Oh, the Brits do it too

Post #5,400 by drewk 8/16/01 9:36:21 AM Reply	Oh, the Brits do it too Of course their specialty is French names. I knew someone who went to England and had to find an address on Beauchamps street. Anyone who cares would know that is pronounced [Bo (long o) shahm'] as the French intended. After asking a half-dozen people who didn't recognize it, she showed the written name to someone. "Oh, you want [Bee' chum] street." She told me that every French street name was also horribly mangled. This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Post #5,427 by Fearless Freep 8/16/01 12:16:23 PM Reply	And Mexicans It's interesting to live down here near the border. I get to hear the way that people with Spanish as a first language just totally butcher English names (and Frnch names, for that matter) and pronunciation of English in general. But they try to get it right. I also get to hear a lot of English speakers try to pronounce Spanish names and words in general. Most try to get it right, but don't quite get it. They make a good effort, including the tilde on "n", the rolling "r" and "rr", the "ll' as "ya" and the "b" as "v". The "intenional mispronunciation" that Ashton claims is just nonsense. The languages collide culturally and both sides try to make it work properly Hardest part I've run into with language is when I used to travel a lot and would run into proper named from English (or Italian, IIRC) with a "ll" and I had to work very hard not to pronounce it like Spanish because I'm so accustomed to using Spanish pronunciations. Jay O'Connor "Going places unmapped to do things unplanned to people unsuspecting"
Post #5,435 by a6l6e6x 8/16/01 1:24:00 PM Reply	Not only how words are said, but which words are used. You made me think of Hispanic waitress at a breakfast in a motel in Harrisburg, PA. My wife and I and another couple were placing our order. The waitress pulled out a tissue, wiped her nose, and said "Excuse me, but I'm constipated this morning." Of course we knew what she meant, but snickered after she left. Either she caught on to our amusement, or realized on her own that she used the wrong word. She came back and said "I'm sorry, I should have said congested. We say a word like the other word in Spanish." So, even a word with a common Latin root can trip you up. Alex Only two things are certain: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not certain about the universe. -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

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