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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.
Well it was a New Yorker's mispronunciation that started this whole conversation.
There's no second "I" in aluminum either but for some unknown reason the U.K. residents all seem to pronounce it 'a-loo-min-ee-um."
Do I get a prize?
Quote:
Originally Posted by irman
Totally off topic but anyway ...
Nope, hate to break your bubble but you are wrong !
In the British English spelling of that word you mention it is spelled as
Alumimium,
where there IS a second *I* in the word ...….........
Irman is correct.
In the early 19th century this element was originally named alumium, which he subsequently changed to aluminum, by the great English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy.
It was then changed by others to aluminium because this pronunciation harmonized better with the names of other elements such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, lithium, selenium, etc.
The h is already silent in "hour", which is also pronounced as ˈau̇(-ə)r.
But the way the dictionary says it should be makes no sense whatsoever. We in the South say the word correctly. That was the whole point I was trying to make in the first place. There are many words we do a better job at saying the way they SHOULD be said. I know how to use a dictionary; but I don't always agree with it. What makes the wrong way the dictionary says better than the way we say it is the point I was making? In other words, why is the way it is said in D. C. better than using the original letters in the first place? I like our way best.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NCN
But the way the dictionary says it should be makes no sense whatsoever. We in the South say the word correctly. That was the whole point I was trying to make in the first place. There are many words we do a better job at saying the way they SHOULD be said. I know how to use a dictionary; but I don't always agree with it. What makes the wrong way the dictionary says better than the way we say it is the point I was making? In other words, why is the way it is said in D. C. better than using the original letters in the first place? I like our way best.
Hmmm. A current dictionary is more like a cultural agreement. "This is what we as a culture agree is correct". Similar to an etiquette standard of the day. Used to be Emily Post, I'm not sure who the etiquette standard bearer is now.
You can say well gosh, my family does it this way, or we've always said that this way, but it's not the correct standard. Continue doing that or saying that if you want.
But when you're on Jeopardy, if you don't pronounce the words as they are written in the Miriam Webster dictionary, you won't win any money.
(Or, in this case, if you pronounce sherbert as it's written in the Miram Webster dictionary, it's correct, for the word sherbert. Which doesn't have the last 3 letters that match sorbet).
The clue was “The main difference between these two desserts that end in the same three letters is that one contains dairy and the other does not.”
The contestant's (Austin’s) response – spelled here phonetically - “What is sor-bay and shur-burt?” – was ruled as incorrect. The judges claimed that Austin neglected to observe the part of the clue that required the two responses to “end in the same three letters.” They felt that by Austin pronouncing an r in the second syllable of sherbet, that part of the clue was not met.
Everyone I know pronounces it shur-burt. Maybe in some parts of the country people prounounce it differently. It doesn't make it wrong. The way it's pronounced doesn't change the spelling. If I put it on my grocery list, I write "sherbet." The is no product at the grocery store spelled "sherbert" regardless of which way it's pronounced.
The contestant wasn't required to say "sor-BET" even though that's how it's spelled. I think of words like Wednesday, colonel, bologna, corps....spelled completely differently than how they sound.
I think the judges were off the mark on this. The word that I pronounce as "shur-burt" ends in b-e-t, and the word that I pronounce as "sor-bay" ends in b-e-t.
Not a major crisis, I know, but a fun little thing in the news this week. Anyone else think the judges should change their decision?
So everyone you know adds a letter to a word that doesn't exist? It's sherbet so how do you get shur-burt?
Mispronunciations aren't something new on Jeopardy. And they're ruled against as per the rules. I've lived in a few areas of the country and visited many more. I've never heard anyone call it shur-burt. Looks like Jeopardy follows the pronunciation listed in Merriam Webster and there isn't a second r.
Originally Midwest here. Spent years retraining my wife (Chicagoan) to remove the R in words like wash and Washington. Lots of people from that part of the country pronounce them (and others) with that R in there.
So everyone you know adds a letter to a word that doesn't exist? It's sherbet so how do you get shur-burt?
Mispronunciations aren't something new on Jeopardy. And they're ruled against as per the rules. I've lived in a few areas of the country and visited many more. I've never heard anyone call it shur-burt. Looks like Jeopardy follows the pronunciation listed in Merriam Webster and there isn't a second r.
The key to the ruling is that the answers have end with the same three letters.
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