just see that its foreign they confuse themselves.
but you cant blame people all the time. i live near detroit and even though names like detroit are french everyone say detroyte and they would laugh at you if you said detwah as it should be said.

Nobody can pronounce my name right off the bat either, even though it's really quite simple... it ends in -ić, and has four consonants in a row, but it's still easy, dammit!!!!

I bet I can come faaaaairly close. Post it, or something very similar.

Everytime an american mispronounces "mandatory" or "aluminium" I die a little inside.

Only way i've ever heard cappucino said 'cappa chee no' and anyway cappucino is sooo 1985. Everyone now drinks latte (which cracks me up cos it means 'erection' in street german).
Over here aluminium is spelled aluminum.

But why was it changed? Was it because they couldn't get their mouth around saying aluminium? "Alooo-minny-niyum!?!?".

It's alla-miny-umm, here anyway. There it's just a little bit 'dumbed down' (or is it that making words simpler is smarter, even though tis means they'll lose their roots).

I bet I can come faaaaairly close. Post it, or something very similar.

hahaha I'll post a different Croatian last name

this also happens to follow the same rules as mine, in terms of 4 consonants in a row and ending in ić


Krznarić

Mine is different, and tends to confuse people more, even though it is actually a little easier to say once you're used to it.

Mine's way better :P

Alright, that is a pretty hard one..

..especially considering my translating of the sound into letters of text won't be exactly the same as how you translate the letters of text back into sound (such as the semi rolled 'r' sound, which I make when I say it but can't put into text easily).

So leave me a small margin of error, but is it pronounced "krZnahrrich"? And it sounds a bit like a fucked up Sarić to me.

*In my accent, putting a "t" in there (before the "-ich") or not makes little difference, but it doesn't sound quite right with one in there. The 'z' has a hard Zzzzz sound (but shorter) and the K & first r are like a compounded addition to it. They're not silent, they're like effects for the Zz sound.

It interests me to find out when names were first actually written down on paper. Because that tends to be the way they stay.

For example, my Grandparents when coming to this country and their cousins who went to america both had the name 'Rothe en Childe' But In Britain its 'Rotheschilde' and in America its 'Rothschild'.

By the way, the above is an example, im not going to give out my grandparent's last name on totse, but its something similar.

The names were recorded before they came to America (those that came from Western Europe atleast), but reregistrating, copy errors, illiterate people misspelling their own name and what not have have fucked it up probably.

The names were recorded before they came to America (those that came from Western Europe atleast), but reregistrating, copy errors, illiterate people misspelling their own name and what not have have fucked it up probably.

Yeah, but you get my point, people's names and familys come apart because of legislature errors.

or because they want. eisenhower was german and his name was eisenhauer, adapted his name to the english sound ..

I think you probably mean English, not British.

Alright, that is a pretty hard one..

..especially considering my translating of the sound into letters of text won't be exactly the same as how you translate the letters of text back into sound (such as the semi rolled 'r' sound, which I make when I say it but can't put into text easily).

So leave me a small margin of error, but is it pronounced "krZnahrrich"? And it sounds a bit like a fucked up Sarić to me.

*In my accent, putting a "t" in there (before the "-ich") or not makes little difference, but it doesn't sound quite right with one in there. The 'z' has a hard Zzzzz sound (but shorter) and the K & first r are like a compounded addition to it. They're not silent, they're like effects for the Zz sound.

A girl I know's last name is Szczur. You pronounce it sh-ch-oor, but all in one syllable. She's Polish, and funnily enough it translates as "rat".

Duckwarri0r: The idea being heard as "idear" thing is a fairly well-attested phenomenon relating to the distribution of rhotic features in English accents. Since American (and Canadian to a lesser extent) English was largely influenced by Hibernian and Scottish English as well as droves of the lower classes and other foreigners, their use of the "r" sound is different in most American/Canadian accent groups. As a result of crap like this and other mergers and splits (e.g. in some dialects cot/caught are homophones, in others the sound 'hw' is preserved leading 'what' and 'where' to be roughly pronounced 'hwat' and 'hwair', etc) most English dialects are missing some sounds that other dialects have and vice-versa.
A weird little linguistic phenomenon happens to be that when we 'hear' a sound that doesnt exist in our language, we /generally/ tend to hear it as corresponding to one of our own sounds, though as people learn other languages this diminishes. It's because of this that you probably don't notice that when people say 'idea' with certain British accents, it does indeed sound to most Americans (and many Canadians) that you're saying, something like "eye-dear", with the R being very faint but definately there. To people along the West Coast of North America, most British accents (my area is rife with British tourists) seem to place "r"s at the end of certain terminal vowel clusters and remove them from certain words where there is a terminal "r". It's the same thing when you perceive us as making some vowels sound amazingly retarded (we change them into dipthongs or substitute them for other sounds, thus that nasal-sounding 'a' you will hear when some people from North America say 'bath').

