English words you have mispronounced for a long time

[CardsFan]

Actually it’s “all y’all” for plural [emoji23]

+1

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Au contraire, mon ami.

p.s. Y'ALL (yawl ? yoll ? ) ain't the only ones on this side of the Pond...

I will admit to being confused, until I saw "GTA." I was actually unaware that my northern brethren used "think" as a noun, but I suppose that makes sense. You do have a queen on your money, after all. My apologies (and I mean that!) for my États-Unis-centric comment.

 

[SecondCor521]

Having taken French for a few years in high school, I thought I was the bees knees pronouncing "bergamot" the French way with a silent final "t". It had to be a French word, right? It is a French word, actually.

Then an acquaintance who I thought was smart pronounced the word in front of me, incorrectly, as /ˈbɝɡəˌmɑt/, with a definitely not silent final "t". "What a rube!" I thought to myself.

Later when I got home, in my superiority I thought I'd just confirm what I already knew - that the "t" was silent.

Whoops.

It is a French word from an Italian word, but the French spelling has a final "e", which we've decided to drop in English because, I dunno, maybe that would make the final "o" long instead of short.

(Enjoying my Earl Grey tea this morning, which reminded me.)

 

[Koolau]

Y'all is singular, Y'alls is plural. Note the grammatically correct "s" at the end for plural

Actually it’s “all y’all” for plural [emoji23]

Actually, most of my people would have said it's "you-ens" but YMMV.

 

[Koolau]

Having taken French for a few years in high school, I thought I was the bees knees pronouncing "bergamot" the French way with a silent final "t". It had to be a French word, right? It is a French word, actually.

Then an acquaintance who I thought was smart pronounced the word in front of me, incorrectly, as /ˈbɝɡəˌmɑt/, with a definitely not silent final "t". "What a rube!" I thought to myself.

Later when I got home, in my superiority I thought I'd just confirm what I already knew - that the "t" was silent.

Whoops.

It is a French word from an Italian word, but the French spelling has a final "e", which we've decided to drop in English because, I dunno, maybe that would make the final "o" long instead of short.

(Enjoying my Earl Grey tea this morning, which reminded me.)

I distinctly recall a discussion of a car magazine story on the French Grand Prix. This was at lunch in 8th grade ca 1960 so it was years before the movie or even general knowledge of F1 racing by 13 year olds in the USA. (In my school, we were typically Indy 500 "experts.") And, needless to say none of us knew anything about French pronunciation. So the discussion was filled with lots of snickering. Ahhh, the good old days, but YMMV.

 

[Winemaker]

I can remember a 5th grade classmate giving a book report on Sitting Bull and the Sioux (Sigh-Ox)Nation. Either the teacher didn't know or didn't want to embarrass him, but this was 1968, teachers still corrected students back then.

 

[REWahoo]

I can remember a 5th grade classmate giving a book report on Sitting Bull and the Sioux (Sigh-Ox)Nation. Either the teacher didn't know or didn't want to embarrass him, but this was 1968, teachers still corrected students back then.

There was a girl in my elementary school named Sioux.

 

[Winemaker]

I heard a song about a boy named Sioux.

 

[REWahoo]

^ Yes. Unfortunately for him, Sioux had an identical twin brother.

 

[Amethyst]

I find it funny that while many commonly used Spanish words have six or seven syllables, if you use an English word of more than three syllables people think you're getting above yourself, using hundred-dollar words, oh gee where's my dictionary, etc.

Often true. But try these:

cubetti di ghiaccio che si sciolgono (Cubes of melting ice)

cinquecentocinquantacinque (555)

or "gli" -- gli Stati Uniti (the United States)



-BB

 

[Amethyst]

Yall's is possessive. The plural is all yall. In Florida, anyway.

And, all yalls' is the plural possessive.

Y'all is singular, Y'alls is plural. Note the grammatically correct "s" at the end for plural

 

[CRLLS]

I find it funny that while many commonly used Spanish words have six or seven syllables, if you use an English word of more than three syllables people think you're getting above yourself, using hundred-dollar words, oh gee where's my dictionary, etc.

HA! Years ago, actually decades ago, I had to read German engineering prints. They conglomerate a technical description of a single part or machine into a single word. I found it quite funny at the time and still do.

 

[Montecfo]

Y'all is plural (you all). You is singular.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

You is singular.

Is you sure?

 

[Montecfo]

Is you sure?

I'll learn ya.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

What I find funny about all this is: (A) standard English does not have distinct second-person pronouns for singular and plural, and (B) we used to, and (C) we goddamn sure seem to want them! Why did we get rid of them?

ETA: I am sure the reason is well-known to the well-knowers, but I am not one of them!

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Actually it’s “all y’all” for plural [emoji23]

As a native Texan, if I were speaking to 2 people, I’d ask, “Are both y’all goin’ to the reunion?”

Or I might ask, “Are y’all both goin’?”

For 3 or more, I’d use “all y’all.”