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Speak for yourself! This thoroughly Southern girl has never added an R to words like "wash" or whatever. I also say "foil, oil, boil" etc., with no problem at all.
No one in my family or my husband's family (both completely southern since, oh, about 1640) does that weird R thing. I'm not even sure I could have married anyone who did that!
I hear it very occasionally but it's never been the norm anywhere I've lived and every time I hear it (once in a blue moon) I always think "What the heck is that about?"
Back to the OP, yeah, I do say "sherbert" and somewhere in my distant past I knew that it wasn't technically correct, but I'd totally forgotten that interesting tidbit. So I guess I DO do one weird R thing.
Heh, my family originally came from the hills of KY, my grandmother still says make sure you 'warsh' yer hands at the 'zink' after you flush the 'terlet'. She also changes the 'erl' in her car after she checks the air in her 'tars'
Heh, my family originally came from the hills of KY, my grandmother still says make sure you 'warsh' yer hands at the 'zink' after you flush the 'terlet'. She also changes the 'erl' in her car after she checks the air in her 'tars'
OMG. Say it ain't so.
I never lived in the Appalachians or Smoky Mountains. Must be a regional thing. I have, however, lived in the Tidewater region of VA and MD , NC, SC, GA, AL, Knoxville TN, and TX. I'm sure I've left something out. That R thing wasn't going on in any of those regions.
Oh yes, I did leave something out - Louisiana - not there either.
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Originally Posted by kayanne
But have you ever actually seen a food product labeled "sherbert"? Does such a dessert actually exist? How is this different from the example I gave earlier about "baloney"? No such food product actually exists that is spelled b a l o n e y, despite it often being pronounced that way (including in the Oscar Meyer commercials, in which it is not only pronounced baloney, but then spelled out as b o l o g n a.) Some people may pronounce it as buh-low-nuh (Weid Al did when he parodied My Sharona ) but buh-low-nee is the pronunciation I've always heard.
The food packages all say BOLOGNA, no matter which of the two ways it's pronounced. Likewise, the food packages all say SHERBET , no matter which of the two ways it's pronounced. That's why I think the judges got it wrong.
I'm glad we can all quibble about such a fun, trivial thing! Thanks for participating!
In a quick google search, I did find "sherbert" for sale, most notably a strain of marijuana sold in Washington state. The variety is called "Sunset Sherbert", and is labeled as such on the package. The marijuana buds are colorful.
It's clear - to me - he gave the wrong answer. I would guess if you gave him a pen and paper and said spell it, he'd have spelled it sherbet. But he said the other word, which doesn't share the same last 3 letters with sorbet.
These types of rules have been in place for a long time on Jeopardy. Correct pronunciation and spelling have always been required. Just because a lot of people mispronounce a word does not make it an acceptable alternative.
According to the wording of the clue, the contestant should have been ruled correct. The clue simply references that both words "end with the same 3 letters." One's pronunciation, given regional variations, doesn't change that fact--or change its spelling.
The contestant, who's the champ, even mentioned that it was pronounced "sherbert" in his neck of the woods. Not that it mattered. This champ is on a pretty impressive winning streak.
It does not matter if regional areas of the country pronounce words differently, the contestant was given a rule, that said the contestant mispronounced the word wrong. Note the bold type above. Regional differences in pronunciation was probably the reason for the rule, as to do away with any regional mispronouncing that occurs with the word. The contestant was told, that they both had to end with the same last 3 letters being pronounced the exact same. Just because people in your area of the country pronounces the word one way, does not mean it is right.
A good example of the regional differences in pronouncing words.
When JFK was president of the United States, in his speeches, he pronounced Car with the Boston variation. He called it a CA like the sound the crow makes. He dropped the R in numerous words.
If a U.S. president can use a different pronunciation of something so common as CAR dropping the R at the end, does not make it the correct pronunciation in most other regions.
The contestant was told that both words ended in the same 3 letter ending, and when he failed to do so, he was wrong. Regional pronunciations had nothing to do if he was right or wrong. He simply did not follow the rules.
I never lived in the Appalachians or Smoky Mountains. Must be a regional thing. I have, however, lived in the Tidewater region of VA and MD , NC, SC, GA, AL, Knoxville TN, and TX. I'm sure I've left something out. That R thing wasn't going on in any of those regions.
Oh yes, I did leave something out - Louisiana - not there either.
I always thought the "r" and wash was mostly found in the American Midlands accent, not the South. I hear it a lot here in Missouri. I say it sometimes. I remember in elementary school a lot of kids had a difficult time spelling "wash" and "Washington" correctly.
But have you ever actually seen a food product labeled "sherbert"? Does such a dessert actually exist? How is this different from the example I gave earlier about "baloney"? No such food product actually exists that is spelled b a l o n e y, despite it often being pronounced that way (including in the Oscar Meyer commercials, in which it is not only pronounced baloney, but then spelled out as b o l o g n a.) Some people may pronounce it as buh-low-nuh (Weid Al did when he parodied My Sharona ) but buh-low-nee is the pronunciation I've always heard.
The food packages all say BOLOGNA, no matter which of the two ways it's pronounced. Likewise, the food packages all say SHERBET , no matter which of the two ways it's pronounced. That's why I think the judges got it wrong.
I'm glad we can all quibble about such a fun, trivial thing! Thanks for participating!
Yes, I have indeed seen that frozen dessert labeled as "sherbert" on commercial packaging.
It's not just down south. New Yorkers say "sherbert" too. We spell it correctly, pronounce it with the additional "R". I never thought about it before this.
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