English Words You've Heard Mangled

[Psykoma]

A few that I can think of

- My economics professor in high school would pronounce robots as row-butts
- My friend would pronounce scarcity as skar-city
- One that came up in one of my group homework assignments - Sulfonylurea (it's a class of diabetes drugs), but this one is a bit excusable, they just all gave up and called is solfos.
- I don't thing it technically qualifies as an english word, but my name is Kristen, and to every french-mother tongue person I know, I'm officially Christine, Christina or in one odd case Kirstine...

 

[BeeGeenie]

Actually, English is descended from German, not French. Different roots. The reason English is so messed up is that a few busybodies in the 1700s decided that English needed a standard set of grammar rules. Unfortunately, they chose the rules for French grammar to develop the English rules from, not the Germanic rules whic actually would have made sense given that English is Germanic in origin! /pedantic nitpicking

Actually, English is derived from both French and German (and more)... being ruled by Romans, Angles, Saxons, Normans, Scots, Dutch, Hanoverians... and Saxons once again rather does that to a language. It would be a fair point that English is a 'West Germanic' language at its core, but it's thoroughly infiltrated with Romance vocabulary and lingual conventions that it doesn't really make much of a difference. The thing is, you can't really say that English is 'descended from German' as that would depend on your definition of 'German'. Hochdeutsch as we know it has only been prevalent for about a hundred and fifty years in what we now know as Germany. Before that, vernacular, regional and colloquial German had as little bearing on Prussian German as Spanish did to French (similar, but by no means mutually intelligible). Directly, English is associated best with Frisian, Scots and (predictably) Middle English. Lingual evolution is best looked south (i.e. Latin/Greek) rather than east (i.e. the pre-cursors to Allemannic German and the various Low/High German dialects).

Oddly, in all of this, the Danes are left out, since Angeln (the ultimate root of the label 'English') is in modern-day lower-Schleswig! Yet Danish is obviously non-Anglo-Frisian, ironically.

Any idea why there is so little Danish influence on the English language? Considering there was a series of Danish kings of England I would expect significantly more. Then again they were invaded by the Danes former allies, the french-speaking Normans before they got too good a grip on it.

Just off the top of my head, I'd say it could be because there were just so many different Germanic dialects all arriving at the same time. Also, the vast majority of Germanic settlers were male. They took wives from the local population, so the children would have spoken a mish-mash of Brythonic/danish/saxon/anglo pidgins. Blend them all together and you get a generic germanic... thing.

Also, the thing about French is that it's also been heavily Germanicized compared to the other Romance languages: French and Germany are right next to each other, they spent a lot of time together, also, the Franks were Germans. For that reason, English is the most Romantic German language, and French is the most Germanic of the Romance Languages.
And as Davidmc and SckizoBoy pointed out, French and Latin both entered English twice: in the Roman and Norman conquests respectively (though Rome was before the Germanic conquest, and as such had very little impact), and again when the self loathing intellectuals became convinced that Romanticism was the best thing EVAR!

I'd be more interested to know why the Brythonic languages didn't have a bigger impact.

 

[omega 616]

Oh, I thought of another one!

Iraq, do Americans think this place is made by apple? "I-rack"? I notice they run as well, by which I mean they say "I-ran", where to?

I have no idea how to phonetically say the I for both these places but it's the way you start off saying "idiot" (I don't mean anything by choosing the word idiot)

 

[loc978]

Oh, I thought of another one!

Iraq, do Americans think this place is made by apple? "I-rack"? I notice they run as well, by which I mean they say "I-ran", where to?

One way you've got an Apple product, the other you've got an electronic rock, or a cyborg named Ron (phonetically, they're ee-rok and ee-ron). I think the Apple products make for a funnier skit [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE].

...but I still pronounce 'em the boring, correct way.

 

[Shifty]

Im irish, often thanks to our accent we do not pronounce "th"

Three becomes tree
There becomes dere
These becomes dese... etc etc.

 

[samuraiweasel]

Ha, ask anyone not from England to pronounce Leicester. I dare you.

