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Why do Brits always stress the wrong syllable in French words?

The latest example is the news reporters covering the Paris attacks today-they pronounce "Champs Elysee" as "Shawns Ell-EE-zay." The stress should be on the first syllable.

They do this constantly. Is it because they hate the French or just plain ignorance?

by Anonymousreply 132February 11, 2020 8:54 AM

Oops. Heh heh. The stress should be on the LAST syllable, of course.

by Anonymousreply 1April 21, 2017 3:39 AM

It's because, like, they're British and can't even speak English.

by Anonymousreply 2April 21, 2017 3:43 AM

Not quite as amusing as an American trying to pronounce Ibiza.

by Anonymousreply 3April 21, 2017 3:51 AM

Anyone who speaks good French is forgiven their accent. Just as we forgive the French accent in English. I love QEII's French. Chirac spoke great English but he hid the fact, for the most part.

by Anonymousreply 4April 21, 2017 3:58 AM

voila

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 5April 21, 2017 4:08 AM

Why can't morons like OP spell "Elysées"?

by Anonymousreply 6April 21, 2017 4:15 AM

Not only that, OP! They refuse to pronounce "Jacques" correctly. They deliberately mispronounce it so that it rhymes with "Chirac." It has to be because they hate the French. Because that's not a difficult name to say.

by Anonymousreply 7April 21, 2017 4:30 AM

The English are perverse about how they pronounce foreign words, especially French and Spanish. Paella becomes pah-yellah.

by Anonymousreply 8April 21, 2017 5:17 AM

your-I-nal

by Anonymousreply 9April 21, 2017 5:18 AM

And here's a picture of Throatwarbler Mangrove:

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by Anonymousreply 10April 21, 2017 5:26 AM

I love the way the Brits say "paaaasta."

by Anonymousreply 11April 21, 2017 5:42 AM

I like different accents as long as they are comprehensible. It comes with cosmopolitan culture. Only rubes make fun of other peoples accents or have problems with them.

by Anonymousreply 12April 21, 2017 5:55 AM

"Is it because they hate the French or just plain ignorance?"

Both, OP. It's a twofer.

by Anonymousreply 13April 21, 2017 8:11 AM

For the same reason that Republicans pronounced SAD - dam Hussein, and EYE-raq. They are showing contempt.

by Anonymousreply 14April 21, 2017 10:12 AM

Accented syllables are a very fluid, variable thing in French. You might have a preferred accented syllable in a French word, but the French themselves really don't care much.

by Anonymousreply 15April 21, 2017 10:20 AM

R15 Bwahhhh-hahahahahahhahhhhh

by Anonymousreply 16April 21, 2017 10:25 AM

[quote]Not quite as amusing as an American trying to pronounce Ibiza.

Oh, you mean with a long 'I' and a silly lisp that doesn't belong in Ibicenco, R3. Stay up in that San An shithole where you belong, listening to Cafe del Mar 57 while you fall to your death from the balcony, puto.

by Anonymousreply 17April 21, 2017 10:32 AM

Very annoying, OP. Jacques CHI-rac. Angelina JO-lie. Jean-Paul GAUL-tier. Marion CO-tillard. The list goes on. A linguist right here on DL once patiently explained why these pronunciations are, in fact, "correct" when used by Brits. I did a Google search but unfortunately couldn't find anything.

by Anonymousreply 18April 21, 2017 10:36 AM

They're demonstrating both contempt, and pride in their ignorance, r14.

So, business as usual for the Repugs.

by Anonymousreply 19April 21, 2017 12:15 PM

Hyacinth always says "Sandringham HOUSE." Since there are many houses, she should punch-up Sandringham.

by Anonymousreply 20April 21, 2017 12:17 PM

Not French, but:

My all-time pet peeve is when they pronounce the word for the jungle cat/luxury sedan:

Jag-you-are.

Give me a fucking break! So what do you call those arctic, flightless birds?

Peng-you-ins?

