English, the Language.

[TerokNor]

I am not disappointed, more surpized, cause when people spoke about it before, it always sounded as if that place is a dark, dirty hole in the ground, you should avoid falling into.
So, if people discuss politics and what not in a mature way there, thats great.

And thanks Goliath for pointing out the tread. Was quite interessting to hear, though not so many native English speakers did record something...from the English speakers the only accent I recognized was the scottish one, everything else sounded just..well..like "normal" English.

TerokNor

 

[Count Zero]

Well, there's the occasional name-calling and stuff like that but it's certainly not the hellhole it's often made out to be on this board.

As for the thread, I thought we actually had a variety of (native) English accents and there are more coming up. So stay tuned!

 

[Goliath]

And thanks Goliath for pointing out the tread. Was quite interessting to hear, though not so many native English speakers did record something...from the English speakers the only accent I recognized was the scottish one, everything else sounded just..well..like "normal" English.

Did the Hounds of Hell fill you with fear?

 

[scotpens]

Funny, because it doesn't sound rude in my mind, except maybe because “pronto” it's a harsher sound than “hello”. It's a contraction of “Sono pronto” (“I'm ready”), which is a rather polite (and amusingly detached) thing to say to answer the phone.

I should have explained. My seeing it as rude stems from the common German misconception that pronto means quick. There's an expression here, “Aber pronto!” (But pronto!), that gets used after you told someone to do something and it means 'but quickly'. It's rather rude and usually only used in a joking manner. I have no idea how this mistranslation happened.

It’s not a mistranslation; you’re just picking the wrong language. Pronto does mean “quickly” or “soon” in Spanish.

 

[Count Zero]

Ah, well, that explains it, then.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Well the mix seems to work for the most part, at least we haven't lost any space probes due to a mix up between different systems. seriously any competent scientist will generally use the international metric system (sometimes K for temp).

Maybe not any space probes, but Air Canada did come extremely close to losing an aircraft due mainly to the changeover to the metric system. It was only because the captain was an experienced glider pilot and because the co-pilot knew of the existence of a closed airforce base (which he didn't realise had been converted into a racetrack) that the plane was able to land.

Gimli Glider

 

[MacLeod]

Yes I have seen the Air Crash Investigation episode regarding that, that was in part down to poor training.

 

[SG-17]

How do non-American English speakers pronounce soldier? I've, and all that I hear are soul-ger.

 

[Canadave]

And thanks Goliath for pointing out the tread. Was quite interessting to hear, though not so many native English speakers did record something...from the English speakers the only accent I recognized was the scottish one, everything else sounded just..well..like "normal" English.

Did the Hounds of Hell fill you with fear?

They're actually pretty friendly mutts, I find, so long as you have a bacon snack or two in your pocket.

 

[Trilliam]

MacLeod wrote:
And whilst speedeo's show both mph and kph, the kph is secondary. So could require more than a cursory glance to check your speed.

You know whats so funny - these were all the arguements over 30 years ago when we converted to metric. FWIW, unless your car here is a vintage car, your speedo had been in kph since the mid 70s. Speed conversions mph x 1.6 approximates kph. 1km= 5/8th mile.

 

[MacLeod]

Was probable easier to do 30 years ago. Smaller population, fewer cars etc..

 

[iguana_tonante]

I should have explained. My seeing it as rude stems from the common German misconception that pronto means quick. There's an expression here, "Aber pronto!" (But pronto!), that gets used after you told someone to do something and it means 'but quickly'. It's rather rude and usually only used in a joking manner. I have no idea how this mistranslation happened. But whenever I hear Italians answer the phone with "pronto" I think they say, "you better be quick about it."

Ah, right, I didn't think about it. I knew "pronto" is used meaning "quick" or "fast" in some languages (scotpens tells me it's borrowed from Spanish and not Italian in this instance), but I didn't make the connection. As an addendum, I find it hilarious when the Tenth Doctor says "Molto bene!" as an exclamation, he sounds so cute!

