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Post by Trevor on Mar 3, 2023 7:26:54 GMT
For your, um, enjoyment...
(It's a silly song about English pronunciation in case you don't fancy clicking blind.) |
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 3, 2023 10:02:38 GMT
Thanks, Trevor, for kicking off the March thread. I'd been waiting for something worthy of posting, but it has yet to appear.
And thanks for that 'silly' song: from its lyrics I've decided to adopt the spelling (for 'fornicate') fough.
About the most interesting thing I've done so far in March is watch the movie Radioactive, about Marie Curie, which has little to do with language per se.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 7, 2023 3:20:46 GMT
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 7, 2023 13:24:42 GMT
Thank you for that. There is a link to this website attached:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLyHp22ywYE. Some of the items are quite amusing. Others are clearly from non-native speakers making mistakes rather than “accidental errors” and are less amusing for that. |
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Post by Dave Miller on Mar 7, 2023 17:08:28 GMT
Thanks for that. A bit fast, though, for me to keep up. |
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Post by Dave on Mar 8, 2023 18:54:01 GMT
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 10, 2023 11:04:20 GMT
That reminds me of the item I saw on a Youtube post:
IF U DON’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “THERE”, “THEIR” AND ”THEY’RE”, YOUR AN IDIOT.
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Post by Dave Miller on Mar 10, 2023 13:22:20 GMT
I do wish the BBC News website would get in some proofreaders:  (The three dead people were found in a house, to which the emergency people had been sent.) |
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 10, 2023 20:25:54 GMT
Oh dear, Dave. That's a high fatality rate among the ambulance officers!
One of my daily news sources is BBC online (I prefer to read the news rather than watch TV/video of it), and I can assure you it's nowhere near as poorly written as is the Australian Aunty's equivalent, with which I have frequent correspondence over stuff-ups. They didn't replace their last proofreader when she retired.
From my observations, the 'cleanest' Aussie news is on SBS – the Special Broadcasting Service, our multicultural / multilingual offering. Its written English is very good.
I find that American (written/online) news seems more particular about grammar/typos than either BBC or Oz ABC (at least from those that I read, including PBS, Boston Globe, and Washington Post).
Probably the very best is The New Yorker magazine.
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Post by Dave Miller on Mar 12, 2023 17:04:51 GMT
An amusing run through the way English retains unspoken letters: www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/mums-the-letter-when-letters-dont-say-a-thingI was surprised to find examples for all 26 letters, but rather disappointed at those for “d”. Much depends on the clarity with which people speak. If speaking formally, I would certainly include the d in handsome and handkerchief. Those are not “silent” letters, but letters which people sometimes leave out. Much as Birmingham is often pronounced “Birmin’m”. My new partner Yash (brought up in India, but with excellent English as his mother tongue) unfailingly puts the d in Wednesday, so it’s not dead yet! |
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 13, 2023 10:23:41 GMT
As you say, Dave, this is amusing. Thank you. I recall some time ago, thinking about silent letters and I failed to achieve a complete alphabet. For what it’s worth, I cannot accept the idea of a silent first D in Wednesday. I was born of indigenous English parents, have lived all my life in England and English is my mother tongue. I have never pronounced it without the first D except experimentally. No doubt some dialects omit it, but that does not mean that it is silent. And I cannot believe that anyone making any claim to speaking carefully would fail to pronounce the first F in fifth. Merriam Webster may offer that pronunciation as first choice but my dictionary doesn’t offer it at all — but, then, Americans don’t pronounce the H in herb. One can mangle the spelling of many English words and still have something recognisable but that does not mean one can leave out the Y in beyond.
Still, it was a good effort.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 13, 2023 10:23:59 GMT
As you say, Dave, this is amusing. Thank you. I recall some time ago, thinking about silent letters and I failed to achieve a complete alphabet. For what it’s worth, I cannot accept the idea of a silent first D in Wednesday. I was born of indigenous English parents, have lived all my life in England and English is my mother tongue. I have never pronounced it without the first D except experimentally. No doubt some dialects omit it, but that does not mean that it is silent. And I cannot believe that anyone making any claim to speaking carefully would fail to pronounce the first F in fifth. Merriam Webster may offer that pronunciation as first choice but my dictionary doesn’t offer it at all — but, then, Americans don’t pronounce the H in herb. One can mangle the spelling of many English words and still have something recognisable but that does not mean one can leave out the Y in beyond.
Still, it was a good effort.
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Post by Dave on Mar 14, 2023 2:12:13 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 14, 2023 4:30:40 GMT
My, Dave. Do you maintain an archive of this board in your head? Impressive. |
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Post by Dave Miller on Mar 14, 2023 10:16:14 GMT
Thanks for the reminder, Dave. I still raise an eyebrow at the “d” examples. Does judge have a silent d, or does refrigerator have an invisible d? Sometimes, it’s difficult to hear quite what how one is pronouncing something, as the mental process locks onto the spelling, but I’m fairly sure there’s a difference between the “j” sounds in “age” and in “edge”. I find my tongue taking up different positions, anyway. |
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