It doesn't matter to me whether other people get it 'right' (whatever that may mean ... living languages are continually in a state of flux ) as long as we find a way to understand each other ....
but I have to try to get it right just as I had to keep my colouring inside the lines or else Gt Aunty Olive would smack my hand ... and she may still be watching/listening ............
“I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh
Where I used to live in Sussex a lot of place names end in. "-ly",eg Hellingly, Ardingly. As a way of detecting foreigners, the locals decided goodness knows how long ago that the final "y" should rhyme with "spy".
Only just caught up with this thread, made me laugh-well most of it anyway. When I did the RHS course we had the inevitable discussion on botanical plant names. Our lecturer said that in a previous group some years before there was one student that claimed that botanical names were pretentious and unnecessary. His response was simple "the RHS expect you to know & use the botanical names if you want to pass the exam you need to learn them"
On place names my father was posted to Scotland in WW2 he was told to get a bus to Mulguy. He waited in the rain for nearly 2 hours before he plucked up the courage to ask someone, it is written as Millengavie, he had let several busses come & go in the meantime !
There may be lots of reasons for someone mis-pronouncing something ... but there is only one reason for embarrassing someone about it ... and that is sheer bad manners
“I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh
Posts
It doesn't matter to me whether other people get it 'right' (whatever that may mean ... living languages are continually in a state of flux
) as long as we find a way to understand each other ....
but I have to try to get it right just as I had to keep my colouring inside the lines or else Gt Aunty Olive would smack my hand ... and she may still be watching/listening ............
The hill next to it is rather more prosaically named though
raisingirl,
Flip knows the confusion "Brown Willy" creates.
" Hi, I'm looking for Brown Willy"
Lyn says
" I wouldn't like a pedant for a friend."
Have I been dumped Poppet?
Where I used to live in Sussex a lot of place names end in. "-ly",eg Hellingly, Ardingly. As a way of detecting foreigners, the locals decided goodness knows how long ago that the final "y" should rhyme with "spy".
Never you darling, is it about time you took me out again, it must be seed collecting time??
It seems that John Humphrys isn't the only one Lost For Words
Only just caught up with this thread, made me laugh-well most of it anyway. When I did the RHS course we had the inevitable discussion on botanical plant names. Our lecturer said that in a previous group some years before there was one student that claimed that botanical names were pretentious and unnecessary. His response was simple "the RHS expect you to know & use the botanical names if you want to pass the exam you need to learn them"
On place names my father was posted to Scotland in WW2 he was told to get a bus to Mulguy. He waited in the rain for nearly 2 hours before he plucked up the courage to ask someone, it is written as Millengavie, he had let several busses come & go in the meantime !
There may be lots of reasons for someone mis-pronouncing something ... but there is only one reason for embarrassing someone about it ... and that is sheer bad manners
Which bit did you think was rude LB?