Emma M

First time I went to McD's, I ordered a chicken McNugget meal, ended up with a Happy Meal! I didn't say anything, I just slunk away into a corner and played with my new Dora the Explorer doll...

Emma M

Emma M

Both spellings - aluminum and aluminium - are in the dictionary

pejpm1

The US is pretty much the only country that spells it Aluminum though...

Emma M

I'm growing my hair and never cutting it again after my first and only experience with a hairdresser over here, who when I informed them I would like a trim, she then proceeded to cut new layers into my already layered hair!! It looks like a bird has died in a fight and left its frayed messy feathery carcas on my head! Luckily it is long enough to tie back, so I'll grow it out and never get it cut again. :curse:

Emma M

I say "Al - ah - min - yum"

Emma M

I'll always say "arf" and larf

joyceygreen

On the subject of pronounciation can I ask for Gaelic/Celtic advice. My son's teacher is called Ms Dougherty. Now, I think it should be pronounced Dough-erty, but everyone else calls her Ms Docherty. Has the correct pronounciation been lost over the generations or could they be right?

another bloody yank

How does she pronounce it? If you don't know, ask her!

paddingtongreen

Docherty.

Actually, any way that she prefers.

joyceygreen

Oh, I'm a polite person and pronounce it the way everybody does, I was just wondering if it had perhaps changed over the years....

paddingtongreen

It just gets awkward when you don't know which is their "correct pronunciation".

joyceygreen

Shortly after we came to the States, my son, who was 4 at the time, joined a Nursery and I asked him if he'd made any friends and he said, "Yes, his names 'Dearney' ". At the time, I thought that it was an unusual name and wondered how it was spelt. I later found out the boy's name was 'Danny'. It sounded cute and odd, because my son still had a full English accent at that time.

another bloody yank

It wouldn't be unusual for the pronunciation to have changed. You see place names all the time where the pronunciation has evolved and become more Americanized over the years. St. Louis is an example of that. I'm sure it happens with surnames as well. Some immigrants have even changed the spelling of their surnames to appear more "American" although I'm sure if this happens as much as it used to. I went to college with a guy whose last name was changed to Colson from Colsani. Both of my Maternal Grandparents first names were "changed" by their teachers when they started school. They were both born in the US to parents who had come from Sicily. My Grandfather's name was Girolamo and my Grandmother's name was Vincenza. Their teachers called them "Jerry" and "Jennie" for convienence and it stuck for the rest of their lives.

joyceygreen

Yes, I read about the changing names thing in a book on Ellis Island, so interesting, but sad aswell - I think your Italian Grandparents original names were lovely, however...if it made it easier for them..

It's the same in England, alot of people from India, Pakistan and Poland change their names to English ones i.e. Surinder to 'Sue' etc.