Please!

by Anonymousreply 21April 21, 2017 1:44 PM

R14 is correct. They are showing contempt.

by Anonymousreply 22April 21, 2017 1:49 PM

And what about that country r21? Nick-a-ragg-you-uh. For Nicaragua. Honestly.

by Anonymousreply 23April 21, 2017 2:02 PM

"Pass-ta." As in "pass" the salt. Grates on ears every time.

"Junta," pronounced with "jun" to rhyme with "fun." Shudder.

by Anonymousreply 24April 21, 2017 2:10 PM

That's the underclass pronunciation, R17.

by Anonymousreply 25April 21, 2017 2:11 PM

In her autobiography, Signoret was rather amused by the way Hudson announced her name.

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by Anonymousreply 26April 21, 2017 2:17 PM

Because Americans never pronounce any words incorrectly ever.

Yawn.

by Anonymousreply 27April 21, 2017 2:23 PM

I have a friend from northern UK, and commented on this very topic. It annoys me especially when British journalists go on NPR and randomly change the syllable to be accented in a word. Jag-yu-ars an especially grating one, but they love to do it with 4 syllable words that end in "-tion". ConTRIBution. But also changing even the way consonants are pronounced. Version becomes vershon.

I asked why. And she said "because it is OUR language not yours and if we pronounce it that way, it is automatically the correct way. By definition."

There IS resentment and hostility and arrogance behind it, but unless you are willing to start an inTERnational ROOOOWWW, just let it go. What gives me pleasure now though, is how all Brits are trying to sound working class. Everybody's Ricky Gervais. No more internal "t" sounds, no more hard "g"s. Ahahahah.....

by Anonymousreply 28April 21, 2017 2:26 PM

French used to pronounce words different. Current standard Parisian French was imposed from above, but many early settlers in Quebec carried with them older pronuciations. So it's easy to make fun of people in New Orleans or Detroit or St. Louis for "mispronoucing" their French names when in truth that is how they were pronounced in placed like Bordeaux and Brittany in the 17th century.

by Anonymousreply 29April 21, 2017 2:28 PM

"Garage" is "GAR-age" I even heard "Cyrano" as in Cyrano de Bergerac pronounced as "See-RAH-no." Unbelievable.

And yeah, "JAG-you-are" is really stupid.

"Shawns-Ell-LEE-zay" is simply incorrect and all the reporters and anchors on the BBC, ITV and Sky are saying it wrong.

by Anonymousreply 30April 21, 2017 2:32 PM

The British tend to stick to the rule of placing the stress on the first syllable for nouns, second syllable for verbs (for two syllable words). The Americans are all over the map on this. For foreign loan words, especially French ones, the British have Anglicized them to conform to English stress rules, whereas the Americans tend to retain the original pronunciation. Words like ballet, duvet, baton, garage, chauffeur, beret, cliché, brochure, décor, debut, debris, salon, etc., are all first syllable stressed in BA, but final syllable stressed in AE.

by Anonymousreply 31April 21, 2017 3:36 PM

Did anyone catch Jack Bishop on last night's ATK doing a PAP-ri-ka tasting with Bridget? She pronounced it like him once, then reverted to the way she—and most people—normally say it.

by Anonymousreply 32April 21, 2017 3:45 PM

Yes, they do it to prove they are not French.

by Anonymousreply 33April 21, 2017 3:45 PM

Who cares? It's only frogs 🐸

by Anonymousreply 34April 21, 2017 3:46 PM

I also hate how the English pronounce "pasta".

by Anonymousreply 35April 21, 2017 3:47 PM

paaaaaaaaaaaaaaasta

by Anonymousreply 36April 21, 2017 3:48 PM

They do it with English words, too. They'll take a perfectly fine word in English and emphasize the wrong syllable.

The estuary accent is so ridiculous. Pompous people trying to sound working class.

by Anonymousreply 37April 21, 2017 4:14 PM

How do you suppose they pronounce "pasta fagioli"? PASTa faggy oh LEE.

by Anonymousreply 38April 21, 2017 4:16 PM

Why does OP pronounce "Champs" as Shawns and not Shawms?

by Anonymousreply 39April 21, 2017 4:16 PM

Because they don't say Shawms - they say it without an m, almost silent, so it like a soft "ongz" sound.

by Anonymousreply 40April 21, 2017 4:31 PM

Do the French really pronounce Ms as Ns? Those are completely different tongue actions. I can't help but think that anyone who says "Chongz" Elysee is just doing a bad impression of a French speaker.

by Anonymousreply 41April 21, 2017 4:35 PM

Here

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by Anonymousreply 42April 21, 2017 4:38 PM

"Champs" has the nasal vowel /ã/, which sounds like an incomplete "ong" or "awng." So shaw(ng)zeleezay is how you pronounce Champs-Élysées.

by Anonymousreply 43April 21, 2017 4:39 PM

I can't stand the Spaniard lisp. I grew up in Texas so it was normal to hear the Mexican non-lisp.

by Anonymousreply 44April 21, 2017 4:54 PM

Word R14

by Anonymousreply 45April 21, 2017 4:55 PM

What has always annoyed me was mispronouncing Barack Obama's first name: they pronounce it Barrick!

by Anonymousreply 46April 21, 2017 5:30 PM

It's not just French words: Meh-DEE-chee instead of MEH-dee-chee. ca-PREE vs CAH-pree. Why?

Yes, the vowel sounds are going to be different, but the stress?

I remember seeing a British TV show about the Medicis and renaissance Florence and every actor but one would say Meh-DEE-chee. To hear the one lone actor stress the word they way they do it Italy was additionally jarring. Wasn't there a director to ensure that the actors pronounce such a basic word correctly? And failing that, at least consistently?

by Anonymousreply 47April 21, 2017 10:30 PM

Since you're so smart, R47, perhaps you can tell us why Medici isn't pronounced with the accent on the penultimate syllable, which is usual in Italian. It's the same with Bulgari and, I think, Modena. But why? And how is a non-Italian supposed to know? The Spanish and French provide accent marks, at least.

by Anonymousreply 48April 21, 2017 10:55 PM

I will never criticize someone's accent, as long as they're doing their best to speak the language. I can't remember the specific actor (Ricardo Montalban or Fernando Lamas) on the Tonight Show with Carson, and when Johnny asked the guest how he felt when someone would make fun of his accents, said, "Well, remember, that's because I can speak one more language than the person making fun of me".

by Anonymousreply 49April 21, 2017 11:27 PM

[quote]Did anyone catch Jack Bishop on last night's ATK doing a PAP-ri-ka tasting with Bridget? She pronounced it like him once, then reverted to the way she—and most people—normally say it.

That was Julia, not Bridget.

by Anonymousreply 50April 21, 2017 11:28 PM

The British can't even pronounce English words correctly. Have you heard them say con-TRAH-ver-see?

by Anonymousreply 51April 21, 2017 11:29 PM

Weallwy? Why must we widicule the Bwitish? Pwease wepeat "I must weallwy just wewax."

by Anonymousreply 52April 21, 2017 11:35 PM

R28's female friend sounds like a twat.

by Anonymousreply 53April 21, 2017 11:44 PM

I took my vitamin at the urinal that was made of aluminum. The I saw an advertisement on oregano. There is quite a controversy about it.

The above sounds totally different when read by an American and a Brit.

by Anonymousreply 54April 22, 2017 12:01 AM

Because when a Brit walks up to a Frenchman they surrender immediately and lay face down on the floor, so their words are muffled.

by Anonymousreply 55April 22, 2017 12:06 AM

r55

And they are always eating cheese which doesn't help in understanding them.

by Anonymousreply 56April 22, 2017 12:07 AM

How do the Brits say "urinal"?

by Anonymousreply 57April 22, 2017 7:58 PM

R57, you-RYE-nal

by Anonymousreply 58April 22, 2017 8:02 PM

R58 Really? Not doubting you, just...really? What an awful mispronunciation.

by Anonymousreply 59April 22, 2017 8:12 PM

R59, Here:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 60April 22, 2017 8:17 PM

[quote] that was made of aluminum

That's the North American spelling; you can't fault the rest of the world for pronouncing the 'i' in aluminium.

by Anonymousreply 61April 22, 2017 8:19 PM

To be anything but mildly charmed or amused by how a person in a different country pronounces words is pretty provincial.

by Anonymousreply 62April 22, 2017 8:25 PM

The Queen sounds absolutely spiritual there, R5. I was very moved but them I'm old enough to have relatives who went through that war, one permanently destroyed by spending the whole thing in a German prison of war camp.

by Anonymousreply 63April 22, 2017 8:50 PM

Anyone for a fill-it of beef?

by Anonymousreply 64April 22, 2017 9:03 PM

R31, nice explanation but they're still WRONG for pronouncing words/names as they do. It's disrespectful of the language.

by Anonymousreply 65April 22, 2017 9:16 PM

They make sandwiches out of "pitta" bread, and their puff pastry is made of "phee-lo" dough.

by Anonymousreply 66April 23, 2017 10:08 AM

Oh, and let's not forget the "yogg-urt."

by Anonymousreply 67April 23, 2017 12:38 PM

I also hate when they describe things with the stress on the wrong word, like "tomato SAUCE" and "grizzly BEAR." The stress should be on the descriptive, not the thing itself. Also it's "miles AWAY," not "MILES away."

by Anonymousreply 68April 23, 2017 1:17 PM

How do you pronounce "phyllo," R66?

by Anonymousreply 69April 23, 2017 1:18 PM

[quote]How do you suppose they pronounce "pasta fagioli"? PASTa faggy oh LEE.

It's pasta E fagioli. "Pasta and beans", not "bean pasta".

And it goes without saying that it's NEVER pronounced "pasta-fah-johl" like how some English speaking monoglot from The Sopranos would say it.

by Anonymousreply 70April 23, 2017 1:30 PM

How about that tasty, eastern dessert made of nuts and honey and phylo ("figh-lo," thank you very much) dough. The world pronounces baklava as "BOCK-luh-vuh," but not the British. To them, it's "buh-CLAW-vuh."

by Anonymousreply 71April 23, 2017 1:48 PM

Americans are the worst for fucking with the English language. Donut = Doughnut ??? Jello = Jam ???

by Anonymousreply 72April 23, 2017 2:01 PM

Jello=jam? Wtf are you talking about?

by Anonymousreply 73April 23, 2017 2:05 PM

R48;

[quote] perhaps you can tell us why Medici isn't pronounced with the accent on the penultimate syllable, which is usual in Italian.

Ask an Italian.

[quote] And how is a non-Italian supposed to know?

See above.

Advisable if you're making a multi-part TV series at least partially filmed in Florence, Italy.

by Anonymousreply 74April 23, 2017 2:08 PM

That judge on DWTS would call Mario Lopez "Merr-ee-o." So annoying!

by Anonymousreply 75April 23, 2017 2:09 PM

I guess they mean "jelly"

by Anonymousreply 76April 23, 2017 2:12 PM

The British also use the words pudding and dessert interchangeably. For example, "We're having beef, broccoli, a nice salad, and ice cream for pudding." Wtf?

by Anonymousreply 77April 23, 2017 2:19 PM

How do the Brits pronounce "Gag on my big knob, you cockknocking sod!"?

by Anonymousreply 78April 23, 2017 2:26 PM

I ain't done fuckin' you mate...

by Anonymousreply 79April 23, 2017 2:28 PM

r66 and r71: Spelling and pronunciation:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 80April 23, 2017 2:28 PM

[quote]How do the Brits pronounce "Gag on my big knob, you cockknocking sod!"?

