Archers thread #151: A Fête worse than death or a reverse ferret? Helen’s got the Borsetshire Blues, Tom’s talking shiitake, George is a rotten apple. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you think Helen and Tom would do well on Dragons' Den, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please! We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Thanks to @OverArmour for various title ideas! I would have liked to incorporate the suggestion from @Fleetress, which was

‘Do do one Ron, Ron, do do one Ron’

(Rob is Ron for many on this thread now)

Possibly a bit obscure for newer posters, though!

Anyway: we got through that last thread in no time at all. Combined effect of Rob and George, I suspect. I wonder if Rob will have made it to Ambridge by the time we need a new thread. I'm still waiting for Pat's shotgun to feature. That can't have been mentioned for the first time ever for no reason at all.

Over to you!

Surely the only pronunciation that matters is Adil's. I am foreign and the correct way to pronounce my name is my way, but there is a slightly different English pronunciation too. I don't correct people though, more hassle than it's worth.
Some varieties of Arabic don't pronounce the 3ayn/ع as a throaty sound anyway - it becomes more of a glottal stop.

Lyndahr cracks me up though.

Really hoping the Rob-Henry encounter will be aired. Funny how Henry had to explain 'my other stepdad' to George, understandably bonding over weird family structures.

Exactly and tbh you'd expect the GG people to be there too to scout out potential cool new local suppliers

@LillianGish , Lynda usually makes an effort to get a pronunciation right but gets it completely wrong. e.g. saying chimenea as jimenea, begamot as bergamow.
I will not unsee Tommonk now.

@Brefugee , I tend to say names the way I first heard them, so would probably say Penélope Cruz as Penelope Cruise. I would find it hard to say Richard Wagner as opposed to Ri(t)chard Va-gner, or CatherineThomas (french designer) and Catherine Deneuve not Catherine Thomas and Catherine Deneuve.
As a German-speaker, do Germans sound the g in Angela Merkel? I don't mean Anjela or Ang-g-ela. (like in hang but not hang-gliding)

Agree that Adil probably would get a few different pronunciations. Ruth used to say Siobhan as Shivonne and Usha as Uh-shah not Oo-sha. Lillian says Jolene as Jerlene.

@Agapornis , I agree that different Arabic speakers may or may not sound the ayn. I know arabic speakers from several countries, and one of them gets upset at British Pakistani pronunciation of names starting in ayn. It's quite funny seeing as that person can't say P.

Both my names are foreign too and I will literally take anything vaguely recognisable. I would imagine Ardil gave up worrying how his name is pronounced about 30 years ago.

It was ridiculous how quickly Helen agreed to Henry going, but then, it's for Plot Purposes......

So now Ruth thinks of Stella as family🙄

We have an historic roller-skating venue near us (mostly used for other stuff as it also has a stage and bar), but beloved of parents once their kids get fed up with softplay and before they graduate to paintball/laserquest/swim/trampoline parties.

There was invariably carnage and tears and plenty of sulks.

Maybe Lower Loxley will have a temporary icerink next Christmas now we know that Ruth and Stella can skate.

(Wonders aloud where the newer scripties live).

I’m already dreading Rob tomorrow. He makes my skin crawl.

Pip is such a twat. She’s the one who pounced on poor Stella and she’s sulky and petulant.

I get that maybe Pop would be a bit disconcerted to have Stella turning up st what she thought was a family outing. However I do not see why she would be quite so grumpy for the whole evening, given the good and potentially hopeful terms upon which they had left each other when they discussed the previous night?

LL have had an ice-rink before – in 2010, 2011 and 2015 at least.

If Pip's ice-skating skills are as bad as mine, I can understand why she was stressed and grumpy.

How old is Stella? She is way older than Pip given her memories of charging round the rink to Lisa Stansfield and George Michael (noticeable that she referenced George as a solo singer rather than Wham! which was slightly earlier). She must have been born in the early-1970s making her around 49-51, say. Closer to Ruth’s age…

In my mind, I had always put Stella closer to Ruth's age. It might be because her voice has that 'cantering towards the 50's' tone.

I often can't help thinking that the "plan ahead Awaydays" would benefit from having big flip charts of characters and their ages.

As a German-speaker, do Germans sound the g in Angela Merkel? I don't mean Anjela or Ang-g-ela. (like in hang but not hang-gliding)

@PedantScorner (great name) it's like "An-géla" with that ´ as a stress not an acute accent. with the G as in go

But they call her Angie anyway

To remember the 1984 Olympics, I reckon Stella must have been at least about 8 yrs old then, so about 47 now. Pip was born in 1993, so 30.

Thanks @Brefugee . I wonder if it's a regional thing. I know someone with a similar name but she says the ng as ng, not as ng-g or n-g.

They'd probably just squeeze in under the 'half your age plus seven' rule, but Stella, like the rest of the human population, could do better.

Lisa Stansfield's Been Around the World was a hit in 1990, I think. Maybe Stella remembers T&D shown after 1984. She'd still be a fair bit older than Pip.

Torvill and Dean had a comeback in the nineties as I remember them then and way too young to remember those Olympics. I reckon given she was out at the roller disco in say 1990 she’s got to be at least 45 now.

Glo''l stops - I can do them! I have a Sarf London accent

Im sorry but this thread is getting really boring. How to pronounce Adil or Ardil putting Arabic signs up to show how clever you are yawn and I might not be able to pronounce names properly but I am from South London and I hate being taken the piss out of.
This has put me right off looking at this Archer thread or what ever you call it. Air b and bs thread went on for ages. Its just the same people on here showing off. Used to love this thread but its got so clicky and boring. Good riddance.

I can possibly, at a pinch, see why Pip might be interested in Stella. But I don’t really understand it from the other side. Pip is ever so childish; all that sulking last night would surely be enough to put anyone off..

I think the sulking was supposed to be the way we know that pip is strugggling with her feeeelings.

look I can imagine the awkwardness of snogging a family friend and then having to spend the evening watching them be best mates with your mum and daughter while you’re still feeling weird about it. I can understand being shit at skating (I am). But I can’t understand being a pathetic baby about it all! Come on woman.

I usually enjoy the little detours this thread takes but I’d also be happy never to discuss Adil’s pronunciation around the world ever again, sorry.

I usually enjoy the little detours this thread takes but I’d also be happy never to discuss Adil’s pronunciation around the world ever again, sorry

Me too! 😀

Me three (although I found the digression including Arabic letters interesting, I just think we've probably done it to death by this point)