Strange superiority problem. Every time someone asks a question about the UK, they say, "But in the US ..." as if that was the question.

BTW, flanner, you seriously have never heard of the word "lieu"? (pronounced "loo&quot Now I'm starting to feel superior.

Harry's wellies?

Rather a kinky friend you've got there.

You can take the mickey out of me anytime but leave my appendix alone!

When we lived in Canada, it was interesting asking people to say "Marry", "Mary", "merry", and "Murray". A large number from both Canada and Michigan had the same or very similar pronunciations for the four words.

Another group is the man's name Barry, bury and berry.

In Australia & the UK, the vowels have very different sounds.

Sarvowinner:

If possible, can you spell Mary, marry and merry with the different pronunciations? Murray (more like furry) is the only one that is pronounced differently from the others to my Canadian ear.

Hi N,

>..in Southeastern Massachusetts we call bodies of water ponds that would be called lakes in most places.

A lake has an inlet and an outlet.

A pond has no outlet, sometimes no discernable inlet.

>can you spell Mary, marry and merry

Don't have the phonetic alphabet at hand, but here goes:

Mary: ma as in "mare" eee as in "fini"

marry: ma as in "map" reee

merry: me as in "men" reee

We earlier had a discussion about Harry and hairy, which some folks pronounced identically.

That's nice Ira, tell it to the folks who named all those ponds on Cape Cod, many of which would fit your definition of a lake.

As for pronunciation, it's not only that people say things differently, it's that they hear them differently. I had the pleasure recently of meeting a woman from Scotland who could not hear the difference between my pronunciation of "look" and "shoe", so there was no chance she could pronounce Worcester the way it's said in Massachusetts.

leaving Furryboots on 24th = Leaving Aberdeen on 24th.

Furryboot toon is Aberdeen (it's how they ask where you're from: "Furryboots?&quot

I know this from Rebus books.

How do you think you pronounce these surnames?

Mainwaring

Featherstonehaugh

On rereading, I realize how silly that looks. Of course she could tell the difference between look and shoe, just not the way I pronounced the vowels in them. Sorry, Sheila.

Just to keep the pot boiling:

Years ago (but several years after ring-pull cans came in, the kind where you pulled the tab right off), my father came home and said to my mother in great puzzlement, "I can't understand why so many women seem to be losing the clips off their suspenders in the streets". It took her weeks to work out what he meant.

Oh, and as for the pronuncation of "Mainwaring" - "Don't panic!"

<<
Mary: ma as in "mare" eee as in "fini"

marry: ma as in "map" reee

merry: me as in "men" reee
>>

Okay, I can "hear" the difference for marry. But the "ma" in mare and the "me" in men is the same for me. So, we must pronounce those words differently as well.

J lots of 9's

I wouldn't take anything anyone here says that seriously. If you think we are mean about America, you should see how nasty we can get about each other!

The pronounciation of Lieu, is not necessarily LOO, as discussed above an older pronounciation is LEV, hence LEF; there is also a small towm in England called Beaulieu, pronounced BYOU LEE.

The modern French pronounciation is closer to LYEUH.

Remember that England was French for a few hundred years 1066+, then the "Great Vowel Shift" in the 1500s (?), which is the explanation behind why many words are spelt in a manner that in no way resembles how they are pronounced. COUGH, THROUGH, BOUGH.

Waring - there's a great poem by I-know-not-whom about how to pronounce the San Francisco street named "Gough". They rhyme it in successive stanzas with bough, through, enough, though, cough, dough, etc.

Hi N,

>..tell it to the folks who named all those ponds on Cape Cod, many of which would fit your definition of a lake.<

>How do you think you pronounce these surnames?

Well, *I* pronounce Featherstonehaugh, Fenshaw, because I read PG Wodehouse.

"His name is "Moom".
"Moom"?
"Yes. It is spelled "Moffam", but it is pronounced Moom, to rhyme with "Bluffingham".

Hi SD,
>But the "ma" in mare and the "me" in men is the same for me.<

My Lady Wife is wondering why I have been sitting here going "ma" (as in map) and "me" (as in men).

For merry, my tongue is forward and touches the top of my lower incisors.

For Mary, my tongue is pulled slightly back and touches the base of the jaw below the incisors.

>there is also a small towm in England called Beaulieu, pronounced BYOU LEE.

The modern French pronounciation is closer to LYEUH.<

The folks who own the vineyards have a place in Florida. They pronounce their name Boy' oh. Americanization?

"Mary" - the vowel sound is drawn out;
"merry" - a short 'e', as in 'get'.

BTW, judging by this thread, mis-spelling "pronunciation" as "pronounciation" must be a trans-Atlantic problem....

Mary - like in "airy" as Neil says, it's more drawn out.

ShelliDawn to your ear would "airy" and "terry" be perfect rhymes?

When we moved to Windsor, Ontario in 1969, people would say there were going to "Peary" St for late night shopping. Mum & I kept looking for this major shopping street but couldn't find it anywhere. We finally realises it was Pierre St. They also pronounced Baby Street as "Bobby" Street.

Oops - spell and grammar check needed

When we moved to Windsor, Ontario in 1969, people would say they were going to "Peary" St for late night shopping. Mum & I kept looking for this major shopping street but couldn't find it anywhere. We finally realised it was Pierre St. They also pronounced Baby Street as "Bobby" Street.

Sarvowinner:

<<
ShelliDawn to your ear would "airy" and "terry" be perfect rhymes?
>>

Yep!

ShelliDawn

There we go

j_999_9 "BTW, flanner, you seriously have never heard of the word "lieu"? (pronounced "loo&quot Now I'm starting to feel superior."

Lieu - as in "in lieu of" ? - from my southern English perspective this is pronounced almost as "Lee oo" although not as obviously two syllables. whereas "loo" would be a form of toilet as in "Excuse me, is there a loo around here?"