Mis -pronounced names

[glenrobbo]

wildcat45 said:

My old man used to pronounce the 'T' in sorbet claiming it was the correct pronounciatuon because sorbet was - I think - a Turkish word.

I think he did it to be difficult and to embarrass us is restauraunts.

Anyone know if he was right?

Çorbasi ( pron. shore base ee ) is Turkish for "soup".
I don't know of a Turkish word "sorbet", but I'm not an expert.

[Johnnytheboy]

Near my dad's house is the village of Puncknowle.

Pronounced 'Punnle'.

One I genuinely don't know: how is Wisbech pronounced? i.e. is it like beech, bech, or beck?

[lufbramatt]

Wikipedia to the rescue...

wikipedia said:

The word "sorbet" is derived from the Arabic word "Sharbat" (fragrant mashed fruit drink).[1] However, the root is present in such Indo-European languages as Greek and Persian for example.[2] The English word "sherbet" entered English directly from the Turkish in the early 17th century.

[theboss]

peter tdci said:

Fastchas said:

I've heard this is because it's Belgian, rather than French. Is that right?

A Dutch origin, I thought.

Many times I've been 'corrected' when buying Duvel 'doo-vul' by others who pronounce it 'doo-velle'. Maybe thats how it sounds in Wallonia but it helps to appreciate that the product and its name are both Flemish.

[Mammasaid]

hurstg01 said:

My wife swore blind that Tarmac's elongated name was Tar-Mack-a-Dam and not tarma-kadum (sp)

And she's right, as it's Tar bound MacAdam pavement i.e. Tar-Mac-Adam HTH

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadam#Tar-bound_ma...

[colin_p]

Quiche - I say Kwitch or "poncy egg flan", Wifes Dad used to say Quincey. It most certainly should not be Keesh !

Don't drive a rag top coo-pay wearing a too-pay !

[Tam_Mullen]

simoid said:

GroundEffect said:

Milngavie = Miln-Guy

Miln!? Mull, Shirley.

Another Scottish place name,

Finzean pro. Fing in

[Ikemi]

Enter the world of luxury watches ...

TAG Heuer - Tag Hoy-er
Hublot - Who blow
Audemars Piguet - Au-der-mars Pee-jay

... and so forth.

[Cyder]

mrtwisty said:

knotweed said:

At work one of our clients has the surname Beauchamp.

My colleague phoned them the other week and asked to speak to "Boo-champ"

Beecham (I think)

Anyone care to have a try at Woolfardisworthy?

Yeah Woolsery.

Aveton Gifford anyone?

[Hugo a Gogo]

theboss said:

peter tdci said:

Fastchas said:

I've heard this is because it's Belgian, rather than French. Is that right?

A Dutch origin, I thought.

Many times I've been 'corrected' when buying Duvel 'doo-vul' by others who pronounce it 'doo-velle'. Maybe thats how it sounds in Wallonia but it helps to appreciate that the product and its name are both Flemish.

Oranjeboom and Hoegaarden are popularly mangled too

[kowalski655]

Or an American one-Talliafero

pronounced Tolliver apparently

Eric Mc said:

kowalski655 said:

For years I pronounced Portakabin as Por-Tacker-bin, rather than porter-cabin

Where are you getting "Porter" from.

It's "port - a".

I was trying to write it as it's pronounced

[LeighW]

Nuclear. So many people pronounce it as 'newkyiller', and it annoys me far more than it should. George 'dubya' Bush jr used to say it, and he really should have know better.

[IanCress]

A guy I worked with made the mistake of ringing up and asking for Mrs Onion, when her actual name was Mrs O'Nion.

[IanCress]

LeighW said:

Nuclear. So many people pronounce it as 'newkyiller', and it annoys me far more than it should. George 'dubya' Bush jr used to say it, and he really should have know better.

And of course, Homer Simpson.

[LordGrover]

IanCress said:

A guy I worked with made the mistake of ringing up and asking for Mrs Onion, when her actual name was Mrs O'Nion.

We used to have a rep named Don O'nion - he was always donny onions to us.

[boyse7en]

mrtwisty said:

Anyone care to have a try at Woolfardisworthy?

Easy...

But I am about 4 miles down the road from there

I like the fact that the pronunciation is so different to the spelling, even the road signs have the phonetic spelling underneath in small letters to help the grockles

Edited by boyse7en on Tuesday 29th November 14:23

[anonymous-user]

Eric Mc said:

The real Irish for John is actually "Owen" (Euan in Welsh and Ian in Scotland).

Iain actually

[MikeT66]

wolfracesonic said:

A thread based on a suggestion by Evangelion in the 'Classics from the Mrs'; names you aren't certain about the pronunciation of or ones that grate when others get them wrong. I'll put forward Knipex, purveyors of fine German tools. I had it in my head it was nipe-ex though I've heard it referred to as nippex and K-nippex on You tube vids Knipex. What's your pronunciation bete-noir?

Funnily enough, I reckon Bryan Ferry's Bête-Noir album is always a classic beattie no-higher.

[Shakermaker]

Bologna, is not just a town in Italy.

Apparently, it is the spelling of a word I had only ever heard spoken before on American TV and had assumed was "Baloney" as in, the name of a low-quality meat product used as an example of something being crap.

[Einion Yrth]

Tam_Mullen said:

Another Scottish place name,

Finzean pro. Fing in

It's not really a Zed, it's a Yogh; thus makes perfect sense