homage

[WhiteRose26]

Three times recently, on TV and radio, I have heard this word pronounced to rhyme with 'fromage'. I always thought it was pronounced to rhyme with 'fridge'. Then I heard someone on TV pronounce it to rhyme with 'fridge', and it sounded wrong.

So I checked in my trusty Concise Oxford Dictionary, and found that I am correct. :)

I just thought I would share this with other pedants.

Thanks! I thought it was the fromage way!

I shall now get even more irritated when I hear it pronounced incorrectly!

I think it depends what you mean by it.

Historical - paying homage to a king - is pronounced hommidge.

Poncey - this installation is an homage to blah blah blah - is pronounced omarge.

Click on the sound symbol www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homage

I agree with Blue. It depends on the context.

I always say omarge.

I'm a ponce.

Hommidge wrong, somehow. Like when people say nuggit and not noo-gah.

Two different meanings innit.

So because I only say it in a poncey context, I am OK to continue with my 'omarge'?

Yes, I think so.

The exhibition is an ohmaazhe to Fellini versus Why don't you get off your arse and mingle a bit? Sitting in the corner all night makes it look like you expect everyone to come up to you and pay hommidge or something.

Really since it's a French word it's correct pronunciation is probably ohmaj (without the R if you're a Scot!) and it's the combination of the sounds in the phrase "pay homage" that have resulted in a very anglicised pronunciation. Saying ae and aw in sequence is tricky in English (and probably sounds slightly donkey-like) so the Anglicised "h" sound makes more sense. (And once the sound is anglicised the emphasis followed HOM-ij).

There's quite a good explanation here of the two separate pronunciations and their meanings: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/homage . It may be a French word, Fork but it's been in English since the 13th century so an Anglicised pronunciation makes perfect sense.

Interesting that there are different pronunciations for different meanings - thanks for the link, Blue. The examples I have come across recently, though, should all have been pronounced 'homidge'.