I’ve been reading Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches trilogy. I’m done The Witching Hour, and am currently working on Lasher. I have two questions. In Lasher, although not in The Witching Hour, Julien is consistently referred to as Oncle Julien; Oncle with an O. Other uncles are spelled with a u. What’s up with that? I tried looking up Oncle on dictionary.com, and they had no entries. Is it a southern thing, or just an affectation? If it’s the latter, she needs to knock it the hell off, 'cuz it’s annoying me. Second, and this is an easy one for anyone from around NOLA: how to pronounce Metairie? I know it’s not pronounced like it looks, but for the life of me, can’t remember how it is pronounced!
BTW, I’ve not read much Rice before, except for her erotica, which I like a lot. But so far, she has a bunch of affectations that are annoying the hell out of me. I probably won’t read anything else beyond the trilogy.
I haven’t read the books. But *oncle * is the French word for uncle. So presumably it’s used to emphasise the southern/French quality of the character or situation. Or it’s just an affectation.
As for Metairie: METAIRIE - Standard New Orleanian pronunciation: <MET-@-ree>.
Hardcore local pronunciation: <MET-tree>, as if it was spelled (and sometimes is spelled), “Metry”. Announcers on those mail-order product commercials that are made for local products, but who are not aware of the correct pronunciation, often pronounce it <m@-TAIR-ee>, much to to the amusement of the locals. from this site.
While the Mayfairs started out Scottish, the move to France and then Saint Domingue in the 18th Century brought a very strong French thread into the family, and they were for all intents and purposes a French family until the early 20th Century, when Katherine married the Irish architect Darcy Monahan and introduced the Irish line into the family. Look at the names: Julien, Remy, Marguerite, Charlotte, Marie Claudette…and of course, their home is Louisiana. “Oncle,” in the time, place and family in which it’s used, is appropriate.
Well, yes, I realize the strong French bloodlines. So, in that sense, the use of Oncle is appropriate. But why, then, the disparity between the reference between the uncles? If Oncle is appropriate for the time, place and family, why are the other uncles “Uncle”? It’s the incosistency that irks me.
Emphatize… it’s not any uncle, he is Oncle Julien, the most important male witch of the family. Think of it as his title. He is the Don of the Mayfair family.
The ONLY male witch of the family. He was the only man that Lasher ever cultivated the witch relationship with. Katherine, the ostensible holder of the Legacy in that generation, didn’t even get a raindrop when she died. Julien got the most violent thunderstorm the Garden District had ever seen.
No reason why not, really. I just had never heard the term before, and it seemed only to apply to Julien, not anyone else. IME, people refer to aunts as “auntie” or such when they’re feeling particularly playful or something. I’ve never really encountered anyone who referred to one particular aunt as “auntie” and the rest as just “aunt”. OTOH, I’ve never really encountered any family who could count their fortune in billions, so what do I know?
