I drank IPA in my college bar at university, does that count?
I do not advocate for IPA being consumed in elementary schools. That’s what fishing trips with grandpa are for.
Not my choice of alcohol, but apparently the intoxicant does make it easier to understand other languages and unusual accents. Works best if all involved imbibe, and if the effect wears off after a while it can be refreshed.
I would, in abstract, consider this a good idea. Except that most people don’t remember anything that they were taught in school anyway. In my daily dealings, it seems to me that a huge percentage of the population is functionally illiterate.
I’m a little surprised at the number of people who haven’t said the word in public. “(That’s) not my forte” is not an uncommon phrase, at least to me. (Or “that’s his/her forte.”)
Well, that’s interesting. Everyone pronounces “cache” as “cash”.
Yeah. I keep that little tidbit of knowledge in my back pocket in case I’m feeling too well-liked at a party.
A par-tay?
a) I don’t use the word often, because, as others have said, it just perplexes people
b) It ought to be pronounced “for-tay” and not “fort” because it shouldn’t really be regarded as a different word from the musical term. Your forte is the place where you are “loud”. Your strong point. Same freaking notion underlying, why treat it as a separate concept?
c) If pronounced “fort”, the majority of people will assume I’m talking about my fortress or my tree fort. Those who know the word at all assume it is pronounced “for-tay” so they won’t recognize the word if I say “fort”, and will instead assume I’m pronouncing the OTHER word that they are quite familiar with.
I’m into nish and cash for niche and cache.
Same as @GreysonCarlisle.
I think there’s a transatlantic difference with this one. I have never heard the latter pronunciation in the U.K., but it seems common (predominant?) in the U.S.
Because they arrived in the English language from different places.
forte meaning “loud” is from Italian forte meaning “loud.”
forte meaning “strength” is from French fort meaning “strong.”
I’ve always only said or heard “for-tay.” That seems to be pretty common in this thread. If we’ve all agreed to say it that way, why is “fort” considered correct? I don’t really consider the word it was derived from as particularly relevant. Language evolves.
Convergence. They arrived here spelled the same way with the same fundamental sense. I don’t care where they came from, they’re ours now and they can damn well room together.
Language doesn’t need silly nonsensical things like “It’s ‘capital’ if it’s a state but ‘capitol’ if you’re talking about the nation”.
Did you mean this literally? Or are you just being sarcastic? Because that’s not what the difference is between capital and capitol.
And either they both stem from some Latin root that means “loud, strong, bold, emphatic”, or they jolly well should have.
Nope, the final e on the one we took from French wasn’t added until the late 1700s.
I come across both here in the US. I say “neesh” myself.