 

[Lonewolfm16]

Actually, English is descended from German, not French. Different roots. The reason English is so messed up is that a few busybodies in the 1700s decided that English needed a standard set of grammar rules. Unfortunately, they chose the rules for French grammar to develop the English rules from, not the Germanic rules whic actually would have made sense given that English is Germanic in origin! /pedantic nitpicking

Actually, English is derived from both French and German (and more)... being ruled by Romans, Angles, Saxons, Normans, Scots, Dutch, Hanoverians... and Saxons once again rather does that to a language. It would be a fair point that English is a 'West Germanic' language at its core, but it's thoroughly infiltrated with Romance vocabulary and lingual conventions that it doesn't really make much of a difference. The thing is, you can't really say that English is 'descended from German' as that would depend on your definition of 'German'. Hochdeutsch as we know it has only been prevalent for about a hundred and fifty years in what we now know as Germany. Before that, vernacular, regional and colloquial German had as little bearing on Prussian German as Spanish did to French (similar, but by no means mutually intelligible). Directly, English is associated best with Frisian, Scots and (predictably) Middle English. Lingual evolution is best looked south (i.e. Latin/Greek) rather than east (i.e. the pre-cursors to Allemannic German and the various Low/High German dialects).

Oddly, in all of this, the Danes are left out, since Angeln (the ultimate root of the label 'English') is in modern-day lower-Schleswig! Yet Danish is obviously non-Anglo-Frisian, ironically.

Any idea why there is so little Danish influence on the English language? Considering there was a series of Danish kings of England I would expect significantly more. Then again they were invaded by the Danes former allies, the french-speaking Normans before they got too good a grip on it.

Just off the top of my head, I'd say it could be because there were just so many different Germanic dialects all arriving at the same time. Also, the vast majority of Germanic settlers were male. They took wives from the local population, so the children would have spoken a mish-mash of Brythonic/danish/saxon/anglo pidgins. Blend them all together and you get a generic germanic... thing.

Also, the thing about French is that it's also been heavily Germanicized compared to the other Romance languages: French and Germany are right next to each other, they spent a lot of time together, also, the Franks were Germans. For that reason, English is the most Romantic German language, and French is the most Germanic of the Romance Languages.
And as Davidmc and SckizoBoy pointed out, French and Latin both entered English twice: in the Roman and Norman conquests respectively (though Rome was before the Germanic conquest, and as such had very little impact), and again when the self loathing intellectuals became convinced that Romanticism was the best thing EVAR!

I'd be more interested to know why the Brythonic languages didn't have a bigger impact.

Makes sense. Especially since the Danelaw was always a bit removed from the rest of England until its reconquest by Athelstan (I am pretty sure it was Athelstan but I could be wrong.) And the French thing also makes sense, especially since France and Germany are both in some way descended from Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire.

 

[bojackx]

While we're on French words, "voila". Gods dammit, stop pronouncing this "wallah". That one is a major pet peeve of mine.

This, massively. Also "per say" instead of "per se".

Other than that, my brother (16 years old) has only just started using the "th" sound. Until very recently, it's been "one, two, free", or "Margaret Fatcher." Seriously, 16 years old.

Oh, and people who put "defiantly" when they mean "definitely", or say "skellington" instead of skeleton, "clift" instead of cliff and "demond" instead of demon.

 

[R.Nevermore]

When people say Car-mul' instead of Caramel it makes me want to hit them in the nose

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Ha, ask anyone not from England to pronounce Leicester. I dare you.

alright, let me see if my wee american brain can handle this...

i'm gonna guess the c is silent? so that would make the i also not matter...

less-ter?

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

The amount of Britishness in this thread is making me want to throw some tea in the ocean...

OT:
Gauss.

No one seems to have any clue as to whether it's "Gow-s" or "Gaw-s"

I've had fucking English teachers say it opposing ways.

However, since Gow-s sounds retarded, I always say it Gaw's

 

[Bestival]

My sister toldme once that she saw this Angelina Jolie movie during a flight that she really liked.
It was called "Ching-a-ling".

I'm not even joking.

