What Bugs You About The Way...

"Forte" (whether meaning loud in music, or a person's strong point, is always pronounced "fortay" here. Your statement: "For-tay" is a musical term meaning loud. could easily be changed to: "Fort" is a military compound. The fact is, both pronunciations have more than one meaning.

Here, you would indeed be considered odd if you said something such as, "Cooking is not my fort." (Not saying you are odd, Sapper Woody :laugh: ).

 

I have never heard anyone say it like that, with a short first i, as in "with".

 

I think the "filum" is the way people from Eire (The Republic of Ireland) tend to pronounce it.

There is no difference here between the pronunciation of "root" and "route". I think Americans pronce "route" (a journey plan) the same way they (and we) say "rout" (a crushing defeat).

 

When people say "lax"adaisical instead of lackadaisical . I hear it all the time.

 

I think you misunderstand me, David. The word is always spelled "Forte". However there are two words that are spelled the same, but pronounced differently. Not only do they have different meanings, they are different languages. One is pronounced "for-tay", which is an italian word meaning "loud". One is pronounced "fort", which is a french word meaning "strong point".

If I say, "That's not my forte (for-tay)", then I am saying, "That's not my loud." However, if I say "That's not my forte (fort)", then I am saying, "That's not my strong point."

However, no matter how people mean it, they use "for-tay".

 

No, I understood what you were saying. But in my dictionary, the pronunciation of both fortes is given as "for-tay". This must be another of those many differences between British English and American English. :laugh:

God bless you the Christmas and in 2012.

 

Another two that get me are "fith" and "sikth" instead of "fifth" and ""sixth".

 

Either pronunication is acceptable.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forte

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forte

 

It bothers me when someone says "irregardless" instead of "regardless." They are used to mean the same thing, and irregardless is considered nonstandard or incorrect.

 

Whilst we are on wrong words, the term "you know" every few words absolutely drives me around johnny!

My Father could neither read nor write. He would hear someone use a "word" and sure enough that "word" would pop up when Dad spoke regardless of what that "word" meant. It was quite amusing by times, but neither family nor those who worked for him paid any mind and accepted Dad for the man he was. I learned a great deal from him and just got on with life despite improper grammar and spelling used by others.

Cheers, and Happy Christmas,

Jim

 

"I could care less" when they mean "I could not care less?"

 

I get more annoyed at Christmas having to listen to Christmas music.

 

my favorite (fave-or-ite) is the word "ask" .....AXE ....in a sentence, "Did you axe her if she is (a-go-in) to the dance"? :smilewinkgrin:

Answer: No, she ain't a-goin. :laugh:

 

I believe it's Wuss-ter.

 

Yes, I used to think "I could care less" was just a typo, like "than" instead of "then", which crops up from time to time on the BB.

 

When folks say "I couldn't care less" to me, I always respond, "Well, you could care more". This seems to confuse folks for a few seconds, lots of fun.

Off subject, but if you want to have some real fun with people, when they ask you a question, nod your head up and down and say "No", or turn your head from side to side when you say "Yes". This is actually difficult to do, try it and see for yourself. I had a friend that had mastered this, and it completely confuses people. He would nod his head up and down and say "No", and the people would respond, "What did you say?" and he would do it again. Sometimes they would ask him several times what he said. You'll will be amazed how badly this confuses people, lots of fun!

The word "pen" (writing instrument) is difficult for Southerners like myself, we pronounce it "pin". I had to practice a long time to pronounce this subtle difference correctly.