I believe it's pronounced "Oh, please continue to defend us from the threats of Eastern Europe so we don't have to."

by Anonymousreply 81April 23, 2017 2:32 PM

It's not good for middle and upper class British men to try and talk dirty. It just doesn't work.

by Anonymousreply 82April 23, 2017 2:38 PM

American's lecturing the English on how to correctly pronounce English words? Please sit your barely literate backsides down. You lot can't even spell words never mind pronounce them correctly. It's our language, we have been speaking it longer than you and there is a reason your ancestors were turfed out of England.

by Anonymousreply 83April 23, 2017 2:41 PM

"Phyllo," "pita," and "baklava" are English words, R83?

by Anonymousreply 84April 23, 2017 2:43 PM

This thread is too cunty even for me

by Anonymousreply 85April 23, 2017 2:49 PM

more chavs, less chat, please.

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by Anonymousreply 86April 23, 2017 2:55 PM

r86, who is the guy on the right, the one with hair?

by Anonymousreply 87April 23, 2017 2:58 PM

OP, it's obvious that the British do it because they detest the French.

by Anonymousreply 88April 23, 2017 2:58 PM

[quote]"pasta-fah-johl"

Is that supposed to equal "pasta fazool"?

by Anonymousreply 89April 23, 2017 3:00 PM

[quote]You lot can't even spell words

Who cares? We don't say "you lot."

by Anonymousreply 90April 23, 2017 3:01 PM

[quote]It's our language, we have been speaking it longer than you

And writing run-on sentences longer, too.

by Anonymousreply 91April 23, 2017 3:02 PM

pasta e fagioli (Standard Italian) - pasta e fasule (Neapolitan) - pasta fazool (Italian-American)

by Anonymousreply 92April 23, 2017 3:11 PM

[quote]phylo ("figh-lo," thank you very much)

::bzzzt:: Nope. Thanks for playing.

by Anonymousreply 93April 23, 2017 3:32 PM

R83, defensive much? Touched a nerve, have we? Poor little limey snowflake. Go get yourself a cuddle somewhere, luv.

by Anonymousreply 94April 23, 2017 3:36 PM

[quote]American's lecturing the English on how to correctly pronounce English words?

Thanks, R94. I missed "American's" first time around.

American's what, R83?

by Anonymousreply 95April 23, 2017 3:41 PM

R53, R28's friend's attitude sounds like most British people, as R83 shows.

by Anonymousreply 96April 23, 2017 4:20 PM

It must be driving those inbred cunts of Perfidious Albion crazy that global English is now more American than ever. Due to TV programming and subtitles, the continential norm has been shifting to elevators, z instead of s, color, favor, and flashlights. Same across Asia. Volkswagen recently adopted English as it's official language, and it isn't RP. Sorry, toffs, your empire is long dead, while the American one is merely starting to die.

by Anonymousreply 97April 23, 2017 4:55 PM

[quote]The world pronounces baklava as "BOCK-luh-vuh," but not the British. To them, it's "buh-CLAW-vuh."

My family is Greek, and we pronounce is bock-luh-VAH.

by Anonymousreply 98April 23, 2017 4:56 PM

I must admit I enjoy the pronunciation of the name Bianca as "Bee-ang-kah" as opposed to "Bee-ong-kah." Their pronouncing Garcia as "GAR-see-uh," however, is unforgivable.

by Anonymousreply 99April 23, 2017 6:47 PM

I think this is a vestige of British imperialism, where they thought their culture superior to the cultures they colonized. So they took these foreign words and names and Anglicized their pronunciation.

by Anonymousreply 100April 23, 2017 7:06 PM

R48, most Italian words are stressed on the second to last, or penultimate, syllable, although of course there are exceptions. And Italian does have the occasional accent mark to indicate a stress placement, usually on the last syllable, such as città or Mazzarrà Sant'Andrea.

by Anonymousreply 101April 23, 2017 8:31 PM

R48, Medici is the plural form of medico (physician, medical). The -ico suffix (as with all suffixes) is usually unstressed, like the -ic suffix in English. Therefore, the stress is placed on the root word "med."

by Anonymousreply 102April 23, 2017 8:54 PM

I guess what pisses me off the most is that it's media people (anchors, reporters) who constantly mispronounce French/Spanish/Italian words. Of course a lot of us Americans mispronounce things but our media representatives (Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, even David Tyler Moore) don't.

