Over-representation of Americans

[Mattadd]

Actually, it likely has more to do with the fact that the Loonie thing came up in Blaze of Glory, Eddington's last episode. Kenneth Marshall, who is American obviously had no reason to think the character was Canadian prior to that so had no reason to pronounce the letter differently than the American norm. It is ironic the character they chose to give a Canadian connection actually frequently had to speak a letter that is pronounced differently in the US and Canada (his dialogue does include many references to the DMZ).

I just kind of assumed that all pronunciation had become Americanized by the 24th century. Because not only does Eddington say the letter Z the American way, everybody says 'Lieutenant' the American way as well, including Picard, Reed and Eddington.

 

[The Wormhole]

Meh, I say Lieutenant the American way to. It just makes more sense than using an F sound in a word that clearly has no F or a PH. And yes, I am aware the pronunciation is a result of the word's French origin, and no I do not pronounce Colonel "Co-Lo-Nel."

Related and amusing, Stargate Atlantis had a Canadian character who when talking about devices known as ZPMs always insisted on saying Z the Canadian Zed way, as opposed to the American characters who said Zee. Yet he still pronounced Lieutenant the American way.

 

[Mattadd]

That is odd about the Stargate character. If you're going to have him use Canadian pronunciation why not go all the way? Odd.

 

[Prax]

Do Canadians have a uniform way of saying it? What do they say in the military? People that live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Alaska, etc, speak in a dialect very similar if not identical to their northern(and eastern) neighbors. How would someone from Quebec pronounce Lieutenant if they were using it to address an officer in the Canadian Army?

 

[Mattadd]

There really aren't regional dialects in Canada, it would be pronounced the same way across Canada, even in Quebec if they were speaking in English.

 

[Prax]

So if you are in the Canadian Army, you say "Leftenant"?

 

[Mattadd]

Newfoundland does have it's own odd dialect, since they were annexed by Canada fairly recently. I can't speak to how they would pronounce things.

 

[Mattadd]

So if you are in the Canadian Army, you say "Leftenant"?

Correct.

 

[Prax]

when British soldiers are attached to us army units, they say "Loo-tenant"

 

[Mattadd]

Interesting. I guess it makes sense to have a common terminology if you're attached to a unit that has a different way of pronouncing things.

 

[Mudd]

It's hysterical watching Hercules and Xena and hearing all the actors trying not to use their regional pronunciations.

 

[The Wormhole]

It does amuse me when actors use the wrong pronunciation for their accents. One amusing example is on Torchwood, John Barrowman speaks in an American accent while using the British pronunciation of the word estrogen (Easter-gen).

Do Canadians have a uniform way of saying it? What do they say in the military? People that live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Alaska, etc, speak in a dialect very similar if not identical to their northern(and eastern) neighbors. How would someone from Quebec pronounce Lieutenant if they were using it to address an officer in the Canadian Army?

The Canadian military uses pronounces the word "Leftenant" across the country. There is also a government position, the Lieutenant Governor which is also pronounced Leftenant.

Newfoundland does have it's own odd dialect,

Newfoundland speaks normal English, they just have weird accents.

 

[Shawnster]

Do Canadians pronounce the Korean DMZ as DM Zed?

 

[Mattadd]

They have weird accents too but I generally can't understand them and I'm pretty sure it has more to it then just accents, weird slang maybe I don't know.

 

[Mattadd]

Do Canadians pronounce the Korean DMZ as DM Zed?

Yes

 

[The Wormhole]

Well, what do you know, apparently Newfound English actually is considered different enough from normal English to have its own Wikipedia page.

 

[Mattadd]

Just read it. Sounds about right, no wonder I can't understand them half the time.

 

[Mattadd]

Noted but my point still stands, a show about rich or not so rich white folks in the oil business is not a complete representation of the city Dallas.
The show Star Trek about a fictional future organisation that shows mainly North Americans does not mean in universe all other nation states of Earth no longer exist in large numbers, as a few fans are speculating.
Why doesn't TOS show lots of Chinese, Indian and other Asian crew because either in universe they are serving in other parts of the ships or in universe they are on other ships or bases. Starfleet is more than just USS Enterprise, Deep Space station 9 or USS Voyager. Perhaps the new Discovery show will put the speculation to rest, since the main crew is not dominated by North American/Western European Caucasian personnel.

The idea that there are a many other ships dominated by other nationalities is an interesting one. Obviously we can only go by shows we've seen, which is a small sample size but the only sample we have. Would it be then that the ships have largely segregated nationalities? That seems anti-Star Trek. It also raises the question of discrimination as the flagships are disproportionately staffed by Americans.

 

[fireproof78]

The idea that there are a many other ships dominated by other nationalities is an interesting one. Obviously we can only go by shows we've seen, which is a small sample size but the only sample we have. Would it be then that the ships have largely segregated nationalities? That seems anti-Star Trek. It also raises the question of discrimination as the flagships are disproportionately staffed by Americans.

Why is there a ship fully staffed by Vulcans?

Not arguing against your point, because, unfortunately, there is still a fight for representation in Hollywood.

 

[Mojochi]

Do Canadians pronounce the Korean DMZ as DM Zed?

Yes

What about Jay-Z? lol