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Post by Verbivore on Sept 20, 2020 22:03:14 GMT
Just out of curiosity, may I ask how each of you pronounces the following words? Sloth. The "o" as in "cloth, or as in "slow"? Wrath. The "a" as in "cloth", or as in "maths"? Zebra. The "e" as in "bed" (New Z'll'ndrs excepted) or as in "feed"? Thanks. slo(w)thrath (math) (though roth common in Oz) zebraPS: I think my adoption of rath occurred in the '60s while I attended a US-sect-based theology college (SDA) in training for ministry / mission *(!). There were quite a few NA staff and students, and in sermons (hellfire and brimstone etc.) rath was near universal. And always pronounced with great emphasis: the WRA-ATH of Gard – almost spat out like a distasteful ejaculation or a curse. * I've long since recovered from the sectarianism and forgotten most of the intellectualised mythology. About all I still remember of my missionary training is the Position.
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Post by Dave Miller on Sept 20, 2020 22:41:01 GMT
A slow sloth, a cloth wrath and a red zebra.
Edit: on further thought, I definitely say “The Grapes of Roth”, but I think I would say “the rath of god”. So, a bit of both, there.
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 21, 2020 21:02:48 GMT
I've always said slow sloth, cloth wrath and red zebra, as have my friends and relations, but increasingly (in fact almost exclusively nowadays) on TV and radio I hear cloth sloth, math wrath and green zebra - the latter even from Sir David Attenborough. I wonder whether and why things have changed, or whether my friends and relations have always been in the minority.
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Post by Dave Miller on Sept 21, 2020 21:08:26 GMT
Sir David Attenborough is a British national treasure ... but the (expensive) programmes he makes earn huge sums from sales to other countries, which perhaps need a slight translation?
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Post by Verbivore on Sept 21, 2020 21:51:51 GMT
Years ago, Attenborough was the first non-American I heard saying zee-bra, which sent me scrambling for dictionaries. I was surprised that the OED gave that pronunciation as an equal contender with zeb-ra.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Sept 21, 2020 23:17:38 GMT
<< I've always said ... red zebra >>
Really? When? Where? All the zebras I’ve seen in Africa and zoos have always been black and white! When he was little, my son used to say “zed-bra”.
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Post by Verbivore on Sept 22, 2020 0:42:00 GMT
Sounds like a new style from Hestia – you know: lift and separate, Holds Every Sized T.. In Australia.
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 22, 2020 10:30:09 GMT
... Holds Every Sized T.. In Australia. What, even Tony Abbott?!
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 22, 2020 10:36:23 GMT
Just for LJH, a red zebra. I think it's real, but these days you can never be sure.
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Post by Verbivore on Sept 22, 2020 10:43:15 GMT
... Holds Every Sized T.. In Australia. What, even Tony Abbott?! No. One needs budgie smugglers to hold Mista Rabbit. Now that he's back in London, do you think you could keep him there?
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 22, 2020 10:49:54 GMT
No. One needs budgie smugglers to hold Mista Rabbit. Now that he's back in London, do you think you could keep him there? With him advising the UK Government on trade, Boris as PM, and Dominic Cummings running the show, what could possibly go wrong?
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 22, 2020 15:27:31 GMT
The sloth/wrath/zebra thing's proving quite interesting. I've asked a few people and I'm detecting a generational or regional (or both) distinction on the first two, although David Attenborough remains in a minority of one so far with "zeebra". Perhaps I should publish a paper on it and become Dr Twoddle.
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 22, 2020 21:58:14 GMT
None of the following is of any importance or significance, but it gave me something to do! I had 19 responses to my Sloth/Wrath/Zebra question, so it was definitely not a valid sample, and all the respondents were English or Australian. I split the respondents into two age groups - 65 and older, and under 65. It doesn't give a very good division, with 11 Older and 8 Younger, but it was the best I could do. Sloth. Cloth: 2 Older; 2 Younger. Slow: 9 Older, 6 Younger. Wrath. Cloth: 9 Older, 4 Younger. Maths: 2 Older, 4 Younger. It doesn't tell me much, but there's a definite tendency for the Olders to say "slowth" and "roth". There are also these: ZebraWrathSloth.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Sept 22, 2020 23:03:00 GMT
I think I say a three-toed sloth (rhyming with cloth) but I would refer to sloth (rhyming with both) being one of the deadly sins. Not sure about that!
I definitely rhyme wrath (anger) with cloth but rhyme Cape Wrath in Scotland with math(s).
I have always used a short E in zebra. According to Wikipedia “The English name "zebra" dates back to c. 1600, deriving from Italian, Spanish or Portuguese” so I would have thought a short E would be correct but Wikipedia also says, “The word "zebra" was traditionally pronounced with a long initial vowel, but over the course of the 20th century the pronunciation with the short initial vowel became the norm in the UK and the Commonwealth ... The pronunciation with a long initial vowel remains standard in US English”.
Does any of that help with anything?
P.S. I am definitely older.
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Post by Twoddle on Sept 23, 2020 10:11:00 GMT
I think I say a three-toed sloth (rhyming with cloth) but I would refer to sloth (rhyming with both) being one of the deadly sins. Not sure about that! I definitely rhyme wrath (anger) with cloth but rhyme Cape Wrath in Scotland with math(s). I have always used a short E in zebra. According to Wikipedia “The English name "zebra" dates back to c. 1600, deriving from Italian, Spanish or Portuguese” so I would have thought a short E would be correct but Wikipedia also says, “The word "zebra" was traditionally pronounced with a long initial vowel, but over the course of the 20th century the pronunciation with the short initial vowel became the norm in the UK and the Commonwealth ... The pronunciation with a long initial vowel remains standard in US English”. Does any of that help with anything? P.S. I am definitely older. Thanks, LJH, that simplifies things greatly. One of my friends claims to pronounce "wrath" as "rarth". I think I'll give up now.
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