to pronounce the champagne Moet mow-ett as opposed to Mow-ay and have a ridiculously stupid mini-row about it?

[GetOrf]

Disclaimer - I am not a poncetastic twat. Get that in before you lot accuse me.

At MILs last night, couple of SILs there. My MIL loves champagne, it was a distinct luxury when she was younger and I don't think she bought a bottle until she was in her 40s. Now she is making up for lost time and I always buy her a decent bottle for her birthdays, mothers day etc.

We were talking about different brands, and she was remembering the different ones she has tried, I said that a cheapish one which I had bought from Sainsbos (Charles something) was rated in the Sunday Times as being better than the more recognised brands such as Moet etc.

At which point my SIL laughed scoffingly and said 'I would have thought you would have known that the French don't5 pronounce the t on the end of the word, it is pronounce Mow-AY' (said in full on condescending terms).

I said fuck off dicksplash 'no it is pronounced Mo-ETT, theword is Dutch anyway'

She carried on 'no it's not, champagne is French not dutch, next you will be saying Edam comes from Wales'

She really got on my tits.

Technically, yes, it is one panino.

I bet the people who use "panino" also like to post on "fora".

But the people I have come across who use "panino" tend to be the ones who feel the NEED to demonstrate their knowledge.

I aspire to be the sort of person who KNOWS the correct term but don't feel I have to use it if it makes me look a prat iykwim.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=2.bp.blogspot.com/-buY_uXa_11g/Td62Sqd_DAI/AAAAAAAAAeE/sAOAMNwpjsc/s320/And%252Bnot%252Ba%252Bsingle%252Bfuck%252Bwas%252Bgiven%252Bthat%252Bday.jpg&imgrefurl=www.notcontentyet.com/2011/05/not-single-fk-was-given-that-day.html&usg=__aMxVvRz8iRPoMMWjW3IxWjj4ILI=&h=260&w=320&sz=30&hl=en&start=61&sig2=WI7j8EJ9QQAT78wYTAU9gA&zoom=1&tbnid=LWD93EBoxEJVlM:&tbnh=163&tbnw=209&ei=rPLoTcSWI8yr8AP3j92hAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAnd%2Bnot%2Ba%2Bsingle%2Bfuck%2Bwas%2Bgiven%2Bthat%2Bday%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D6TW%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26biw%3D1760%26bih%3D844%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=444&page=3&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:61&tx=109&ty=78&biw=1760&bih=844" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chill Out

I have embraced "forums".

The Latin may be "fora" but the Latins weren't exactly chatting on t'internet, were they?

So the clothes shop Reiss. Is it reece or rice?

Trillain - that would be tchill thu' fook ow-t.

I don't mind Forums when talking about t'internet, but if we're talking about actual plural of Forum, then it's Fora.

same as it's Stadia and other words etc that I can't be arsed to list.

MardyBra, thats brilliant to know I didn't realise just one is Panino, I want to try that out now and wait for those around me try to correct me by saying 'panini' and then look at their faces when I say 'well AC -CHERLY you are wrong

What about Parmesan , I say it like Parm-e-sharn

Well, technically it is Parmigiano Reggiano....

I think that's the American pronunciation of Parmesan shinyshoes.

I love it when they talk about 'erbs. DH and I do that sometimes.

It is also Biscotto, unless you are like me and have more than 1.

Intrigued as to whether anyone will own up to saying: "Gathpacho"....

Yes, impossible to eat one biscotto.

is Parmigiano Reggiano all parmesan Sofa, or is it just a type, i'd hate to go into a resturant and ask for Parmigiano Reggiano and they say 'sorry we only have parmesan'

I just call it cold soup

has anyone quoted this yet?

'Champagne for real friends, real pain for sham friends'

the SIl should have googled. answer to all family disputes.

Shiny, calling Parmigiano Parmesan is equivalent to calling Prosciutto di Parma, Parma ham - in other words, not that big a deal (except in Italy or a stuffy Italian restaurant/deli).

cool, more poncy lingo I can use whilst I'm in Waitrose

Oh, forgot to mention, that it probably has some kind of EEC regulatory significance - similar to the difference between Balsamic Vinegar and Balsamico di Modena (one being generic vinegar made like Balsamic vinegar in Modena and the other being the real deal).

It's MO-ETT not because of the et afterwards but because of the accent on the E (two dots) which means you pronounce the consonent. See also: Saint-Saëns.

Yep, it's Mowett.

This is what howjsay says: et chandon

Also, it's moet et chandon, in full. Because the "et" begins with a vowel, in French you would pronounce the t in Moet when saying the full name (otherwise you end up with an odd sounding moway-ay-chandon). So even without the Dutchness, you would say the t in French (at least when saying the full name).

Yes to Mo-ett

Yes yes to Val-ett (unless talking about Val-ay Parking). Valet has been in english lang for hundreds of years so the 'correct' pronunciation really is Val-ett. Annoyingly, Val-ay is now in OED as it is so commonly used.

Also - Clar-ett, not Clar-ay.

Mardybra wote "I bet the people who use "panino" also like to post on "fora". " Umm, yes - really I would. A little piece of me dies every time I write forums, stadiums, mediums etc. I am also trying to popularise the word datum...

In my defence, I did study languages ancient and modern, so French/Italian/Latin/An.Greek so I did have to spend years learning these 'rules' in the 1st place. That, and the fact that I am a horrible pedant.

I was corrected in US by a v snooty waiter, it was Parm-EEEEEE-she-an cheese I wanted. He was Italian-American, so he knew. I judged.

Definitely mow-ett. DH is french, and that's what they all call it.

Your sil reminds me of kath and kim with their "card-onnay".

at Hazel. I'm also a languages graduate btw (modern though, with a measly O Level in Latin for the ancient bit). I'm more interested in looking at current language usage and how it changes rather than insisting on certain formats based on ancient rules. But that's a whole new thread really.

However, I can be a pedant in certain contexts. For example, I shout at the current ad for a car which boasts "Less Emissions", as I think in a formal or business context, grammatical clarity is important.