Pronunciation watch

[ahinton]

Well at least he did not confuse it with Higgs.

Nor was he arrogantly bosun about it.

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for the replies. So I wasn't hallucinating (or the aural equivalent) then?

[Richard Tarleton]

Have now heard the trailer several times for a prog about HH Munro aka Saki in which the trailer-er says "mischeevious" . Do producers not have ears?

[french frank]

Have now heard the trailer several times for a prog about HH Munro aka Saki in which the trailer-er says "mischeevious" . Do producers not have ears?

My heart sank when I saw your name on the What's New? list. I thought to mesel', Oh, not again! Not still? Not after all your effort.

Mis-CHEE-vious is apparently more common nowadays than the, er, 'correct' pronunciation.
(I can't find that hilarious BBC video that had two young guys disagreeing on every point. Including Haitch v Aitch)

[ahinton]

Have now heard the trailer several times for a prog about HH Munro aka Saki in which the trailer-er says "mischeevious" . Do producers not have ears?

I've heard this several times as well and am surprised by it. I'm sure that I have on many occasions committed acts of mischief but never, as far as I can recall, any mischeev, not even at or near Junction 13 of the M4. It's not unakin to those composer comparatives that wilfully pervert the pronunciation of their names - has anyone ever encountered Beethoveen, Bruckneer, Wagneer, Mahleer or Stevensohn, for example?

Mind you, there are quite a few composer comparatives that offer some mild amusement without actually perverting their pronunciations; Coplandish, Cartesian, Rubbish, Payneful, Matthewsiastic, Hollowayward, Mawkish, Baxtabbing, Boulezy, Medtnerdy, Searly, Ferneyhoughpeless (sorry, fhg!), Fallacious, Blissful, Gerhardnosed, Rouse-ing, Simpsonic, ifyouwantanymoreyoucansingemyourself (and I suppose that Beamish not so much has one but already is one).

But I digress, so I'll get me Coates and Popov now and leave you to it!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My pet hate is posh mezzo-soprano presenters (and many others) who are too lazy to pronounce "oo". They pronounce is in a similar way to the French "u", as in tu, plume, pupitre, lune.

However, the sound is produced in a quite different way from the French method. Our European friends move the lips inwards to the "oo" shape, but voice "ee". Lazy English speakers do the opposite, barely moving their lips at all, keeping the mouth in the "ee" position, and feebly attempting to say "oo". The result is much less distinguished than the French sound.
The moon is not the müne.
You is not yü.
Music is not müsic.

And the sloppy and sickly English: berk (book), werd (wood), gerd (good) is a result of the same laziness.

[Richard Tarleton]

My heart sank when I saw your name on the What's New? list. I thought to mesel', Oh, not again! Not still? Not after all your effort.

Ha! All quiet on that front, but as I seldom listen in at times when he's likely to occur, I may have missed it recently!

KD was actually having a laugh at herself a couple of days ago, having got into a twist over Un Ballo in Maschera.....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... more common nowadays than the, er, 'correct' pronunciation.

Coming soon to a radio near you : "pronounceiation"

[ahinton]

Coming soon to a radio near you : "pronounceiation"

"Soon"? It's long since happened already, surely?

Almost reminds me of the expression describing Ed Balls on Strictly Dumb Prancing - "the ex-shadow Dancellor of the Exchequer"...

[ahinton]

KD was actually having a laugh at herself a couple of days ago, having got into a twist over Un Ballo in Maschera.....

Good to hear that she's joining in what might otherwise be the "fun"; a ball of mascarpone (pronounced the Delia Smith way), was it?...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My pet hate is posh mezzo-soprano presenters (and many others) who are too lazy to pronounce "oo". They pronounce is in a similar way to the French "u", as in tu, plume, pupitre, lune.

However, the sound is produced in a quite different way from the French method. Our European friends move the lips inwards to the "oo" shape, but voice "ee". Lazy English speakers do the opposite, barely moving their lips at all, keeping the mouth in the "ee" position, and feebly attempting to say "oo". The result is much less distinguished than the French sound.
The moon is not the müne.
You is not yü.
Music is not müsic.

And the sloppy and sickly English: berk (book), werd (wood), gerd (good) is a result of the same laziness.

Do the Germans pronounce Gluck as Glerk?

[Serial_Apologist]

Coming soon to a radio near you : "pronounceiation"

Irritable vowel syndrome.

[ahinton]

Irritable vowel syndrome.

I'd have identified that post as yours even had it been anonymous!

And who says that the opposite of consonants is(are?) dissonants?...

[Dave2002]

Isn't "Hunstanton" pronounced as "Hunston" - or perhaps only by locals?

http://www.norfolkdialect.com/villages.htm

Gordon Jacob - COTW. Sorry Donald McC.

[kernelbogey]

My pet hate is posh mezzo-soprano presenters (and many others) who are too lazy to pronounce "oo". They pronounce is in a similar way to the French "u", as in tu, plume, pupitre, lune.

Alas, this seems to be a fashion among many young women now. I've heard it for some time - down south, here, admittedly - and have supposed it to be a kind of homage to 'posh' speech. But definitely on trend.