Members rasputin1963 Posted April 8, 2008 Members Share Posted April 8, 2008 I was listening to NPR radio this morning. On came the U.S. Army's General Petraeus. He said, "The situation in Iraq is fradual." He meant "fragile". But he pronounced it to rhyme with "gradual". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duddits Posted April 8, 2008 Members Share Posted April 8, 2008 He meant "fragile". But he pronounced it to rhyme with "gradual". Is it the diphthong that's bothering you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted April 8, 2008 Members Share Posted April 8, 2008 Fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted April 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 8, 2008 Is it the diphthong that's bothering you? It doesn't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 You have to remember the general has been tweaked by a lifetime of having three vowels in a row in his name. Fully 50% of the 8 letters in his name are vowels... How can one expect the poor guy to be unfazed by such a cruel fate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 Hey, it's not just the people on NPR, it's the people with NPR too. During a pledge drive the other day, an announcer for NPR said, "I'd like to give you a primer on how NPR works." Of course, she should have said primer. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jotown Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 Probably a Freudian slip. Fraudual is a comination of "fragile' and "fraudulent'.:poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 My girlfriend frequently uses the word 'flatticism' - - anybody want to guess what it means? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 Hey, it's not just the people on NPR, it's the people with NPR too.During a pledge drive the other day, an announcer for NPR said, "I'd like to give you a primer on how NPR works."Of course, she should have said primer.Best,Geoff Wow. I always thought I was being insufferably pretentious when I made pronounced those two words differently. I had a lot of teachers born in the first decade or two of the 20th century mispronounce the book one, according to M-W. Definitely in the minority. But primer had fallen out of popular use by then, anyway. In the 50s, around here, they seemed to like to call them readers, a la McGuffey's Reader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 My girlfriend frequently uses the word 'flatticism' - - anybody want to guess what it means? A cohesive unit of verbal effluvia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted April 9, 2008 Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 Wow. I always thought I was being insufferably pretentious when I made pronounced those two words differently. I had a lot of teachers born in the first decade or two of the 20th century mispronounce the book one, according to M-W. Definitely in the minority. But primer had fallen out of popular use by then, anyway. In the 50s, around here, they seemed to like to call them readers, a la McGuffey's Reader. If education becomes synonymous with pretension, then we're in trouble. Hey, no one pronounces everything correctly; but it couldn't hurt to try -- especially if you're a teacher! These days, I'm working on my "U"s. For instance, the "U" in duke, tune, and Tuesday should be pronounced the same as the "U" in university; but I used to pronounce those "U"s like "Oohs" (dook, toon, and Toosday). Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 If you need some English classes, call the Mex ( i can teach you what NOT to do ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted April 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 9, 2008 Hey, no one pronounces everything correctly; but it couldn't hurt to try -- especially if you're a teacher! These days, I'm working on my "U"s. For instance, the "U" in duke, tune, and Tuesday should be pronounced the same as the "U" in university; but I used to pronounce those "U"s like "Oohs" (dook, toon, and Toosday). Best, Geoff And good on you. You'll really be living dangerously when you start pronouncing "Wednesday" with three syllables: wed-nz-day One of the supposed signs of the apocalypse in England is the rise of so-called "Estuary English", an accent that has been brewing for the last 30 years or so. It involves otherwise educated and/or middle-class people suddenly abandoning "Reserved English" (the Queen's posh-style accent) and taking on both some Cockney pronunciations as well as a hefty dose of American pronunciations and tendencies. One of these Estuary abominations is pronouncing "Tuesday" not as "TYOOZ-deh" (a trochee) but rather "CHOOZ-DYE" (a spondee). I was listening to an old R&B single yesterday, and realized that I was impressed because the girl pronounced "aren't" with two syllables: are-ent You've been sayin' things about me, sayin' things you know that aren't true... Haven't you? Haven't you? Not only that, she ended "aren't" with a firm, aspirated "T" sound.... and then reiterated the "T" sound on "true". Swoon! Music to my ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vbrook Posted April 10, 2008 Members Share Posted April 10, 2008 My pet peeves are: 1) the extreme misuse of the phrase, "begging the question" 2) Misuse of the word, "ironic" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted April 10, 2008 Members Share Posted April 10, 2008 A cohesive unit of verbal effluvia? We have a winner! I couldn't have said it better myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MarkGifford-1 Posted April 17, 2008 Moderators Share Posted April 17, 2008 nuke-u-lar MG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted April 18, 2008 Members Share Posted April 18, 2008 it goes without saying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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