AIBP (pretentious) to pronounce L'Occitane "LOCK SEE TAN"?

[MardyBra]

Especially when friends and family call it "LOCKY TAIN"?

Oh.

Actually it's Reims

And Lille is pronounced Rijssel.

Well the thing is it just sounds a bit odd to say HimALayas if everyone else is saying HIMalayas doesn't it?

unless you are my DHs colleague who liked to show people up

Yes it is indeed pronounced Rance.

The town of Worms is is pronounced wurnze

The Diet of Worms was an esoteric giggle for those of us who studied Medieaval European history.

Salmo, I've never been able to work out how to say that word! I always pronounce the second P but it does sound stupid.

Lille = Rijssel?

Blimey - not exactly intuitive that one is it!

I say Lox-eee-tan.

But c'mon is Shea - shay or sheaah?

I absolutely love it however you pronounce the darn stuff!

Don't get womma either, perhaps they were posting on the wrong thread by mistake .

That's a funny one, as final s is often silent in French, but not always. I suppose that is the influence of the north-east, more Germanic languages.

I think you can spell it either way, and the extra H is another sign that this is a not-very-French name. But without is commoner, I think.

Is it also right that diet of worms is pronounced dee-et? Only guessing, but in German, you sound the second one of an ie/ei group, not the first.

Dee-ett of wurnze not quite so amusing...

I think the Lille is a separatist joke?

I think it would sound dreadfully poncey to say HimALayas though. I do have an American friend who pronounces it like that and I wasn't quite sure what she was referring to at first .

I will start calling Everest 'Sagarmartha' from here on in !

A old boyfriend's mum used to say 'fuck-aysha' instead of focaccia. It was viewed with suspicion as was any other forrin food.

Nobody is being personally affected if you say the second P teenage so I'd go with it!

It's not like pronouncing someone's name or hometown wrong etc.

Ooh, oooh - the name Maureen :-

Do you say MAWreen or MOreen.

I would so love a topic on MN where we could discuss all this stuff. The lovely "ped-curious" Psammead and I have asked MNHQ before, but to no avail. I know we have pedants corner, but that is mainly full of "bastarding M&S are abusing apostrophes" type posts.

Wouldn't it be great to have a space where posters could explore language variations and changes without idiots coming onto the thread and asking why this stuff matters. I'm sure there is sufficient demand. After all, we've had some great threads about the pronunciation of foreign foodstuffs, whether "text" is acceptable as a past tense, what you call your loo/lavatory/toilet - not to mention my DH's abuse of reflexive pronouns. Someone recently linked to a really interesting blog which explores etymologies. And we once had a lovely thread with lots of people interested in language and linguistics (long since lost to chat).

What do people think?

Would love a language club. If MNHQ are unwilling to create a home, we could post on chat with a big disclaimer?

I think it's a great idea for a topic Mardy

I'd sign a petition if there was one!

Not that I speak any foreign languages or anything but I love words!

at fuck-aysha. I might start using that.

I love this thread !

Salmotrutta, I have blizzard - only hail here (also nice and easy to say)

Worms is Vohms - believe me, it's close to were I grew up. Neverending laughs from DH DSs when we drive past it.

I'm in the Locksy-tahn camp - I get the 'lock' rule but it just sounds wrong

Shea I pronounce Shay. I have no justification for that at all.

It doesn't have to be forrin stuff salmo. A love of words is enough.

belize up thread we decided it was shay. Which was news to me :) but the Cambridge dictionary says it is so....
dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/british/shea-butter

Lille = french
The other one - ?dutch

Can we include the very lovely franglais threads too as they are tres coeur-chauffant?

Yes, that's the Dutch name for Lille... Like I say, a separatist joke.

I had to google the Lille thing

Because I didn't understand the joke