Day: February 5, 2016

Wot not to rite

 

    • aegis: ee-jis, not ay-jis
    • asterisk: as-ter-isk, not as-ter-ik
    • alumnae: a-lum-nee, not a-lum-nay
    • archipelago: ar-ki-PEL-a-go, not arch-i-pel-a-go
    • athlete: ath-leet, not ath-a-leet
    • candidate: kan-di-dayt, not kan-i-dayt
    • chimera: kiy-MEER-a, not CHIM-er-a
    • disastrous: di-zas-tres, not di-zas-ter-es
    • electoral: e-LEK-tor-al, not e-lek-TOR-al
    • etcetera: et-set-er-a, not ek-set-er-a
    • lambaste: lam-bayst, not lam-bast
    • larvae: lar-vee, not lar-vay
    • library: li-brar-y, not li-bar-y
    • mischievous: MIS-che-vus, not mis-CHEE-vee-us

  • Who is Archie Pelago anyway?
  • Miss ,Jesus called.        What!Has he become gender fluid as well now?
  • He’s with Kay Meera I guess.I don’t blunderstand any furore
  •  It took aegis to cook the dinner
  • I larvee tonight, my dear one.I’m Deutsch so  I rhyme  like no one

 

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  • It’s that Elle Ectoralle on the  phone again.Hello,Elle.Heck she’s gone
  • We had lamb paste for our tea on digestive whiskers.The cat’s actuelly… it’s hell in here
  • Anterisques for sale post sortem la  langue francais
  • I lie buried rarely.I lie  prematurely.I lie cos I  love Xeno-phone

Jewish humour

Conversation with the Rabbi
Rabbi Bloom asked young Paul what his favourite bible story was.
“I guess the one about Noah and the ark, where they floated around on the water for 40 days and 40 nights” replied Paul.
“That was a good story,” said Rabbi Bloom, “and, with all that water, I bet they had a good time fishing, don’t you think?”
Paul thought for a moment, then replied, “I don’t think so…they only had two worms.”

When darkness comes again

When darkness comes down like a blinding blow

And ,all alone, I sit and see the  stars,

Then what is or out I do not know

Nor shall I muse nor look ahead too far.

 

To recover from the damage we call life,

Can become the purpose and the flow

And even when our heart has felt the knife

That will heal and all the pain will go.

 

Yet nightfall brings reminders of our  end,

Though summer light can give us false belief.

Under too much strain we jolt and  bend

And know that time does nothing but deceive.

 

Yet do not  bang your head to see the stars.

Just turn  off all the lights and there they are

 

 

 

 

 

Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. 

What is the correct or received pronunciation of English?

This video gives some idea of the difference but there are many other local forms of speech

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/rphappened.htm

 

All I can say is that having many immigrants from Europe,Asia and Africa there is no longer such an emphasis on  what was once called BBC English.But it’s only on the last ten years we have heard reporters on the News with Lancashire accents.Indeed though mine has diminished I am still asked if  I am a foreigner.And working class people are not so willing to be told their speech is not right

Words which are commonly mispronounced

Cats looking at us

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0907075.html

 

I think one reason for this is that our reading vocabulary may be bigger than our oral vocabulary.We read Shakespeare  and the classic novels in school but we don’t use many of the words talking to our family.

I remember when I was about 4 years old the  stll present shame I felt when I heard some of my family talking about words with Viking origins so I offered HIYA as an example and they all teased  me  mercilessly.That’s one reason I try to be kind to people and see a positive possibility in  what they say.To have roomful of people laughing unkindly at you is bad at any age but at 4 it was hell to me and most children have these shaming experiences which puzzles me because why do othr older people not empathise or encourage? Continue reading “Words which are commonly mispronounced” →

Relating to pronouncing/understanding English words

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http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0907013.html

We see below what the a in awry comes from.But very few English  speaking people will know about these meanings.

 

Greek prefix Basic meaning Example words
a-, an- without achromatic, amoral, atypical, anaerobic
anti-, ant- opposite; opposing anticrime, antipollution, antacid
auto- self, same autobiography, automatic, autopilot
bio-, bi- life, living organism biology, biophysics, biotechnology, biopsy
geo- Earth; geography geography, geomagnetism, geophysics, geopolitics
hyper- excessive, excessively hyperactive, hypercritical, hypersensitive
micro- small microcosm, micronucleus, microscope
mono- one, single, alone monochrome, monosyllable, monoxide
neo- new, recent neonatal, neophyte, neoconservatism, neofascism, neodymium
pan- all panorama, panchromatic, pandemic, pantheism
thermo-, therm- heat thermal, thermometer, thermostat