What Bugs You About The Way...

You may be correct, but I have heard people say Woo-ster, and some say Were-ster, and then still others say it Wuss-ter as you have said.

But thanks, maybe you are correct.

 

That's certainly how the original (UK) Worcester is pronounced (assuming you meant the sound of the first syllable = the pronunciation of the offensive term that deliberately insults somebody regarded as weak or ineffectual!)

 

Perhaps they are getting muddled up with "irrespective"!

 

Was it? I don't remember back that far. :laugh: Professor John Wells of University College, London, is of the opinion that "axe" for "ask" used to be restricted to quaint, rural dialects, but now has become an urban black characteristic.

 

Never heard "I might could".

I do hear redundant words in the form of double negatives sometimes, like: "I ain't done nuffink" = "I haven't done nothing".

 

Coverdale Bible, Matt. 7:7

How quaint.
How rural.

 

OK, that pretty much settles it for me. Wuss-ter it is!

Thank you both, now I would love someone to tell me the proper way to say New Orleans, hopefully someone who lives there or nearby.

 

I have heard people say Al-blum for album, that one irritates me.

When I was a boy in Florida, we had a kid who moved in our neighborhood from Bah-stun (Boston), we were forever ribbing him for the way he pronounced words. He would say Cah for car.

 

You are right, Jerome. (Incidentally, the words "quaint, rural dialects," were a quote from Professor Wells, so I should have put them in speech marks. Sorry!)

An online etymolgical dictionary says: "Modern dialectal ax is as old as O.E. acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c.1600." That would explain why not only Coverdale, but Matthew, Tyndale and Wycliffe too, spelt it "axe".

Apologies once again!

 

There are a lot of things that bug me about the way people talk--the use of "ain't" which isn't a word, the use of double and triple negatives. Saying "I ain't never going to do that again" means that the person intends to do it again rather than what they intended it to mean. Saying "I could care less" means that they care and could care less than they do, instead of saying "I couldn't care less" if what they mean is they don't care AT ALL.

 

I don't like "ain't" either, but surely it is a contraction of "am not" or "are not", just as your "isn't" is a contraction of "is not", and my "don't" of "do not". I'm (= "I am" ) not sure where the i in "ain't" comes from - in fact Charles Dickens spelt it "an't."

I agree.

I'd (= "I had" :laugh never come across the expression, "I could care less" before seeing it on the Baptist Board. There is a thread about could/couldn't care less here.

 

So much of this is obviously a matter of dialect. I think every dialect has its flaws and errors.

One of my favourites is from Tallaght, a large community in South Dublin.

For 'I didn't do anything' you hear 'I didn't do a-in' (with a short a sound).

And as was mentioned earlier most Irish do say fil-um for film when taking about a move, but old film for a camera is still film. Even stranger 'cling film' is pronounced like the movie word.

 

When I first went to Chicago, had a two bedroom flat. A young lady arrived late and nowhere to stay. I offered to "bed her" for the night and she slapped my face. Another English bloke informed her I was just offering her a place to stay the night. She apologized, and I learned a new language.

I did have trouble with "chesterfields" though.We sat on those pieces of furniture and Americans "smoked" them.

Cheers,

Jim

 

One of my poor children has a VERY hard time keeping a straight face with one of her teachers.

The problem? That southern style drawl that turns even two syllable words into fifty syllables.

So when the teacher gets mad and says "y'all better git busy and quit bein' chatty or I'll give you a guh-rate big essay that will be due on Waynesday," she has to fight to not fall off her chair laughing.

Of course, daughter gets her share of ribbing too when she doesn't bother to hide her valley girl speech styling. I did catch my oldest using a few distinctly southern style pronunciations as of late. We're considering holding an intervention. :laugh: