Pronunciation watch

[Roger Webb]

https://3-in-one.co.uk/product/3-in-...ose-oil-spray/

I didn't know that 3-in-1 had copied WD-40. I don't think this is just the light machine oil that is dispensed from the original can (shown on the extreme right of the second picture in the advert you kindly posted which shows 3-in-1's product range). The oil that is dispensed from the little can would be far too viscous to atomise into a spray.

Anyway, the ancient WD-40 is being dragged out of retirement and my Workmate in from the shed - I'm now looking for a project to use this versatile and stable mini workbench/vice again.

[french frank]

Anyway, the ancient WD-40 is being dragged out of retirement and my Workmate in from the shed - I'm now looking for a project to use this versatile and stable mini workbench/vice again.

Moi aussi. I use 3-in-1 mainly for oiling the oilstone. I do have a Japanese water stone but keep jabbing bits out of it

On topic: oil pronounced /ɔɪl/ not waahl

[smittims]

Sadly, but not unexpectedly nowadays, it was not a complete performance of the Three-Cornered Hat, but just six movements, approximately the two concert suites. All the same our indefatigable Rochdalienne announced it as it it were complete.

[vinteuil]

I think you're probably using the French pronunciation:

< French haha (17th cent. in Hatzfeld & Darmesteter) ‘an obstacle interrupting one's way sharply and disagreeably, a ditch behind an opening in a wall at the bottom of an alley or walk’; according to French etymologists, < ha! exclamation of surprise.
.

... the French pronunciation of course wd not have the h, it would be / a a /

Wiki hath :

"The name ha-ha is of French origin, and was first used in print in Dezallier d'Argenville's 1709 book The Theory and Practice of Gardening, in which he explains that the name derives from the exclamation of surprise that viewers would make on recognising the optical illusion.

Grills of iron are very necessary ornaments in the lines of walks, to extend the view, and to show the country to advantage. At present we frequently make thoroughviews, called Ah, Ah, which are openings in the walls, without grills, to the very level of the walks, with a large and deep ditch at the foot of them, lined on both sides to sustain the earth, and prevent the getting over; which surprises the eye upon coming near it, and makes one laugh, Ha! Ha! from where it takes its name. This sort of opening is, on some occasions, to be preferred, for that it does not at all interrupt the prospect, as the bars of a grill do. "

French wiki

"Au XVII^e siècle, François Mansart décide de les placer au bout des allées des jardins pour dégager la vue tout en bloquant le passage. La gouvernante du Grand Dauphin , fils de Louis XIV, lorsqu'il était petit, l'empêchait de s'en approcher. Un jour, dans les jardins de Meudon, échappant à sa vigilance, il alla vers le bord du saut-de-loup et dit en riant : « Ha ha, ce n'est que cela qui doit me faire peur ! » Désormais, les courtisans appelèrent les sauts-de-loup des ha-has. C'est au XIX^e siècle que le mot remplaça définitivement le nom de saut-de-loup."

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha-ha

And not forgetting -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Louis-du-Ha!_Ha!

.

[Roger Webb]

Moi aussi. I use 3-in-1 mainly for oiling the oilstone. I do have a Japanese water stone but keep jabbing bits out of it

On topic: oil pronounced /ɔɪl/ not waahl

My oilstone is so hollowed out it resembles an Olympic ski-jump ramp.

Perhaps we ought to start a Black and Decker Workmate Owners' Club! The thought only occured to me because I met a friend in a pub the other day, and, as he ostentatiously chucked his car keys on the bar, I noticed the fob was Ferrari red, with the Ferrari Owners' Club logo. As I'm sure I didn't see a Ferrari in the carpark, I asked him where it was, in the garage at home? He replied that he joined the section of the Owners' Club that didn't have, as a prerequisite of membership, ownership of a Ferrari! So you see, forum members unlucky enough not to own a Workmate could join and not feel left-out!

[smittims]

You remind me of the episode of Friends where Joey comes in in Porsche overalls and cap . 'But you don't own a Porsche' says Chandler.

'Exactly', says Joey, 'but if you wear the gear they think you do, because let's faceit , only an idiot would wear Porsche gear if he didn't own a Porsche'.

'That is true' says Chandler slowly.

[french frank]

So you see, forum members unlucky enough not to own a Workmate could join and not feel left-out!

Pronounced /ˈwɜːk.meɪt/ btw.

[Roger Webb]

Pronounced /ˈwɜːk.meɪt/ btw.

Oops!....pronounced /oops/

[subcontrabass]

BBC R4 Sunday Worship, 6th April 2025, was listed as dealing with the life and teaching of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The two presenters kept talking about someone called Bonhoffer..

[smittims]

Ha, Ha! That reminds me of a BBC2 Tv documentary supposedly about Captain Cook. I couldn't understand why the presenter kept talking about someone called 'James Kick' until I remembered that this was the 21st century.

[Sir Velo]

With that pronunciation it can only be Professor Alice Roberts

[smittims]

I think it was Vanessa Colligridge, the one with long curly blonde hair who walks round and round waving her arms to emphasise her words. To be fair, I think it was made for youngsters who need to be entertained by constant movement or they stop watching.

In my experience Alice is more 'oo-arr'. Bristolian, though a bit smoother since she took a University chair.