American words you HAVE adopted
#91
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?)
#93
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.
#94
Re: American words you HAVE adopted
How about 'mains'? That's an old Brit word that I'd forgotten about until my family visited this month.
#95
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Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,532
Re: American words you HAVE adopted
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!!
#96
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#97
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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.
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.
#98
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Re: American words you HAVE adopted
How do Americans pronounce it then?
#100
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#101
Re: American words you HAVE adopted
I have always known it to be pronounced BOY (and I'm not a sailor )...until I moved to the US.
#104
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Re: American words you HAVE adopted
Wasn't that Dick Emory?