A question (not mocking – I’m honestly curious) for the Irish-language scholars. Niamh, we learn, is pronounced approximately “Neev”. Per my understanding – possibly wrong – the name of the great queen in ancient legend, is pronounced “Meev”, but spelt “Maedhbh”. Please could someone explain this seeming oddity? (I get the impression that Irish spelling conventions may seem strange and complicated, but are basically regular and consistent.)
Quinoa
Ennui
For the longest time, I thought that the garbage disposal brand “In-sink-erator” was pronounced
“In Sink Erator” and I always wondered what an “erator” was. I got that it was in the sink, but what the hell was an erator???
Finally one day it hit me that it was a pun on incinerator, and I’d been putting the wrong stress on the wrong syllables.
/ˈmeɪv/, “mayv,” rhymes with “wave.” Sometimes it’s spelled “Medb,” which I just don’t get, but obviously that’s a medieval spelling.
I think these are “slender” pronunciation, because of the “e.” So “dh” = /j/ (y sound), “bh” = /v/ or it looks like /vʲ/.
Schuyler
Pasta e fagioli
Ratatouille
Apparently there is no whore in hors d’oeuvres.
In French. In English the ‘c’ carries no cedilla.
My contribution: “Catercorner.”
My daughter wanted a colonel burger from the place with the red flag outsite :smack:
Brings to mind the guy interviewed on NPR some eons back who talked about defining a new puh-RID-i-gum. Obviously he’d never heard anyone pronounce paradigm.
Or me the first time I saw the word victuals. I knew what it meant, but I assumed the word I heard on Beverly Hillbillies was a slang version.
When I was growing up, my parents often sold ordervs when they entertained.
Years later, I discovered it was spelled “hors d’oeuvres.”
When I was growing up in Baltimore, I would hear people talking about a place called Holland Town. I knew about China Town, Greek Town, and Little Italy, so I figured Holland Town was a section of Baltimore where people from Holland predominated.
Then one day when I was about 10 years old I was waiting for a 22 bus to take me to an Orioles game, and a bus going the other way went by. The route sign said: 22 - Highlandtown. :smack:
I used to work with a guy whose last name was Czumaj. It was pronounced Shooma.
Yeah, that would be the Balmer accent at work. :rolleyes: :smack:
Sincerely,
OneCentStamp, who grew up in the rest of Maryland. 
Phlegm
(Sorry)
I saw some folks with MD tags on their car at the rest stop. I asked which part of MD they were from and it took me a second to remember where “Aston Shaw” was.
Balmerese was generally prohibited in my house, but I’m pretty sure my parents said “Hollandtown”.
At’s on da udder side a the bay, hon.
Hey, at least they weren’t tangerines.
Downy oshun
Ah, but that’s only difficult if you use the American mobster pronunciation.
The accent indicates length. It’s literally pronounced longer, not different.
That’s easy. Italian spelling, French pronunciation.
What’s wrong with the Anerican pronunciation?
What did you think it was? Niggy?