A question of pronunciation

[chickenfeet]

Inspired by forthright I thought I'd ask some questions about English pronunciation. How do you pronounce the following:

[Poll #663848]

Comments

[dyddgu.livejournal.com]

I answer with reservations, as I say Med-i-Sin!

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I was really just after the two vs three syllable thing there.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I say something more like med-sin. Ho hum.

And I can't answer 'slough' at all because I use all three, depending on context.

[dyddgu.livejournal.com]

English is a silly language! ;-)

For Slough, I went with the first thing I thought of. Which was snakes.

[vonpookie.livejournal.com]

More like med-i-sun for me. And the Slough is a bit iffy, as well. Though I only know it in such usage as "slough off," like a snake skin, or from hearing it pronounced as "slow" on The Office. I'd never heard of the actual place before that :)

[helianthas.livejournal.com]

Some of my other favorites are "roof" or "ruhf", "creek" or "crick", and my old favorite, "Flahrida ahranges" or "Floorida ooranges"?

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

"Floorida ooranges"?

as eaten by orangutans... oook!

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I knew someone (not a pirate) who said 'warsh' for wash. Appropriately, they were from the state of Warshington. Never heard Seattleites say it that way though...

[nanila]

My grandparents said "warsh." They lived in Washington state for over twenty years, though they claimed they'd brought the pronunciation with them from the east coast.

(Also, I love your icon. The Doubtful Guest!)

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I've betrayed a great liking for peering up flues and, for peeling the soles off my white canvass shoes!

[helianthas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my grandfather used to say "Warsh" and "terlet" (for toilet) and "strawr" for straw.
He was hardcore brooklyn-Italian saying "toidy-toid and toid" and all that.
Sadly, my grandmother still occasionally calles me "Deener" which drives me fucking bananas, but when you're 90 and grew up in brooklyn we can forgive you for saying, "Deener, come to dinnah!"

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

My Dad's mother, Jewish ,from the Bronx and later, Queens, said 'terlet' for toilet and
'tweety boid' :)

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

He was merely adhering to the Law of Conservation of R's.

[helianthas.livejournal.com]

It would be interesting to do this survey with location associated with the answers, as well...

[nanila]

Slough

Depends on whether you're talking about the shedding of dead tissue or the place, innit.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

or bogs or metaphorical places of despond, innit?

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Or a ditch which is not a bog.

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I make the same distinction. In my case its 'slew' for bog-like Thingie of Despond , 'sluff' for shedding skin. Mr Chickenfeet claims to pronounce both as 'sluff' but I suspect he doesn't (deliberately) exfoliate and so, never really needed to make the distinction.

[nanila]

Yes, "slew" for bog, "sluff" for skin" and "slow (to rhyme with thou)" for the city. Perhaps the results of the poll will sway Mr. Chickenfeet's opinion.

Or you could hypnotize him with your baleful glare.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

you could hypnotize him with your baleful glare.

I've been hypnotised, nay verily entranced, by lemur_catta for ten years

Aw.

[nanila]

Dear Sir, We regret to inform you that you have contracted a case of True Love. Medical science is not sufficiently advanced to effect a cure. We are afraid you're stuck with it. With Deepest Condolences, The Undersigned.

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

purrrrrrrrr

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

or perhaps I could lie for hours on the floor, inconveniently close to the drawing room door!...then again , the cats would get out...

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I have the feeling I've never said 'subsidence' aloud. I've read it, obviously. I've said subsist,subsidy,subside.... I say sus-tin-ence, not sus-tayn-ence if that's indicative of anything.....

[gillo]

As my first thought was the town Betjeman summoned bombs onto, I rhymed "Slough" with "thou". But if you mean "to shed", it would be "sluff".

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I also pronounce Slough all three ways -- Despond and the town are the same, the pond/ditch/bogs at home are slews, and exfoliation-related things are sluff. Most of my other pronunciations are US Murcan, though, and mostly coastal California. I would still have understood any of the pronunciations.

Some of my faves are Off-en Of-ten, Sa-mon Sall-mon, Los An-jel-es Los An-gle-ees (which is a clear indicator that an anglo person was raised in LA in the first half of the last century), spe-shul-ty spe-see-AL-i-ty ...