Your dialects change just like ours -- take a look at the Cholmondley-Warner sketches from Harry Enfield to get a good look at the Received Pronunciation of the 50s and of today -- even that prestige dialect has undergone soundloss and developed some new dipthongs. I particularly like "illustrated" pronounced as "illyustrated" in one sketch.

Also, to whoever said it, as others have pointed out: just because English was first spoken in England does not make it the be-all and final reference of the language. There's the whole matter of acrolects and mesolects and dialect prestige, not to mention temporality -- the English of the literary metropolitan folks from the 18th century, it is speculated, might very well have sounded like the Dublin Irish of today. Certainly Marquess and Baronet alike would have asked for a cup of 'tay' instead of 'tee,' and one's E would be plucked out in place of their aye. You'd have to choose "which" dialect is the be-all. For example, I highly doubt most English people -- let alone Americans and Canadians -- would be particularly pleased if the Cockney merger of 'th' into F was chosen as being proper, and so would tell us 'sumfink interesting.'

And to jackketch: People just tend not to have a clue about that sort of thing. You even get it in relatively common names - McKay as 'muhkay' instead of 'm'kai' roughly (representing sounds phonetically here is sort of self-defeating since we each assign different sounds to the symbols with very few exceptions) and McElroy should properly be 'Makel-roy' etc. Unfortunately your options are few. I myself tend to vary on how much I respect foreign pronunciation of surnames -- I usually will pronounce it as closely as my phonemic inventory allows but there are some exceptions where the sound will cause people to look at me funny (e.g. I wont rush to pronounce the gutteral ch you get in certain Germanic, Semitic and Celtic names).

I'm not fucking english.

Duckwarri0r:
My apologies.

Duckwarri0r:
My apologies.

Where are you from?

Where are you from?

Faggotland.

Bump.

and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article4698950.ece <also, at the moment spellings are similar if not the same, but since people speak differently all around the world youd need a complete new set of words for every fucken region.

With Polish roots, I have no problems pronouncing European words and names.

It's amazing how many people I work with (who are mostly foreign) get all weirded out when I pronounce their names properly first time. Like "You are the first person in England whose pronounced my name properly...How did you know?!"

I even spotted the *CLICK* in a Zimbawean colleague's name...His face said "WTF?!" his voice said "Errrr...That's how it's pronounced...How do you know that?!"

once I had a course in boston and got a roommate from portugal, called ferreira. when I asked if my roommate had already checked in I seem to have pronunced the name so good that the spanish maid told the whole staff that I speak spanish everytime I met her. it was too fast for me so I always said sí sí sí ..

But why was it changed? Was it because they couldn't get their mouth around saying aluminium? "Alooo-minny-niyum!?!?".


I've always loved this rationale. It allows me to immediately and positively identify the retard.

But joking aside, it seems that the aluminum spelling in america is simply because thats how it was listed in the original webster's dictionary. And they got that spelling from one of the original spellings of aluminum (the other being alumium). When it was renamed aluminium in 1812, websters never changed it. Even in britain though, both spellings remained in popular use for a number of years after the name change.

Alright, that is a pretty hard one..

..especially considering my translating of the sound into letters of text won't be exactly the same as how you translate the letters of text back into sound (such as the semi rolled 'r' sound, which I make when I say it but can't put into text easily).

So leave me a small margin of error, but is it pronounced "krZnahrrich"? And it sounds a bit like a fucked up Sarić to me.

*In my accent, putting a "t" in there (before the "-ich") or not makes little difference, but it doesn't sound quite right with one in there. The 'z' has a hard Zzzzz sound (but shorter) and the K & first r are like a compounded addition to it. They're not silent, they're like effects for the Zz sound.

ahh, well done my good sir, that is pretty damn close or maybe even right on the money. Mine is slightly harder than that, but Ièm sure youèd be able to handle it.

The chinese have a perfectly good reason why people cant pronounce their names, their language is written entirely different to the english alphabet, it doesnt even resemble what english speakers would say was a letter/word.

You can just chuck some dots above the english alphabet then complain when people dont pronounce it right.

I've always loved this rationale. It allows me to immediately and positively identify the retard.

But joking aside, it seems that the aluminum spelling in america is simply because thats how it was listed in the original webster's dictionary. And they got that spelling from one of the original spellings of aluminum (the other being alumium). When it was renamed aluminium in 1812, websters never changed it. Even in britain though, both spellings remained in popular use for a number of years after the name change.
How do you spell and pronounce magnesium? How about titanium? Or maybe calcium? Caesium?

Face it, "aluminum" is just stupid.

We spell caesium cesium because we're diphthong-destroying bastards.

Fucking up people's names is the national past-time of the British.

I mean they don't even try. After they mess up another Russian surname, and I explain how it's properly pronounced, they still pretend to not be able to grasp it.

It's not that we can't do it, it is that you aren't important enough for us to bother.

It's not that we can't do it, it is that you aren't important enough for us to bother.

Nah, French raped the bastard child of latin and german and conceived a retarded child that never developed a proper alphabet. Take a language like Italian or Spanish; they are more fitted for the roman alphabet. Spelling bees are less popular and it's a lot clearer how to pronounce something written.