I hope after Feud: Joan and Bette airs in the UK a lot of them limeys will finally start pronouncing it as "Betty" and not "Bet."

by Anonymousreply 103April 23, 2017 9:06 PM

[quote]even David Tyler Moore

Uh-oh.

by Anonymousreply 104April 23, 2017 10:57 PM

R32, stressing "paprika" on the first syllable is the correct pronunciation, as per the Hungarian etymology as well as normal English usage (for nouns). Pap-REE-ka probably became current because people thought it was a Spanish or Italian word or some such. I'm Hungarian-American and for me pap-REE-ka sounds as ridiculous as "Hyacinth Bouquet."

by Anonymousreply 105April 23, 2017 11:18 PM

I was watching an episode of "River" with Stellan Skarsgard on Netflix. Nicola Walker, his co-star, had a line that mentioned macramé in passing. She pronounced it "mah-CRAW-mee." I couldn't believe my ears. The English seem to distort French words out of sheer arrogance and contempt.

Nothing personal against Nicola Walker, though. She's a fine actress.

by Anonymousreply 106April 23, 2017 11:48 PM

I greatly admire the British physicist Brian Cox. I do. However, I jam pencils into my eyes every time I hear him talk about the gas "MEE-thane."

by Anonymousreply 107April 24, 2017 12:08 AM

I adore how the British say meeethane. They make it sound so fun.

by Anonymousreply 108April 24, 2017 4:28 AM

LOL, R106. I like Nicola Walker, too.

by Anonymousreply 109April 24, 2017 8:16 AM

Well, they're doing it again on the BBC and Sky today-mispronouncing it as "shawns eh LEE zay" rather than "shawns eh lee ZAY." Unbelievable. They really do detest the French that much, do they?

by Anonymousreply 110May 7, 2017 6:51 PM

Mon dieu.

by Anonymousreply 111May 7, 2017 6:52 PM

Now we'll have to endure at least five years of the MAC-ron pronunciation.

by Anonymousreply 112May 7, 2017 6:53 PM

And yet they pronounced Marine's name right when they always mispronounce Marie as "MAR-ee."

by Anonymousreply 113May 7, 2017 11:52 PM

I hated that in Calendar Girls. Sounded like Maury Povich. They meant Marie???

How do you pronounce Champs Elysee? I say Champs Elise?

by Anonymousreply 114January 29, 2020 1:36 AM

I hate how they say taco. It is not a Take-o! Some Mexicans even jokingly say it like "th/daccos." That's how off you are!

I wonder how they say burrito and quesadilla. Oh well. I can't pronounce their weird city names like Gloucester.

by Anonymousreply 115January 29, 2020 1:41 AM

R100’s got it right, I think.

by Anonymousreply 116January 29, 2020 1:49 AM

Uhhh, no, R114, it’s pronounced “Ehl-ee-ZAY.” That’s how the French pronounce it and that’s how it should be pronounced.

by Anonymousreply 117January 29, 2020 1:51 AM

[quote]Jello = Jam

Jello is a gelatin dessert. I think you mean jelly, the mashed preserves of fruit. Jam is also used in some regions of the U.S.

[quote]Of course a lot of us Americans mispronounce things but our media representatives (Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper, even David Tyler Moore) don't.

Lol! EYEran and EYErack, SAWDie Arabia...

by Anonymousreply 118February 9, 2020 4:41 PM

Well of course at the BAFTAs someone pronounced Renee Zelllweger’s first name as “Renny” and she’s too nice to correct it. Maybe she thinks it’s cute.

by Anonymousreply 119February 9, 2020 5:20 PM

[quote] I can't pronounce their weird city names like Gloucester.

R115 it’s GLOSS-tur. The other two Counties of the three are pronounced WUSS-tur & HEH-ruh-furd (or rather, YERRY-fud if you’re local).

