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Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:19 am
by haruky
We have such a diverse community and a thread on Reddit got me curious as to how people from different countries pronounce things..
I found this particular video very funny. I'd like to hear Flummi say squirrel sometime.
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:20 am
by haruky
SKRILL! SKIRRRL! SKIRRL! SQWEEL!
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:55 am
by Jokerle
SQRRRRL
We Germans say: EICHHÖRNCHEN
German kids learn oxford english, the american R (disregarding fundamental differences accents...) is not taught.
proper pronunciation is often not taught at all, only briefly touched.
One school year we studied poems from the Canadian north for some weeks, which is obviously on top of the list you need to know...
(dont ask me details, it was many years ago..)
edit: squirrel [ˈskwɪrəl (US) ˈskwɜːrəl ˈskwʌr-]
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 6:51 am
by A Docile Sloth
The way some Americans pronounce squirrel is weird to me. "Skwhirl" is just silly. It's "skwirrel". Also tom-ah-to not tom-ay-to.
Then there is vase, era, via ...
I had a German seminar leader in the first year of uni and he had the best way of saying "sloshed". I don't know exactly how he did it but it was awesome.
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:04 pm
by Gonzo
On the subject of funny english words, someone please explain the word
moot to me.
First off, it sounds like something a cartoon tug boat would say. Which makes it that much funnier when hearing it in the high-brow context it's usally used in.
Secondly, I've seen it translated both as "an irrelevant point", as well as "a questionable point".
So basically it's both something that doesn't matter AND something to be discussed?! Is it an AE/BE distincion?
MOOT MOOT! 
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:12 pm
by Fields
toyboat 10X as fast as you can. GO!
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:22 pm
by Tea-Assault
Fields, I found that so much easier doing that in a Canadian accent for some reason...
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 7:35 pm
by Cheesy
I wanna hear Rob say squirrel
Re: Pronouncing Things.
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:45 pm
by matsif
basically these describe how most of my family pronounces things and uses slang.
'ou' or 'ow' like in downtown or house is an 'ah', so "downtown" becomes "dahntahn," "house" becomes "hahs," etc.
"you all" is shortened to "y'all" in some areas, we use "yinz"
adding an 's' at the end of words that don't need it (K-Marts in the first video)
"wash" becomes "warsh" for reasons unknown
so on and so forth