Pedants' Paradise

[Pabmusic]

.. surely it's "samwidge".


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Indeed. Why can't people get it right?

[jean]

...and of course we have even changed the spelling to reflect the pronunciation of "and per se and" as "ampersand" ...

I never knew!

I rather like the alternative ampussy and, which preserves one more syllable of the original.

[vinteuil]

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... and isn't Cornwall actually "Cormwall"?

What does our Kernow denizen think?

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[french frank]

... as also "Sambanks" for Sandbanks

As one would expect from the phonetics: the nasal dental n is articulated as the nasal labial m in anticipation of the following labial b; the dental 'd' in between the two gets lost. Sandwich is similar because the 'w' sound is also labial.

I think … is there a phonetician in the house?

sandbanks > sambanks is dn [n] + d [d] + l [b] > ln [m] + l [b]

[Sir Velo]

Who knew?

[french frank]

Who knew?

Not directed at moi, I trust?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My son corrected me on the pronunciation of Wednesday, when he was four years old and learning to read. I've pronounced it correctly ever since. As for the OED ... it may just be reflecting common misusage.

[vinteuil]

My son corrected me on the pronunciation of Wednesday, when he was four years old and learning to read. I've pronounced it correctly ever since. As for the OED ... it may just be reflecting common misusage.

... one of the most frequent sources of mispronunciation is when people start learning to read. If, previously, you had said "wenzdi", and your four year old son, influenced by his learning to read, had 'told you' that it "should" be 'wed-nes-day' - well - you had been right - and he was wrong.


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[Pulcinella]

... one of the most frequent sources of mispronunciation is when people start learning to read. If, previously, you had said "wenzdi", and your four year old son, influenced by his learning to read, had 'told you' that it "should" be 'wed-nes-day' - well - you had been right - and he was wrong.


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Wrong on whose say-so, vinty?
Dictionaries reflect usage, not correctness.
Just because the OED doesn't report the pronunciation I and Alpie's son use doesn't make it wrong!

[vinteuil]

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... there ain't no "correctness" other than usage.


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[Pulcinella]

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... there ain't no "correctness" other than usage.


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Exactly, so I don't see why Alpie's son was 'wrong' (aka incorrect!).
Non-standard, perhaps, but then I always like to be different!

[vinteuil]

Exactly, so I don't see why Alpie's son was 'wrong' (aka incorrect!).
Non-standard, perhaps, but then I always like to be different!

... some people actually pronounce 'victuals' as 'victuals'. I blame (my hero) Saml: Johnson




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[Lat-Literal]

... some people actually pronounce 'victuals' as 'victuals'. I blame (my hero) Saml: Johnson




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Actually pronounce or pronounce?

(I can only assume that everyone other than me enjoys "saze" - how odd)

[vinteuil]

(I can only assume that everyone other than me enjoys "saze" - how odd)

... I think "saze" is regional. It is not in my idiolect, and, yes, for me it grates.


Another thing which grates for me is the pronunciation of 'saint' in its strong form even when used as an adjunct - St Anne's, St Martin-in-the-Fields. For me these uses require an unstressed schwa /sənt anz/. If that. - /sntanz/ wd be fine... But not /seint anz/


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[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

(I can only assume that everyone other than me enjoys "saze" - how odd)

Well, in the same way that "days" is pronounced "daze" - why not?