Miss Pronunciation

Miss Pronunciation XVIII

Miss Pronunciation's Pants on Fire

Now, I only heard this once, and it was from M. Pronunciation, my significant other of ESL stock, but it did make me giggle - so I share it with you as the first Miss Pronunciation of 2013.

The topic matter is now lost in the mists of time, but at one point he came out with "Yes, but he was just a flash in the pants".

I giggled. Hard.

Not in a mocking way. In a "did you just say one of the funniest things ever?" way.

It's a flash in the PAN.

The origin is a topic of debate - was it the flash of gold in a pan that suggested there may be riches, but turned out to be just another hunk o' rock; or was it the gunpowder that ignited when lit, but the bullet never fired?

Anyhoo......I like the idea of a "flash in the pants", and I'm adopting the mispronunciation into my vernacular.




Miss Pronunciation XVII

Miss Pronunciation on Tenderness.....


Nothing like being treated tenderly, but if someone is keeping you on ‘tenderhooks’ they’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

The word is 'tenterhooks' (with a 't') and they are frames for stretching fabric out to stop it from shrinking or creasing while it dries. The meaning, of course, is to be left in a state of agitation while waiting for something uncertain.

To brighten your day - here is a great treatment of tenderness, by Electric Mayhem with the ever magnificent front man, Dr. Teeth.


Miss Pronunciation XVI

Miss Pronunciation Prefers Salads Un-tossed

With so much Margaret Fulton love floating in the air, you may have noticed Miss Pronunciation has a little fixation on food.....

But keeping it healthy, today we're talking salads.

Summer's coming up, and there's nothing nicer that a fresh Niçoise salad ......... there's also nothing nicer than hearing it pronounced correctly: nɪː swɑːz (nee-swaahz).

It can be difficult to adopt words of French origin into an English sentence without sounding a little bit like a tosser..... so go easy on the accent.

Oh, and to avoid toss-dom: book tickets to Margaret Fulton: Queen of the Dessert, or miss out on some really amazing voice work, as well as a look at one amazing trail-blazing woman.
 


Miss Pronunciation XV

Not only has the accepted pronunciation of this word changed over the years, so too has the usage.

We're talking AMATEUR.

It should be pronounced as follows in the most correct form: am-e-te; or (easier to get onto the page in phonetics) æmətə.

Although this is the most correct pronunciation, it certainly would not be incorrect to pronounce it as amat-yure (æmətjə) or if you have a particularly lazy articulators, ama-chure (æmətʃə).

I've often heard the word used as some kind of insult - especially in this industry - however, always remember that the true meaning is that of someone who engages in a pursuit on an unpaid basis and even for the enjoyment and love of said pursuit.

That's pretty much all of us from time to time, no?

 

Miss Pronunciation XIV

Miss Pronunciation Bakes Up A Storm



 Things are hotting up in the kitchen for the opening of Margaret Fulton: Queen of the Dessert and Miss Pronunciation is sticking to the theme.

Her lovely friend and favourite artist, Ms. Lamb - of American-Australian heritage, has queried the following:

Scone - does it rhyme with Joan or John?
 


Both are deemed acceptable; however (yes, there is always an however), were I to be quite precise, in a 1998 poll 65% of British English speakers preferred the John version, with the rest preferring Joan.

Take your pick, Ms. Lamb! Just remember to follow Margaret Fulton’s advice “For soft scones, wrap in a tea towel as soon as they come from oven. For crusty scones, do not wrap, cool slightly on a wire rack”.


Don't miss out on tickets for this stunning show opening soon at Theatre Works. Book Here.

 

Miss Pronunciation XIII

With Compliments from Miss P.

 

This pronunciation quite often crosses my threshold.

It’s one of those tricky American English v. British English pronunciations. A simply four letter word:

WITH

Gen. American prefers wɪθ (unsounded at the end) whilst British English favours carrying the vibe all the way through the word.

For mine, unless you’re playing an American, stick to the vibration (wɪð) especially if you’re just starting to experiment with your voice, as this will assist in maintaining your underpinning resonance.

 

Miss Pronunciation XII

Miss Pronunciation is Tickled Pink!

Here’s one, short and sweet - ticklish.....examine it carefully.....

I know: There’s no sound between the ‘k’ and the ‘l’!

What would lead us to pop one in? Hmmmm? Now, Miss P, is never one to put the spelling before the pronunciation, but here is a clear case of an extra vowel (a schwa) being popped in for jollies.

So instead of being ‘tick-e-lish’,  you’re simply ‘tick-lish’.

 

Miss Pronunciation XI

Please don't hate me for this one.

It’s a pronunciation that simply polarises people.

LIBRARY.

The absolute correct pronunciation is ˈlai-brər-ɪ - that’s right - 3 syllables.

It is awkward to pronounce the two r sounds on either side of the ə in the second syllable which is unstressed and this makes us tend to drop the syllable completely, cutting straight to the third. Doing this IS NOT INCORRECT - it is what we call a reduced pronunciation.

Another thing that is confusing is that in Standard American English, the second syllable is stressed instead of the first (li-BRAR-i  - say it out loud and you’ll hear the difference) and this also tends to change the vowel sound from a schwa (ə) to ɛ or e.

So it’s all really a matter of stress and precision. Either pronunciation is fine for everyday use: as always, be sensitive to the text if you stumble across it and decide which version might be appropriate.

 

Miss Pronunciation X

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.......

...........and Miss Pronunciation is very fond of flashy bijoux, especially the kind that comes from a plastic egg. She much prefers that over Mummy’s boring pearls.....

So I’m focusing on the often mispronounced word ‘JEWELRY’ (U.S) or ‘JEWELLERY’ (B).