 

[ShogunGino]

Ha, ask anyone not from England to pronounce Leicester. I dare you.

Hmmm... 'lace-cher'? 'Lace" as in the fabric?

 

[Mr.PlanetEater]

I like the part where everyone in this thread would rage on the olde English for their pronunciation and spelling. That said, it's 'creek' not 'crick' you south-west American hillbillies*


*Disclaimer: I hail from these parts so it's cool if I say that term**

**Disclaimer: Fellow south-west Americans please don't disown me. ;-;

 

[freakonaleash]

-snip-

-snip-

Yeah but Foy-eh and aluminium sound stupid

If you can speak English, you can speak French. Both are from the same root language, anyway. Spanish, Italian, and a couple dozen other languages. All similar. I don't know more than a word or two of Spanish or Italian, but I can guess at how they're supposed to be pronounced. I also haven't taken French since about the 8th grade, but I can still pronounce some words properly.

How does foy-er sound better than foih-eh? It sounds like someone from Boston saying "Fire". It's a french word for entry room. If you can't say it properly, call it an entrance room. Or something.

Do you mean as in they are all related in one way or another to latin? I don't think you mean they are similar in grammar and pronunciation, because french pronunciation is much different than English, and Spanish grammar is a bit different than English.

 

[Benny Blanco]

If you can speak English, you can speak French. Both are from the same root language, anyway. Spanish, Italian, and a couple dozen other languages. All similar. I don't know more than a word or two of Spanish or Italian, but I can guess at how they're supposed to be pronounced. I also haven't taken French since about the 8th grade, but I can still pronounce some words properly.

Actually, English is descended from German, not French. Different roots. The reason English is so messed up is that a few busybodies in the 1700s decided that English needed a standard set of grammar rules. Unfortunately, they chose the rules for French grammar to develop the English rules from, not the Germanic rules whic actually would have made sense given that English is Germanic in origin!

It's sort of both, as it happens. Technically it WAS a *mostly* Germanic language until the Norman Conquest, (centuries of Roman rule notwithstanding) but a few centuries of Anglo-French diaglossia (the use of two separate languages for different purposes and with different implicit statuses) warped it a lot. Even now you can detect that diaglossia in the division between "posh" words and their "vulgar" alternatives: the former are from Greek, Latin or French, whilst the latter are Germanic. Although there are Celtic words as well as words of other origins.

Also, note I said "Germanic" not "German". Anglo-Saxons and their ilk may have come from modern-day Germany, Holland and Scandinavia but they did not speak "German".

Ha, ask anyone not from England to pronounce Leicester. I dare you.

alright, let me see if my wee american brain can handle this...

i'm gonna guess the c is silent? so that would make the i also not matter...

less-ter?

Good man! Now try this one: "Loughborough is in Leicestershire."

The amount of Britishness in this thread is making me want to throw some tea in the ocean...

It's called "English", not American. Also, you have a British guy as your Avatar.

Getting back on topic, the oddest mangling I can remember recently was someone describing an acquaintance on the phone as "self-deployed". Presumably she's an independent Private Military contractor...

 

[Kitty4President]

You know the word "Chimera"?

For years I thought it was pronounced "Chai-murr-ah" (no, I don't know how I got that either). Then one day while playing WoW with 3 friends, one corrected me and claimed it was pronounced "Chee-mu-rah". Then another one cut into the conversation and told us it was "Shim-mur-ah". Finally the last friend stated that it was "Chee-Meir-ah". Then we spent the next half an hour arguing about it.

I still don't know how you pronounce it properly. :/

 

[Para199x]

I think the one I hate the most (as I'm in Manchester for university) is how people from Lancashire in general say tongue as "tongggggg" and not as "tung".

 

[Colour Scientist]

Im irish, often thanks to our accent we do not pronounce "th"

Three becomes tree
There becomes dere
These becomes dese... etc etc.

Dem, dat, dese and dose.

OP: My boyfriend makes fun of me for saying nuc-u-lar all the time. I know how it's supposed to sound but it just kind of comes out.

I also remember a person working in GameStop pronouncing Deus Ex as " Jew sex" but that's not English.