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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder why.. (brace yourself)

696 replies

BackAgainSlimLady · 24/02/2025 12:29

Single cucumbers from the supermarket come wrapped in plastic.. but single courgettes don’t?

if you ask me.. courgettes have a slightly more fragile skin that cucumber.. so why the lack of protection?

OP posts:
IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle · 26/02/2025 18:19

gotmyknickersinatwist · 26/02/2025 17:45

I've been pronouncing it 'knob' all these years 😳

"Knob" would be correct- "nob" just means a posh person.

But there's nothing knobbish about a Brtitsh person using the correct pronounciation for a loch.

Redheadedstepchild · 26/02/2025 18:10

"I'm going to go out on a ledge here..."
"Bit of a one trip pony."

gotmyknickersinatwist · 26/02/2025 17:45

Bigearringsbigsmile · 26/02/2025 10:30

I think most English people CAN say Loch the Scottish way but don't because they'd sound like a wanker.
It's like English people saying pi-aya instead of pie-ella or choreeetho instead of chorizo.
You can say it but you'll soubd like a nob

I've been pronouncing it 'knob' all these years 😳

gotmyknickersinatwist · 26/02/2025 17:42

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 09:39

So close, but the point of the Bach thing is that it's not pronounced Bahk! The ch is like the ch in loch, which is not pronounced like lock. It's a "back of the throat" sound, a bit like the start of a French word beginning with "r" (not quite the same but you do the same sort of thing with your tongue to make the sound)

Yeah, you expect to get a bit of phlegm out when you say it

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 26/02/2025 17:39

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

Because they're called courgettes here?! Omg open your mind.

gotmyknickersinatwist · 26/02/2025 17:37

miIIicant · 26/02/2025 12:55

Thing is I've never met an English person who can say loch properly, nor Irish. Not sure about Welsh.

Can Scottish people pronounce lough properly? 🤔

Shodan · 26/02/2025 16:40

miIIicant · 26/02/2025 12:55

Thing is I've never met an English person who can say loch properly, nor Irish. Not sure about Welsh.

Some Welsh heritage here and my mother used to own a cottage near Cei Bach. I assume (or am hoping!) that the ending of loch is pronounced similarly to the ending of bach?

That's how I say loch anyway. And, obvs, Bach.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 26/02/2025 16:25

Conniebygaslight · 26/02/2025 15:32

I used to live there, never got my head around that at all.

Because Manchester used to be where linens were produced.

www.reuters.com/article/world/australian-lexicon-can-leave-you-a-few-roos-loose-idUSSYD139515/#:~:text=Setting%20up%20home%20in%20Australia,bedding%20for%20Australia's%20early%20settlers.

rosemarble · 26/02/2025 15:37

BMW6 · 26/02/2025 15:19

Wrong!

Just desserts is when you go to a restaurant after a show in the evening. The waiter ask what you'd like and you say "just desserts" ie you just want a pudding.

Just deserts is when you get what's coming to you.

Mumtobabyhavoc · 26/02/2025 15:35

T1Dmama · 26/02/2025 08:17

Anyway… I’m thinking they protect a cucumber because it’s cut and used where as courgette is cooked killing off germs from being touched

It's to keep moisture in, oxygen out and protect from damage all due to it's thinner skin.
I Googled. 🤓

Conniebygaslight · 26/02/2025 15:32

squishee · 25/02/2025 21:50

Not only that... Here in Aus, confectionery items are called lollies and bedding is called Manchester.

I used to live there, never got my head around that at all.

BMW6 · 26/02/2025 15:19

LackOfSleepCBA · 26/02/2025 14:19

The wording was already correct = just desserts

Just deserts (just sandy places) is incorrect

Facepalm.....

Wrong!

Toolatenotdone · 26/02/2025 14:29

miIIicant · 26/02/2025 12:55

Thing is I've never met an English person who can say loch properly, nor Irish. Not sure about Welsh.

Native or fluent Irish speakers will say loch properly in Irish.

It mightn’t sound exactly the same as loch in Scottish Gaelic but it’s equally correct. Most Irish people aren’t fluent speakers of Irish though…so whether you’ll hear the correct sound depends on who you’re talking to.

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 14:28

LackOfSleepCBA · 26/02/2025 14:19

The wording was already correct = just desserts

Just deserts (just sandy places) is incorrect

Facepalm.....

Jesus, Mary and the wee donkey, this thread is like whack-a-mole...

It's just deserts. It really is. Said like just desserts, but spelt deserts. Here's why:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/just-deserts-or-just-desserts

LackOfSleepCBA · 26/02/2025 14:19

Crunchymum · 24/02/2025 13:01

Courgette

(and it's "just deserts" not desserts - sorry!!)

