It is Definitely not Definately

[davedove]

That's Illinois...took the trouble to name a whole lot of cities after foreign cities and then mispronounce them: Peru, Cairo, Marseilles...Pay-roo, Kay-row and Mar-sails....up around here we have the suburb of Des Plaines...Dez-Planes...I suppose that's how they can tell if you're not a native.

Oh, well....there's always Skokie!

Best

AA

I had completely forgotten Kay-row.

Actually, Peru pronounced as the Spanish would do it, does come out as Pay-roo. Of course, that's not how most English speaking folks would say it.

[Barclay]

Here's one that irks me a lot.

"This shirt needs washed."

-or-

"This computer needs fixed."

I want to grab people by the noggin and yell at them: "TO BE! TO BE!"

Yep, that's one of mine as well, but my biggest pet peeve would have to be:

Orientated! Geez, c'mon peeps! It's ORIENTED!

That one is like a spike in my brain for some reason.

[Macman]

Thanks, Barclay. That one is my all time biggest pet peeve too!

[KiltedKnight]

Living in the Missouri Ozarks, you begin to collect spelling and pronounciation oddities:

"warsh" instead of "wash"
"ideal" instead of "idea"
"wrench" instead of "rinse"

My last name, Wilkinson is almost always spelled or pronounced as Wilkerson.

I could go on and on -- but if you're really interested, the noted Ozark folklorist Vance Randolph wrote a wonder work a number of years ago on Ozarks speech and dialect entitled "Down in the Holler".

Cheers,


Todd

And I seem to remember a few guys in the service from that neck of the woods that had a habit of saying; "Well, I'll be go to hell" instead of , "Gee, that surprises me!"

That was always a good one.

Chris.

[macwilkin]

And I seem to remember a few guys in the service from that neck of the woods that had a habit of saying; "Well, I'll be go to hell" instead of , "Gee, that surprises me!"

That was always a good one.

Chris.

"Well, I'll swan" is one of my favourites, along with "Hell's Bells".

My friend Champ, also a kiltie (Clan Kerr), is a 4th generation Ozark native and is literaly a walking dictionary of Ozarks phrases. In contrast, I am a "furriner" because, whilst I was born here, my parents were born somewhere else (AZ and IA), so I'm not a "true" Ozarks native.

T.

[KiltedKnight]

"Well, I'll swan" is one of my favourites, along with "Hell's Bells".

My friend Champ, also a kiltie (Clan Kerr), is a 4th generation Ozark native and is literaly a walking dictionary of Ozarks phrases. In contrast, I am a "furriner" because, whilst I was born here, my parents were born somewhere else (AZ and IA), so I'm not a "true" Ozarks native.

T.

It might be fun to post some of those phrases if your friend is willing to write a few down. Like I said, some of them are rib busters.

Chris.

[macwilkin]

It might be fun to post some of those phrases if your friend is willing to write a few down. Like I said, some of them are rib busters.

Chris.

I'll ask him tonight to give me a few to post.

T.

[cormacmacguardhe]

The english language lends itself to all sorts of spelling strangeness. Here is one I heard recently. What does "photi" spell? It spells fish. Ph as in phone, o as in women, and ti as in nation. We share a great language.

[Beertigger]

The english language lends itself to all sorts of spelling strangeness. Here is one I heard recently. What does "photi" spell? It spells fish. Ph as in phone, o as in women, and ti as in nation. We share a great language.

Better yet: "ghoti" spells fish.... think of the 'gh' in "cough."


My pet peeve in the realm of grammar would have to be the disappearance of the adverb. No one understands the proper use of an 'ly' anymore, much less a well-placed "well."

[jfellrath]

The english language lends itself to all sorts of spelling strangeness. Here is one I heard recently. What does "photi" spell? It spells fish. Ph as in phone, o as in women, and ti as in nation. We share a great language.

Ah... another Will Shortz listener!