I had trouble today trying to get to Lutwyche. Never been there before, never heard anyone say it, so no-one had any idea what I was talking about when I said I wanted to go to “lut-wike” … I had to spell it, which didn’t help the foreign bus driver none. Eventually someone was like, "ohhh… “lut-witch” :smack:
“Correct” might be dependent on the dictionary publisher. It is my understanding that some dictionaries are “descriptive” and will include pronunciations that are in common use, while other dictionaries are more “prescriptive” and include only pronunciations that are considered to be correct in Standard English. The same thing occurs to a lesser extent with the definitions, the “descriptive” dictionaries including definitions that would be considered mis-uses by the “prescriptive” versions.
This I believe to be true of American dictionaries; I am not acquainted with British, Australian, or other versions.
The main point here is that just because it’s in a dictionary doesn’t necessarily mean it’s considered “correct”.
While my American, online dictionary only lists ‘A-mij’ as correct, it seems to me that ‘o-MAHJ’ has become almost a different word, not just an alternate pronunciation: where I’m from, you pay ‘A-mij’ to someone, but when something you have done is a tribute to someone else it is called an ‘o-MAHJ.’
“Smith payed ‘A-mij’ to his mentor with that entire movie.”
but
“Smith’s movie was an ‘o-MAHJ’ to his mentor.”
In either case, the word ‘tribute’ could replace ‘homage’ with no problem.
Does anyone else recognize this distinction?
Ah no, It took me some time to work out what on earth a-mij and o-mahj were Misnomer. Again in this part of the word homage is pronounced homij. My dictionaries also confirm this but for interest I checked Dictionary.com and again homij or omij are the two pronunciations listed.
And I suppose you order Fill-it Migg-nons in restaurants, too? Or perhaps you feel like Mexican food and ask for tack-oes?
Ricotta and manicotti are not English words. Thus, English pronunciations are by definition wrong.
True, but most foreign foods have Anglicized pronunciations. How many people do you know that roll the “r” in “burrito,” or say the “l” in “kielbasa” as a “w” (as it is in Polish,) or, as I had mentioned, say “broosketta” for “bruschetta.” The way an American says “pierogi” may make a Pole cringe, but it’s the correct pronunciation in English.
Jai-ros, anyone?
I say “pyeh-ROH-gi” (well, that’s pretty close to what it sounds like when I say it, anyway.)
I think I disagree. If it’s a “foreign” food, you ought to learn to pronounce it correctly - not how you think it should be Anglicized.
Why not? We anglicize place names. We borrow words from other languages and make them our own. Why not with food? I mean, hey, I know “gyros” is pronounced roughly as “yee-ros” (per the Kronos gyros posters all around this city), but if I say that, almost nobody knows what the hell I’m on about. “Yee-ros” and I get funny looks. “Ghee-ros” or “jie-rohs” shudder, and I’m communicating.
Thing is, to me (and I am multilingual), when speaking English I will rarely resort to the foreign pronunciation because it sounds jarring and sticks out like a sore thumb when juxtaposed against the rhythms of the English language. Most English pronunciations are reasonable approximations of the foreign pronunciations. Others are way off, but have become the accepted standard. But I can’t really think of any foreign foods that are pronounced exactly as in their original language.
Oh, oh, I have a story!
I was in Ohio a while back and I stopped in to Subway to get some food. I got to the cash register and the woman asked me if I wanted the mildew.
Lets see who will figure it out first…
It isn’t stilted, it’s just correct. Your (and my) dictionary has just given up and accepted mispronunciations because they are common. I guess that’s how language changes.
I, on the other hand, pronounce everthing kreckly becuz I am perfik. 
I will never understand why so many politicians, many of whom aspire to the office, slur “PrezYouneyeStay” when they mean “President of the United States.” It seems to me if they can’t say it they shouldn’t ever be it.
I have no freaking idea, and it’s driving me crazy what she said. Please tell.
Well, I didn’t say it is stilted, I said it sounds stilted to me. That means that, where I come from, only people whose manner of speaking is considered eccentric pronounce it that way, but that I accept that it may be the standard pronunciation in other regions. Same with pronouncing the “t” in “often”, for me.
As to the dictionaries “giving up” and accepting “mispronunciations” because they are common, mine makes the points that
and
That seems to me to contradict your theory.
Since this thread is so full of folks who are near expert at speech, could someone tell me what the heck “SA” or “Essay” is?
It’s that word that young hispanic folks use in movies when being slightly threatening toward white folks.
You know, “so tell me “SA” whatchoo doin down here in our turf”?
What the heck is it, and what does it MEAN???
Esé. Sorta like a Spanish version of “dude,” “bro,” “homeboy,” “man,” etc., used amongst male Hispanics as a sign of brotherhood or closeness.
“Sup esé?”
It’s generally not seen as kosher for a non-Hispanic to use the term towards a Hispanic. A young hispanic could very well use it to seem threatening against “white folks,” especially in movies. I suppose a movie-Hispanic calling a movie-white “esé” would be a gentle way of insinuating, “Hey! You’re white, not Hispanic, and in case you haven’t noticed, that makes you the minority around here, and a beatdown may very well occur if you don’t convince me and my comrades otherwise.”
… and your post reminds me of a joke I always found cute.
"What do you call a baby Mexican?
A paragraph, cause he’s not big enough to be an esé."
[/hijack]
Thank you! This has driven me bonkers everytime I see it used in some movie. I kinda figured it was some form of “dude or bro” or something, and that it was mean to be sarcastic, but was hoping to know the “real” word, and its origin.
Mountain Dew? Meal deal? all I could think of.
Ding ding ding! jastu is the weeeeeiinnner!
Indeed, mildew = meal deal.
We had to hold back our laughter as we left the place.
Woo hoo!! so what did I win?
You win the “mildew.”