Edited

The wording was already correct = just desserts

Just deserts (just sandy places) is incorrect

Facepalm.....

InveterateWineDrinker · 26/02/2025 13:26

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 13:05

It's OK if they can't (since it's not a sound that exists in "English English") but they don't sound like a "wanker" or a "nob" (as a pp suggested) if they can and do.

Many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I was in an audience of schoolchildren listening to a speech by Leon Brittain, then EU Commissioner and Vice President of the EU (and subject of various unproven allegations). Because of my background - I speak passable Afrikaans - I had a question 'planted' on me by the organisers because I could pronounce Maastricht in the proper Dutch fashion.

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 13:05

miIIicant · 26/02/2025 12:55

Thing is I've never met an English person who can say loch properly, nor Irish. Not sure about Welsh.

It's OK if they can't (since it's not a sound that exists in "English English") but they don't sound like a "wanker" or a "nob" (as a pp suggested) if they can and do.

Wingedharpy · 26/02/2025 12:59

Buy the lovely mini cucumbers instead.
Longer life.
No plastic condom to faff with.

Dreamskies · 26/02/2025 12:57

BarnacleBeasley · 24/02/2025 12:31

I think it's because people use the whole courgette at once, and often buy more than one. Whereas you might want to keep the cucumber for longer and just eat a bit at a time.

I threw out half a courgette only a day or so ago, so they’ve got that completely wrong lol

miIIicant · 26/02/2025 12:55

IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle · 26/02/2025 12:50

Agreed. There's no more reason for a British person to not use the correct pronounciation for "loch" than for any other UK name or place name.

Edited

Thing is I've never met an English person who can say loch properly, nor Irish. Not sure about Welsh.

IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle · 26/02/2025 12:50

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 10:42

I get what you mean about paella etc (special bonus points to people who do it when they can't actually speak any Spanish Confused) but we'll have to agree to disagree about a British person sounding like a "wanker" for pronouncing a British word correctly. It's fine.

(The person on the other thread that made me think of it though that the ch in loch was pronounced like in arch, BTW, so unless I am missing something about how arch is said in some British accents, I'm not convinced that most people south of the border do know how to pronounce it!).

Agreed. There's no more reason for a British person to not use the correct pronounciation for "loch" than for any other UK name or place name.

rosemarble · 26/02/2025 11:20

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 11:15

A family friend works in head office at Lidl so I had heard of them before they became big in the UK and have always pronounced it Leedul (they themselves gave up on that pronunciation in the UK when they realised that most people don't pronounce it the German way and that they could make a pun with "liddle"/"little"). I'm set in my ways now and don't care if some people think that makes me sound like a nob! (Ikea call themselves i-kay-uh in their TV ads but everyone here calls it eye-key-uh).

Ah yes....I knew of Lidl (in Germany) many, many years before it came over here (or at least where I live). I think I'd erased the German pronunciation by then.

MegTheForgetfulCat · 26/02/2025 11:15

rosemarble · 26/02/2025 11:00

This reminds me of when I moved back to the UK having lived in Germany for a couple of years. At that time (early 90s) Ikea was popular in Germany. They pronounce it ee-kay-uh.
I moved back home, and Ikea's started popping up and because I'd learnt of it while I was abroad I'd pronounce it ee-kay-uh rather than eye-kee-uh and sound like a bit of a nob.

ee-kay-uh is correct as I understand.

I also learnt mall in the US when I was very small, before we ever had malls over here. For a long time I'd say mawl instead off mall.

A family friend works in head office at Lidl so I had heard of them before they became big in the UK and have always pronounced it Leedul (they themselves gave up on that pronunciation in the UK when they realised that most people don't pronounce it the German way and that they could make a pun with "liddle"/"little"). I'm set in my ways now and don't care if some people think that makes me sound like a nob! (Ikea call themselves i-kay-uh in their TV ads but everyone here calls it eye-key-uh).

rosemarble · 26/02/2025 11:00

Bigearringsbigsmile · 26/02/2025 10:30

I think most English people CAN say Loch the Scottish way but don't because they'd sound like a wanker.
It's like English people saying pi-aya instead of pie-ella or choreeetho instead of chorizo.
You can say it but you'll soubd like a nob

This reminds me of when I moved back to the UK having lived in Germany for a couple of years. At that time (early 90s) Ikea was popular in Germany. They pronounce it ee-kay-uh.
I moved back home, and Ikea's started popping up and because I'd learnt of it while I was abroad I'd pronounce it ee-kay-uh rather than eye-kee-uh and sound like a bit of a nob.

ee-kay-uh is correct as I understand.

I also learnt mall in the US when I was very small, before we ever had malls over here. For a long time I'd say mawl instead off mall.

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