Bonus if you can guess how to say ‘Leominster’. I’ve even found you a guide.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 120February 9, 2020 5:57 PM

LEM-un-stir. I didn't know until I visited there.

by Anonymousreply 121February 9, 2020 6:28 PM

Well OP, what are you going to have a go at us for, next? The fact that on Teletext (RIP) temperatures were expressed in Metric whereas speeds & length were in Imperial?

by Anonymousreply 122February 9, 2020 6:58 PM

Blah blah blah, R122. Don’t hate the messenger.

by Anonymousreply 123February 9, 2020 7:29 PM

This was a gimmick used by professional wrestler & booker William Regal, when he worked for American WWF/WWE wrestling.

He’d read and say the names of other wrestlers the British way, sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose depending on whether he liked them.

Memorable among those he insulted with his mistakes were Umaga (which he pronounced, ‘Yew-MANGA’), Finlay (‘FIN-lee’), Candice Michelle (‘Can-DEESE Mish-ELL’), Dean Ambrose (‘AM-brose’), Xavier Woods (‘EX-ay-vee-er’) and Triple H (of course said, ‘HAY-tch’).

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by Anonymousreply 124February 9, 2020 8:13 PM

It's those rotten teeth again! They hurt so much!

by Anonymousreply 125February 9, 2020 8:41 PM

It's those rotten teeth again! They hurt so much!

by Anonymousreply 126February 9, 2020 8:41 PM

OMG, the correct answer is FRENCH FUCKING SUCKS AS A LANGUAGE. JFC, WHY have all those letters you don't fucking say? And because it's oh-so-refined, if you can't pronounce it correctly you look like a bumpkin. Yes English does this sometimes, like "Worcester," but at least we acknowledge that it's annoying and illogical af.

You know how I would pronounce "champs elysees"? "Champs (as in a shorthand for champion) el-e-sees." CUZ THAT IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ENGLISH EYES AND SCREW YOU GUYS FOR EXPECTING THE WHOLE WORLD TO LEARN YOUR WEIRD-ASS PRONUNCIATIONS.

And no I don't get upset when people "mispronounce" English words, because learning a language is fucking hard, and there is no reason why "tacos" can't be pronounced "tay kos," esp. when you come from a place that is an ocean away from where the food originated.

by Anonymousreply 127February 10, 2020 12:42 AM

To do it intentionally to display contempt for the Latin-based languages, which they consider inferior to English.

by Anonymousreply 128February 10, 2020 12:52 AM

R128 can you blame us? On arrival the Normans decided to snuff our language out like a Papal candle, as well as burn our sacred forests and demonise our Gods and use us for arrow fodder in their campaigns. Before that, Romans did the same.

At least the Saxon invaders were Pagans like us.

by Anonymousreply 129February 10, 2020 9:37 AM

Some Americans will never get over the fact that their native language was always another nation’s before their country even existed.

by Anonymousreply 130February 10, 2020 11:27 AM

[quote]R110: Well, they're doing it again on the BBC and Sky today-mispronouncing it as "shawns eh LEE zay" rather than "shawns eh lee ZAY." Unbelievable. They really do detest the French that much, do they?

It is pwecisewy because we arh on the Beeb as pwofessional wepolters that you should not question our pwonunciation. We pwonounce our wolds with pwecison. While it’s twue that some of us empwoy whotacism (“Rhotacism.” wook it up) unconciouswy, pwease understand it is wikewy because we have educations and moneyed wineages faw superwiow to your own.

by Anonymousreply 131February 10, 2020 12:41 PM

R117, no that's not how the French pronounce Élysées. In French, every syllable is equally stressed. "ehl-ee-zay" - equal stress on all syllables - is the French pronunciation of the word. This is unnatural and difficult to do in English, so English speakers generally add stress to a syllable where none exists in French.

American English tends to stress the final syllable of French words, while British English tends to stress the first or sometimes penultimate syllable. This is especially noticeable in two-syllable words. For example, Café is pronounced caff-AY in AmE but (usually) CAFF-ay in BrE. Neither is right and neither is wrong because both are adaptations to English of words from a language where no syllable is stressed.

by Anonymousreply 132February 11, 2020 8:54 AM
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