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American words you HAVE adopted

American words you HAVE adopted

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Old Aug 1st 2011, 2:11 am
  #91  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

I wonder if there's anyone on here ready to admit to pronouncing in the American way futile, buoy, Muslim, bogie, nuclear, vase, soccer *sniggers* (snickers?)
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 4:25 am
  #92  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

I'm afraid that many'o'times I've succumb to saying "Dude" ... or dooooode.

Originally Posted by CAdreaming
...
... you mean B for Blimey!!!
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 5:18 am
  #93  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

With a 1 year old and 2 year old I've had to adapt to using the same words as everyone else so I don't confuse the poor things. Diaper, pacifier, gas, butt, stroller, trunk etc. I often have to think twice before answering a "What's that?" question from them in case I give them the English version.
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 6:35 am
  #94  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Squirrel
God I realised another, I am always now saying 'cord' instead of 'lead' for the wires on electrical items, 'cos DH says cord all the time.
How about 'mains'? That's an old Brit word that I'd forgotten about until my family visited this month.
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 12:56 pm
  #95  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by General Tojo
I wonder if there's anyone on here ready to admit to pronouncing in the American way futile, buoy, Muslim, bogie, nuclear, vase, soccer *sniggers* (snickers?)
The one that is easy to adopt (for me) would be BUOY. I'd definitely adopt the American pronunciation, if in the UK I'd have to stop and think about it.

I'm puzzled by Muslim, bogie and soccer. I assumed they were pronounced the same. (Bogie, as in a railway carriage's wheels etc.?)

As for nuclear, I believe the way G. W. Bush says it is definitely a minority choice!!
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 12:57 pm
  #96  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Steerpike
How about 'mains'? That's an old Brit word that I'd forgotten about until my family visited this month.
Surely they use MAINS in America, for mains drainage and mains water, for instance?
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:06 pm
  #97  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

OK.. I just looked up BUOY in the Oxford English Dictionary. Very interesting paragraph about the etymology and the history of the pronunciation.

BUOY
Etymology: 15th cent. boye corresponds to Old French boye (Diez), boyee (Palsgrave), modern French bouée, Norman boie (Littré), Spanish boya, Portuguese boia ‘buoy’; Dutch boei, Middle Dutch boeie ‘buoy’, and ‘fetter’; the same word as Old French boie, buie, boe, bue, beue, Provençal boia, Old Spanish boya fetter, chain < Latin boia halter, fetter (compare boy n.2); applied to a buoy because of its being fettered to a spot. It is not clear whether the English was originally from Old French, or Middle Dutch. The pronunciation /bwɔɪ/ , indicated already in Hakluyt, is recognized by all orthoepists British and American; but /bɔɪ/ is universal among sailors, and now prevalent in England: Annandale's Imperial Dictionary, 1885, has /bɔɪ/ or /bwɔɪ/ , Cassell's Encyclopædic Dict., 1879, says ‘u silent’. Some orthoepists give /buɪ/ ....


From this, it looks like the "American" pronunciation is the older form, but the modern "British" pronunciation is now universal among sailors.
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:13 pm
  #98  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

How do Americans pronounce it then?
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:14 pm
  #99  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Squirrel
How do Americans pronounce it then?
Buoy

US - Boo-i

UK - Boy
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:34 pm
  #100  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
Buoy

US - Boo-i

UK - Boy
Except that (apparently)
"BOY" pronunciation is universal among sailors
"BOO-I" pronunciation was formerly the pronunciation in Britain, too..
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:38 pm
  #101  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by robin1234
Except that (apparently)
"BOY" pronunciation is universal among sailors
"BOO-I" pronunciation was formerly the pronunciation in Britain, too..
I have always known it to be pronounced BOY (and I'm not a sailor )...until I moved to the US.
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:47 pm
  #102  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
I have always known it to be pronounced BOY (and I'm not a sailor )...until I moved to the US.
Hello Sailor! (Ohhhh......you are awful, but I like you)
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:48 pm
  #103  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Sugarmooma
Hello Sailor! (Ohhhh......you are awful, but I like you)
That makes me think of Uncle Eb.
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:50 pm
  #104  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Wasn't that Dick Emory?
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Old Aug 1st 2011, 1:54 pm
  #105  
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Default Re: American words you HAVE adopted

Originally Posted by Squirrel
Wasn't that Dick Emory?
It was indeed...one of my favourite sketches of all time.

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