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

[MardyBra]

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

I can tell you that, BeastOfBurden!

Greek schoolchildren learn to pronounce ancient Greek as though it were modern Greek. They pronounce all the letters in exactly the same way they would in the modern language, including diphthongs and letter combinations.

Latin is a great one for pronunciation. Let's take the word "regina"

I have heard Italian speakers say "re-jee-na"

I have heard Greek speakers say "re-gh-ee-na"

I have heard English speakers say "re-j-eye-na" and even "re-gh-eye-na"

It's amazing how many different versions there can be!

(the "j" above is intended to be as in "jump")

What I find really bizarre about Latin (thanks for the info on Greek :) ) is that even professional Latin scholars aren't fluent in it, in the same way as even an undergraduate is in a modern language. There is one very elderly prof where I work who is notorious because he can pick up a Latin text and just read it for fun. This is apparently impressive . You'd sack an Italian lecturer who couldn't.

I feel very ill-educated now!

I assure you, Salmotrutta, that my science education is woefully lacking!

(although I can probably read all the Greek-derived scientific terms and tell you about their etymology!)

No, no we can't have that or I will feel guilty... Cunning linguists are non-competitive and we couldn't clone DNA if you put lighted matches under our toes....

I love these threads,too.

Back to chorizo. Most Spanish speakers in the world pronounce it cho-REE-so (the Latin American pronunciation).

If anyone put lighted matches under my toes I would (1) stamp them out (2) run away

Stuck under your toenails, I meant, like the Gestapo.

The Gestapo. Of course.

We have gone from correct pronunciation of various products to Latin phrases, to correct pronunciation of ancient Greek, so, naturally, the Gestapo fits in beautifully.

Yes, it's a MN thread...

Oh well, you know how it is at Christmas....

There won't be any Gestapo or any other kind of secret police on any Deutschlish thread, will there?

I think this is a very festive thread.

I used to go to mass with my gran (I am not catholic, she is) and loved it when there was a Latin mass. It just sounded nice and exotic. Yes, I can be superficial. I also liked that there was lots of gold and that it smelled nice

Nein, the deutschlish thread will be suss und sanft wie fairy dandruff. Ich kann the German for torture in any case nicht remember.

'Folter'

Talc LaCockycockyTaney it shall forever be known.

And Dinky fuckaysha bread, love it. I needed this thread a week ago. Thank you all.

My former (shouty) boss was a master at never getting pronunciation right. He never got his whatsits right either - 'we're in a Catch 21 situation' being a particular high point in a meeting where I had to pretend to drop my pen for fear of laughing at the board room table.

I cannot watch it on QVC. L'Occitane send their rep to present it and she has disgusting yellow teeth and it puts me right off.

Oh malapropisms are a lot of fun.
I still chortle about dh's friend talking enthusiastically about that well known singer, Tina Tucker.

(I am also horrified by a person with an A level in French not knowing how to pronounce 'L'Occitane'.)

Vielen Dank, Pazifik!

I missed that post among the other 200+ moondog. Did someone say they had an A level in French?!

I love speaking French to my SIL, who learnt it at school 30 odd years ago. She can't remember a lot of vocab, so every other word is "bof", while she tries to recall it, and she uses a lot of Greek words with a French ending stuck on. I retaliate with English words disguised as French. It's great fun!

Not sure it's fair to be "horrified". A levels are a long time ago for many of us (1980, gulp) and you don't spend enough time abroad for it to sink in. I did a degree in French and German, lived in both countries for a while, and still forget all kinds of useful little phrases. Such as torture :)

It was someone right at the start of the thread. Obviously wasn't taught some basic principles of Phonetics ad Phonology, which is a reflection on her teaching and not her. I'm not surprised-4 terms into 'learning' French, my dd has yet to learn how to conjugate a verb. They seem to do little more than learn chunks of conversation and complete word searches. Pathetic.

(How are you getting on with the people we discussed btw? Have they presented you with some hard evidence?)

What about Latte?
Most British people seem to pronounce it Lah-tay.I think it should be pronounced Lat-teh
The drink is Caffe latte not just Latte. The e on Caffe having a grave accent, but no accent on Latte.
As a pedant, I ask for a Lat-teh and the barista serves me a Lah-tay.

I think with latte it depends on whether you are speaking Italian or American.

The British and their penchant for frothy, sticky milky drinks which they fondly imagine 'Continentals' sup all day is a total mystery to me.
There is nothing more agonising than being stuck behind someone in a queue asking for 'three lattes, two cappuccinos and a mocha/bocha ccino.'

Which is why I never go to purveyors of coffee and suchlike.