Why does Worf always say Wheapons ?

[scotpens]

^^ I've heard that if you drive through Texas for a while, you'll start to believe the Earth really is flat!

 

[Mary Ann]

He means "Numbah" as opposed to, ya know, "Number." Silly British people and their silent Rs.

Unless they're from Cornwall or Devonshire.

Or Wiltshire. Or Somerset/Zummerzet. Wer've got R's aplenty 'ere, me luvver!

I feel a Wurzels song coming on...

 

[Alrik]

Drive through Kansas sometime, you will believe in nowhere.

Take I-80 across Nebraska and you WILL be nowhere. Worst drive ever.

 

[Michael]

I still don't get what's supposed to be wrong about the way Gates McFadden says croissant. For a show where a Frenchman can't pronounce his own name properly, it was amazingly accurate when she said it.

 

[Trekker4747]

The way she said "croissant" always sort-of bugged me too.

I think it's more the tone and just the general way she says it, it doesn't sound natural. I believe Beverly's national origins have some "roots" in America so I think she should've pronounced it more how an American pronouces it ("kriss-awnt.") She pronounces it a sort-of French way and it comes-off as sounding odd and it almost sounds like she says it in a "mocking" kind of way. Like she's trying to sound French to impress Picard or something. Sort of like when a girl in high school is into a guy and tries to learn the rules about football and then has to be around him all the time to spouting off her knowledge and somehow mucks up the details somewhere.

It came across as a bit silly and desperate.

 

[zar]

I rationalize the fact that nobody gets accents right in Star Trek by the fact that it's Star Trek. In a world where you can go up to a ship and then beam down at any location on the planet, people would just live wherever they feel like living. After a hundred years of this, there's no reason to expect that France would still be populated mostly by people with French accents.

That reminds me of how annoying I find Spock's insistence on pronouncing the 'or' in 'error'

I don't understand how anyone could find anything said in Leonard Nimoy's voice to be annoying.

 

[Trekker4747]

Listening to Nimoy talk makes me want to offer him a glass of water.

 

[Willieck]

The way she said "croissant" always sort-of bugged me too.

I think it's more the tone and just the general way she says it, it doesn't sound natural. I believe Beverly's national origins have some "roots" in America so I think she should've pronounced it more how an American pronouces it ("kriss-awnt.") She pronounces it a sort-of French way and it comes-off as sounding odd and it almost sounds like she says it in a "mocking" kind of way. Like she's trying to sound French to impress Picard or something. Sort of like when a girl in high school is into a guy and tries to learn the rules about football and then has to be around him all the time to spouting off her knowledge and somehow mucks up the details somewhere.

It came across as a bit silly and desperate.

As it's a French word I would have thought she would have pronounced it with a French accent not an American one. Doesn't sound mocking at all. I as a Brit pronounce it in exactly the say way and not in some English equivalent.

 

[MikeS]

You say potatoe, I say potatah
You say tomatoe, I say tomatah.

There's a song in this thread.

 

[MikeS]

^^ I've heard that if you drive through Texas for a while, you'll start to believe the Earth really is flat!

And only 6,000 years old

 

[Trekker4747]

The way she said "croissant" always sort-of bugged me too.

I think it's more the tone and just the general way she says it, it doesn't sound natural. I believe Beverly's national origins have some "roots" in America so I think she should've pronounced it more how an American pronouces it ("kriss-awnt.") She pronounces it a sort-of French way and it comes-off as sounding odd and it almost sounds like she says it in a "mocking" kind of way. Like she's trying to sound French to impress Picard or something. Sort of like when a girl in high school is into a guy and tries to learn the rules about football and then has to be around him all the time to spouting off her knowledge and somehow mucks up the details somewhere.

It came across as a bit silly and desperate.

As it's a French word I would have thought she would have pronounced it with a French accent not an American one. Doesn't sound mocking at all. I as a Brit pronounce it in exactly the say way and not in some English equivalent.

Just being a French word doesn't mean one will say it with a French inflection. I say "kirs-aunt" myself, even though I know it's not how it's said, it's just the way Americans say it. I also say "foy-er" instead of "foy-ay."

 

[Michael]

In other words: She doesn't say it wrong.

 

[Too Much Fun]

That reminds me of how annoying I find Spock's insistence on pronouncing the 'or' in 'error'

I don't understand how anyone could find anything said in Leonard Nimoy's voice to be annoying.

Yes, Leonard Nimoy does indeed have a terrific, deep voice, but dammit, that's not how you pronounce 'ERROR'! It makes my inner grammar nazi sore.

I think it's more the tone and just the general way she says it, it doesn't sound natural. I believe Beverly's national origins have some "roots" in America so I think she should've pronounced it more how an American pronouces it ("kriss-awnt.") She pronounces it a sort-of French way and it comes-off as sounding odd and it almost sounds like she says it in a "mocking" kind of way. Like she's trying to sound French to impress Picard or something. Sort of like when a girl in high school is into a guy and tries to learn the rules about football and then has to be around him all the time to spouting off her knowledge and somehow mucks up the details somewhere.

It came across as a bit silly and desperate.

I agree. Does anyone remember that episode of "Seinfeld" where George goes off on this girl by calling her pretentious? He complains about stuff like, "You call paper mache PAPPY YAY MASH AYE! WHO SAYS PAPPY YAY MASH AYE? And you don't call my doorman, Sam, you call him, SAM YOU EL!"

That's kind of how I feel about Crusher's pronunciation of croissant. Sometimes, it's better to use the bastardized American version than it is to try to use the French one and end up sounding like a pretentious snob.

 

[Tom Riley]

Respectfully, I completely disagree. I don't find it pretentious to try to say something correctly, I just find it lazy when people don't bother trying.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Ah, but the point is, she wasn't saying it correctly, she was trying to and overdoing it, which makes it sound awkward. I can respect the effort, but we nitpickers still find the result a bit grating.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Beverly: Mmmm, a lovely croissant.
Picard: You spoke French!

 

[Smellincoffee]

That reminds me of how annoying I find Spock's insistence on pronouncing the 'or' in 'error' and other similar words (another example is 'Ambassador'). These words are supposed to have an 'er' sound despite their spelling, yet he insists on pronouncing 'error' like AIR OR. What is that all about?

I read in I Am Spock that Nimoy initially thought of Spock was a character who learned English from tapes, and so whose pronunciation tended to be pronounced and formal.

 

[Trekker4747]

Ah, but the point is, she wasn't saying it correctly, she was trying to and overdoing it, which makes it sound awkward. I can respect the effort, but we nitpickers still find the result a bit grating.

True. Nothing wrong with saying it correctly but, frankly, when it comes to certain words we get into a whole po-tay-toe/po-tah-toe thing. I think "kris-aunt"/"quoi-saunt" (or whatever) thing falls into this.

But with Beverly it just came across as unantural as it just sounded like she was trying to "pronounce" it right, she was over doing it, and the way she said it doesn't jive with her natural accent.

 

[Sadara]

^^ I've heard that if you drive through Texas for a while, you'll start to believe the Earth really is flat!

This!

Drove through it. It sucks.

 

[Michael]

Alright, we're talking about this scene, right? Because I can't see where she is supposedly saying it unanturally or like she is overdoing or overemphasizing it. In fact, she does say it correctly. I really don't understand where the problem is.