Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What would you say to a friend/colleague who pointed out, kindly

199 replies

MadameCastafiore · 17/02/2013 16:28

That you were mispronouncing a foreign word?

Just wondered if I am touchy or this is another time when she says something to me and I should stand up for myself?

OP posts:
DollyTwat · 17/02/2013 17:28

My app knew bruschetta
Brewsketta
It rolled the r quite impressively

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:28

i said remnant wrong for ages

got hoi polloi the wrong way around

discreet and discrete is still hard

I KNOW disinterested ( impartial) and UN interested ( not interested)

GetOrf · 17/02/2013 17:30

Have you tried to speak any Danish? Glottal stops everywhere, like you're from Romford.

FellatioNels0n · 17/02/2013 17:30

I am dying to know what the word was. Grin It really annoys me when (for example) people pronounce the j in fajitas, or jalepenos, and if it were me I'd want to know if I were making a bit of a fool of myself, but there are limits. And horeetho is an affected accent too far in my book.

It's really hard to judge without knowing the word. My mum got a bit arsey with me once because I couldn't stand listening to her say 'expresso' one more time so I had to correct her. She didn't swear or call me stuck up, but I think she wanted to. Grin

Come to think of it, the exact same thing happened years ago when a woman I worked with who I hated kept talking about Ver-Says perfume (meaning Versace.)

I said 'Oh! You mean Ver - sarchy - it's Italian.' and she went into a full-on argument with me about how it could be pronounced either way and I was not right and she was not wrong knobber.

DollyTwat · 17/02/2013 17:30

Ok so what IS a meme
I can now say it, but not in a sentence

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:30

funnily enough, no, i dont speak Danish

cecilycardew · 17/02/2013 17:30

In my experience correcting anyone's pronunciation should only be attempted if you are very very close to them indeed.
What I say to my children is that correcting someone's grammar or mistakes in speaking is usually about as welcome as farting in their living room

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:31

i have a name mispronounced ALL THE TIME at least once a day.
after a while you get selective about who you correct

Booyhoo · 17/02/2013 17:31

my ds (7) is very precise when speaking, but his little brother has terrible speech (he is 3) and i am constantly refereeing (sp?) arguments between the 2 of them and explaining to ds1 that ds2 cant physically say the words properly. it really gets to ds1. i do worry about what he is like with his friends in school. and poor ds2 gets so upset because his tongue wont do what he wants it to.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 17/02/2013 17:31

Yes, MIL really does say thigh food. and it isnt tongue in cheek! ive got used to it now so i dont even give a smirk!

anyway, let's think of others. I give you.....

Conchiglie - this is why we British call them pasta shells! Grin

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:32

a meme is an internet craze, like that bridesmaid off the Royal Wedding, that gets reused and recycled.

an in joke/leitmotif

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:32

THAI food. thigh food.

thats it thats MINE

FellatioNels0n · 17/02/2013 17:33

My FIL always used to say see-a-batty for ciabatta, and dolsa-latty for dolcelatte.

GetOrf · 17/02/2013 17:33

I once pronounced Theydon Bois all frenchy once (when in Essex) oh how they took the piss.

I was a bit annoyed - I think I was right and they were wrong, actually. They should pronounce it like wot I do.

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:33

what is it then?

itsakindarabbit · 17/02/2013 17:33

If you and she have form for her being touchy/having a go (as per your OP) then I think you should have left it.

Just sounds a bit antagonistic of you, to me.

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:34

i get almost furious when people talk about "community service"
that hasnt been a sentence for about 10 years

DollyTwat · 17/02/2013 17:34

Thank you!

Booyhoo · 17/02/2013 17:34

yes cecily my dsis corrects me sometimes (my accent is a bit fuller than hers) and it's still annoying TBH.

Trills · 17/02/2013 17:35

A meme is a unit of idea, like a gene is a unit of inheritance.

This is a meme on MN

In the same way a gene's only "purpose" is to replicate and be passed on through the generations, a meme replicates and is passed on from mind to mind. The internet is a good way for memes to replicate.

Successful memes are ones that replicate and are passed on and get into many brains. Unsuccessful memes do not.

Hawaiian pizza is a meme - the idea of putting ham and pineapple on a pizza.
Chocolate and jalapeno pizza is also a meme, but a less successful one (which is why you haven't heard of it and it's rarely found on menus).

DollyTwat · 17/02/2013 17:35

I still call it the 'dole' Belinda
Shows my age doesn't it

ghoulelocks · 17/02/2013 17:35

if, like my friend, she drinks pee-not greg-ee-oh yanbu

BelindaCarlisle · 17/02/2013 17:35

gah- no the bat is a way better meme

Trills · 17/02/2013 17:35

But yeah, most often when people say "meme" they mean an internet joke that gets replicated and modified and repeated.

Booyhoo · 17/02/2013 17:36

what do you mean about community service belinda?