To say it’s “cliquey” not “clicky”

[Fortunesmiles]

Just that, really. I keep seeing things like “the parents at school are very clicky” - no! They form cliques, not clicks. Not normally one to comment on this stuff, but that one really makes me cringe!

(Not when I say llama, but if I'm speaking Spanish.)

Someone corrected my pronunciation of this recently, I have always said ‘Cleek’ (correctly) and they straight up told me I was wrong and it should be ‘Click’ and wouldn’t hear otherwise.

Oh I almost definitely can't (not that I've ever attempted it). It's fascinating how we lose the ability to make or distinguish certain sounds based on the language you hear as a baby.

I once went to a science fair where one of the experiments was holding an ultrasound under your chin as you spoke to look at tongue positions. I was with a Bulgarian friend, and we made the "t" sound completely differently. And when you listen to us, it does sound slightly different. She'd say an English word but with the Bulgarian tongue movement — practically the same sound, but not exactly.

@CharlottenBurger haha yeah exactly!

Of course Yanbu. It should be a sticky at the top of all boards on here.

‘Clicky’ always makes me think of the beginning of West Side Story, so I have a surreal vision of a bunch of unfriendly-looking school run parents (though it appears to be only mothers who are ‘clicky’) dancing through the playground clicking their fingers and chorusing

WHEN YOU’RE A JET, YOU’RE A JET ALL THE WAY
FROM YOUR FIRST CIGARETTE TO YOUR LAST DYING DAY!

You'd lose that bet.

Femme fatale: surely fam (cross between e and a) fatahl. It is french not Italian.

Saw that on this site yesterday. It didn’t seem worth starting a thread about it, though, given that I am often accused here, rather hilariously, of having missed the turn off for pedants’ corner. 🙄

I even saw “so cringe” in a decent newspaper today. When was it decided the “worthy” bit should be jettisoned?

Or maybe just, unlike the OP, you thought that starting a thread (about a thread) to point out someone else's mistake might be a twatty thing to do. Which it is.

@Fortunesmiles here's the thing. I saw the thread you're laughing at. I noticed the poster had used the wrong word. She was upset, wasn't she? At the way she was being treated by a group of arsehole bullies. Who were laughing at her, and talking about her behind her back. She was being made to feel inferior.

She'll no doubt feel so much better now you've started a thread to laugh at her spelling as well.

“Or maybe just, unlike the OP, you thought that starting a thread (about a thread) to point out someone else's mistake might be a twatty thing to do. Which it is.”

Do calm down. You accuse others of bullying yet you sound like a typical bully yourself. Most ironic. Do you “do” irony? It’s more intelligent than verbal bullying on an online forum. Lol

Well it’s the dumbing-down of the English language

Sadly, yes.

In another thread title, someone is complaining about a person who is "winging"

In south Wales they say clicky. It's a regionalism there.

Not everyone, though.

I see the pedants are on the case, too:

Well, not all parts of south Wales, no, probably not.
Or did you just mean that not all local people speak the local dialect. Yes, that is obvious.

"Well it’s the dumbing-down of the English language"

Ha ha. Normal language change you mean?

Dumbing down is not “normal language change”. It’s regressive.

The first recorded use of cringeworthy was in the 1970s. I'm sure if we went back in time 40 years there would be tedious pearl-clutchers decrying its invention.

I'd write it cliquey buy say clicky, although it's not something I say much 😆I think it sounds pretentious when people pronounce foreign words "correctly", especially if you're with people who would typically use the English pronunciation, like you're making a point of superiority.

OP you're right, it annoys me too.

It annoys me as well.

Recently someone I know wrote "Risk A" instead of "risqué", and I couldn't get over it.

Yes I thought it was "cliquey" pronounced "cleeky" but someone corrected me and said "No it's clicky!".