I don’t live in Worshington and I don’t get books from the liberry.
Maybe he is Canadian and is really saying Kanuck-tivity.
Yeah, but it’s a really inconsistent alternative. Why, when all the other elements have "i"s in them, does aluminium suffer the ignominy of losing a whole letter? You don’t talk about plutonum, or helum, or francum or caesum, so why in the heck would you start saying “aluminum”?
(Incidentally, I’m genuinely interested; when and why did aluminium get its i poked out? Anyone know?)
That’s because we don’t use plutonum siding on our houses.
This is simply a guess, of course, but I bet since we use aluminum so often in everyday life that it became easier over the years to say it this way. I haven’t checked the etymology, though, so I’m not sure which spelling/pronunciation came first.
I had an English teacher that insisted that we pronounce the month Fe-BROO-ary in her prescence.
How about the correct pronunciation for Worcestershire sauce: Wooster Sauce? (It’s British, isn’t it?)
In some parts of Kansas, you pronounce the river’s name Ar-kan-zas, and not Ar-kan-saw. It’s just a local conceit.
I do think that there are various “dialects” that people learn as children, and pass on to their offspring. I met a guy in summer camp who’s father was American, but who’s mother was British. He had a slight well bred British accent that was noticable when he said certain words, like “sorry” etc.
Etcetera, not excetera.
Heh, I just read Mangetout’s post. Now I’m going to have to go and look up element discovery dates, goldarnit. [pause] Okay, found something which seems reasonably detailed - this says:
Unusually, it doesn’t seem to be a laziness shift, but a conscious choice to be different out of a whole mishmash of different naming choices. Kinda funny that it started out as an “ium”, was weirdified by the insertion of an “n”, then had an “i” reinserted, then removed again.
Don’t worry Badger, it won’t hurt all that much and when I’m done, You can have extra Tantalum and Lanthanum sprinkles on your toasted arse.
Would this be the appropriate time for a Homeresque appreciation of toasted arse? If marshmallows are involved, I’m going to find it hard to resist…
Worcester=Wooster, Worcestershire=Woostersher, or Woostasher, and even occaisionally Woorstasher.
In 2nd grade, my reading teacher told us that the “h” in the “ph” combination was silent, so you just pronounced the “p”. Sphere would be pronounced like spear. Fortunately, I already knew better.
I get to hear it all the time. Even on CNNFN for Zog’s sake.
“The company’s physical policy is…”
First time I heard that I thought they were talking about some company introducing an aerobics class at lunch.
Honestly.
I also have to hear this a lot:
“I’m looking for a ‘pacific’ item, can you help me?”
Yep, head west until you hit saltwater.
Oh. Pet Peeve I heard This Weekend:
the letter combination str is in fact pronounced “str”, as in the words “straight”, “strength”, and “destroy”.
There is no “h” between the s and the t.
These words are NOT pronounced
“shtraight”, “shtrength”, and “deshtroy”.
Please “shtop” it.
[Kinda funny to see a pet peeve from a DogMom]
DogMom,
You made me remember another that even Sinatra mangled:
strenth
lenth
but worse:
heighth
Dear Furniture sellers,
It's not **bedroom suit**. It's **bedroom SUITE**. Say SWEET instead of SOOT.
Thank you,
the Grammar Police
Like the English have room to talk (about American pronunciation of aluminum)!
Birmingham = Brum
Cholmondely = Chumley
Liecester = Lester
Gloucester = Gloster
I originally saw the nursery rhyme “Dr. Foster Went to Gloucester” in print, and wondered how the heck that rhymed…
Perhapsh you were shpeaking to Connery, Sean Connery?
Speaking of loony English shpellingsh, consider ** Featherstonehaugh**
Go on, just see if you can guess how that supposably is pronounced…
Fanshaw
‘Brum’ is a colloquialism, nothing more; the proper name is pronounced as it sounds, well almost - Americans tend to call it Bir-Ming-HAM, it should be burmingum or burminum
StJohn (as a surname) is sometimes pronounced ‘Sinjun’
That pronunciation’s actually correct. The other, more common, pronunciation is equally valid.
Then there’re the people who insist on calling places by how they THINK the locals call it…when I went off to school in Missouri my mother started saying Missoura, even though I don’t know anyone in St Louis who says it that way, just people farther out in the country.
And the “I” and “me” thing drives me nuts too. People use “I” for everything, even direct objects because it was pounded into them not to say “me”.
My late wife used to say “brass tactics” (instead of brass tacks).
I knew better than to correct her.