 

[iBender]

How do non-American English speakers pronounce soldier? I've, and all that I hear are soul-ger.

Oh, well a word like that sounds different where ever you go; from Sol-Jer to Soul-Dyer...
Many people in London don't sound the same, it varys for quite a neat mix, and people ALL OVER this island sound different too, either subtlly or blatantly.

 

[Trilliam]

Was probable easier to do 30 years ago. Smaller population, fewer cars etc..

What makes it easier is when Govts pass legislation withdrawing legal use of the Imperial system.

 

[iBender]

OTOH, for speakers of most UK dialects and for New Englanders and Southerners in the US, flaw and floor are homophones. For me, they sound completely different.

We had a similar discussion to this a few months ago.

To me, and other Australians, the following word are homophones

Ball and bawl
Saw and sore
Paw, pore and poor

etc etc

Some Americans were trying to explain how they pronounced them and I just couldn't understand how these words could sound different.

Ball and bawl are homophones in American English (at least in the North) as are pore and poor. However Paw sounds like p-Awe and Saw sounds like s-Awe.

Saw and sore
Paw, pore and poor


Some Americans were trying to explain how they pronounced them and I just couldn't understand how these words could sound different.

Because there's an open vowel sound at the end of "saw" and "paw":

s-aaa

p-aaa

(Well, the "W" at the end results in slightly different pronunciation from a string of "a"s, but that's close enough for an example.)

Whereas "poor/pore" and "sore" have a distinct "rrrrr" sound in them.

p-orr

s-orr

British and Australian accents tend to insert "r" sounds where there aren't any written down, whereas American accents tend to distinguish between words that are and aren't spelled with an "r."

Homophones.

Poor/Pour/Pore/Paw

Three/Free

Not from where I'm standing! Homophones: pour/poor/pore very different from paw, also different form pa (in the former, the w is slightly pronounced).

Maybe it's my accent, but Paw/Pour/Poor are all homophones.
Like Saw (To cut wood but not to say what's seen? - For some reason? I think.) Saw 'wood cutter'/Sore

It's like, Raw.
You don't say Ra, you say
"Raw"
"Saw"
"Sore"
"Law"
"Door"
"Paw"
"Pour"
or
"Pore"
and
"Poor"



This palindrome is great.

Rise to vote sir.

 

[RoJoHen]

We had a similar discussion to this a few months ago.

To me, and other Australians, the following word are homophones

Ball and bawl
Saw and sore
Paw, pore and poor

etc etc

Some Americans were trying to explain how they pronounced them and I just couldn't understand how these words could sound different.

Ball and bawl are homophones in American English (at least in the North) as are pore and poor. However Paw sounds like p-Awe and Saw sounds like s-Awe.

Homophones.

Poor/Pour/Pore/Paw

Three/Free

Not from where I'm standing! Homophones: pour/poor/pore very different from paw, also different form pa (in the former, the w is slightly pronounced).

Maybe it's my accent, but Paw/Pour/Poor are all homophones.
Like Saw (To cut wood but not to say what's seen? - For some reason? I think.) Saw 'wood cutter'/Sore

It's like, Raw.
You don't say Ra, you say
"Raw"
"Saw"
"Sore"
"Law"
"Door"
"Paw"
"Pour"
or
"Pore"
and
"Poor"



This palindrome is great.

Rise to vote sir.

It is very much your accent. "Aw" and "ore" do not make even remotely the same sound.

 

[Trilliam]

Nor do "aw" and "oar" (raw, roar). But "ore" and "oar" do (bore & boar, sore & soar)

 

[Skywalker]

Nor do "aw" and "oar" (raw, roar). But "ore" and "oar" do (bore & boar, sore & soar)

Not up here in New England. Up here it's roah, oah, boah, and soah.

 

[Trilliam]

Would be interesting to compare the New England region of the USA, with the New England region of Aus.

 

[iBender]

I say Boah when I should say Boar, but I don't say Soah.

I saw a soaring eagle soar high.

Boar, until now, was an homophone with Boa from an Boa Constricter.