Don’t skip straight to the the L making the pronunciation ‘JOOLRY’ - it’s pure laziness and you’re not giving this wonderful, meaty word the weight it deserves.

It can be pronounced properly either of the following ways:

dʒuː ͜  əlrɪ  or (as in British English) dʒuː ͜  ələrɪ. The move from the 'OO' sound to the shwa gives you a lovely little hint of 'w' - almost feels like you're kissing the sound.......

If you want it to remain your best friend, don’t be lazy and give it the respect it deserves......

 

Miss Pronunciation IX

Miss Pronunciation is a Goody Two Choux **

 It was the choice between the potato salad and the.........what? The WHAT? Did you really say that?


Dare I?

The coldslaw.......

I couldn’t work out if I was choosing between a form of herpes or a side dish.

It’s coleslaw - it originally comes from the Dutch “Koolsla” or “Koolsalade” meaning cabbage salad. Taking this into account, one can see how cold might be thrown into the mix.

However, it remains that the correct pronunciation stands without a ‘d’: kɒɫsɫɔː .

**Incidentally, my good and very clever friend Elinor has a theory about the phrase "Goody Two Shoes": in French it is popular to call someone dear to you "Chou Chou" (ʃuː ʃuː)  as in "cabbage" (aaaah, my little cabbage). It's far sexier in a French accent. So someone always dear to or held in favour by another might be labelled a Goody two Choux. I like this explanation.

 

Miss Pronunciation VIII

An Olympic Disaster


McGuire & Co. - it may be that I am forced to watch the Olympics via your hideously over commercialised channel, but I shouldn’t be forced to listen to such slovenly pronunciation.

If one more of your crew describes an olympian's campaign as disas-TER-ous, I’m boycotting.

You’re adding an extra syllable - the word is disastrous (dɪzaːstrəs or dəzaːstrəs).

Quite frankly, I find it disastrous that other more worthy media outlets are having to resort to demonstrating races using LEGO figurines: http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/olympicsnow/la-sp-on-usain-bolt-gold-100-20120807,0,1878460.story




Cute, but a disastrous outcome for an event that is supposed to be for the people.


Miss Pronunciation VII

Miss Pronunciation gets wired.....

I do realise this is the second Miss P. to deal with the art of speaking about coffee - but this is Melbourne after all.

I prefer a flat white, by the way. And, for anyone who wants to take Miss P. out - she prefers a babycino with marshmallows.

However, should you wish to go for a strong brew, you might like a percolated coffee.

And there is is: percolate (pɜ:kəleɪt).

It is not perk-YU-late, as in peculiar.

Take your coffee however you like, but there it is.

 

 Miss Pronunciation VI


This one comes courtesy of my wonderful colleague and friend across the ditch, Kirstie O'Sullivan.

We trained together and I quite possibly learned more about the kind of teacher - and person - I wanted to be from her, than I did through my official training.

Enough of the gushing.

I never forget when I am corrected on pronunciation - and I am always gracious when this happens - how else does one learn?

Remuneration. Read it slowly. Yes. I know it's about numbers, but the M comes BEFORE the N.

Quite often I hear this pronounced as re-NUM-eration (rɪːnjuːməreɪʃən). I did myself until the divine Ms. O. pointed out the fault.

Please. Similar to the post regarding 'UTMOST' - don't manipulate the pronunciation of the word to fit the sense.

It's re-MUN-eration - rɪːmjuːnəreɪʃən.

 

Miss Pronunciation V

Miss Pronunciation with Utmost Respect.......


It was only last week..... it stopped me in my tracks:

- I have the UP-MOST respect for him.

This happens a lot. We change the pronunciation of a word to logically make it fit the meaning.

I have the UTmost respect for this crazy language; thus I throw you this tidbit (or 'titbit' if you're going with the classic British pronunciation):

Please don't replace consonant sounds with others just to please some rational explanation you have regarding a word. This is not a rational language and one cannot attempt to make it so.

Just accept.

Miss P. will continue in this vein next week.......

 

Miss Pronunciation IV

Miss Pronunciation, etc.


Over used and wildly (and widely) mispronounced as EX-SETERA

Yes - this little Latin expression is actually two words:

Et = and
Cetera = the rest

We may have contracted it down to three letters and a punctuation mark in writing (etc.), however it remains:

ET-SETERA (ɛt sɛtərə)

noʊ ɪfs, ændz ɔː bʌts!

 

Miss Pronunciation III

Pronunciation Express


 It’s a coffee driven city, this Lady Melbourne.......

And you might wish to order a coffee.

This in no way gives you the right to ask for an EX-presso.

You might want an ES-presso (ɛsprɛsoʊ).

You might want it fast.

But it still remains an espresso.

That’s all.


Miss Pronunciation II

Miss Pronunciation vs. Miss Chəf


Mischievous - mɪstʃəvəs

Now we all know that  our language is a tricky customer, and using spelling for guidelines can be a dangerous thing. However, I hear people everywhere (including the ABC....shock horror!) pop an entire extra syllable in the middle of this naughty little adjective:

Mis-chee-VI-ous - mɪstʃiːvɪˌəs

Crazy! I was brought up on the latter - my world crumbled when I  discovered the truth of the matter..........but there you are.

Miss Pronunciation I


In honour of my 4 year old offspring, Miss Pronunciation, this is the first in a weekly series of pronunciation mishaps. If you have suggestions or queries, please send them in!

To premiere:

PRONUNCIATION - prənʌntsɪˌeɪʃən


Every week without fail someone asks

- So, you teach pro-noun-ciation?

I politely smile.

- No. That's a very small part of my work......and it's pro-nun-ciation

That's right folks. ProNUNciation.  As in ladies, living in a convent, wearing habits.



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