"Moleskine is officially pronounced mol-a-skeen-a, although it can vary."

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argonic

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Nov 21, 2005, 8:41:45 PM11/21/05
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Does anybody really say molaskeena? Just curious. I've never heard it
myself.

Ian Tindale

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Nov 22, 2005, 7:41:22 AM11/22/05
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I pronounce it 'mole' as in 'bowl', and 'skine' as in 'shine'. Works
for me.

Evan Edwards

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Nov 22, 2005, 9:47:13 AM11/22/05
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On Monday 21 November 2005 8:41, argonic wrote:
> Does anybody really say molaskeena?  Just curious.  I've never heard it
> myself.

From what I've heard, no. I've been looking around town for a pocket
plain (or four), and I've been pronouncing it and hearing it pronounced quite
a bit. Seems that in both northern California and central Pennsylvania at
least, it's pronounced as in "animal epidermis".

I have a few spare pocket sketches but I like the page count of the plain.
It seems that there are plenty of stores with lots of lined and quad pocket
and plain full sized, but none with pocket plain. Tiny green! Tiny green!

I try to buy from local business before going online, but...

--
Evan "JabberWokky" Edwards
http://www.cheshirehall.org/

Phil Ulrich

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Nov 22, 2005, 9:49:28 AM11/22/05
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I actually pronounce it 'molaskeena,' and adopt a horrible Italian
accent while doing so. Drives my friends *nuts.*

antigone

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Nov 22, 2005, 10:50:55 AM11/22/05
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I've always pronounced it mo-LES-kin... guess that ain't even nearly
right. But how exactly do you pronounce 'molaskeena' anyway?
'Mol-A-skeena'? 'Mol-A-skeen-A'? 'Molaskeen-A'? Can you hear the last
'a' (like in 'china') or is it somehow swallowed? English isn't my
mother's tongue, so I find it rather hard to imagine how a word in a
foreign language would be pronounced with another foreign language's
accent.
And Evan, how do you pronounce 'moleskine' like 'animal epidermis'???

Phil Ulrich

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Nov 22, 2005, 10:53:03 AM11/22/05
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"Animal epidermis" = "mole skin." (I'm assuming.)

molesk...@gmail.com

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Nov 22, 2005, 10:54:14 AM11/22/05
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Might interest you guys to note that people I've met who are "close" to
the product;) just plainly say "molskin".

Paul Worthington

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Nov 22, 2005, 10:56:00 AM11/22/05
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I pronounce it 'molaskeena' (without adopting an accent) because it's
an Italian name. Just like the German name Porsche is 'porsha'.

Evan Edwards

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Nov 22, 2005, 11:31:58 AM11/22/05
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Exactly.

For a bit I pronounced it "Mol-eh-s'kine" (sort of rhyming with 'time' but
with an 'n'), but everybody seems to call it "mole-skin" at various art and
book stores. I know there's a difference between the origin of the word and
what is said, but in matters of borrowed language I tend to accept the most
common form pronounced in the country or region I am in.

In the end, I don't think it really matters so long as the people talking
know what they are each referring to. About the only problem I've ever had
was when somebody thought I meant the bandages.

For what it's worth, my fiance and I pronounce 'cahier' in what I think is
the correct way ("kah-yay"). Volant I pronounced as 'Vole-aunt', rhyming
with 'font'... or should I say 'as in "animal relative"'?

argonic

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Nov 22, 2005, 11:51:01 AM11/22/05
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Similar to the moleskin or molaskeena choice, I mostly hear porsh
rather than the native porsha.

argonic

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Nov 22, 2005, 11:53:41 AM11/22/05
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I say kah-yay, too. To anglicize it (kaheer? kahigher?) would feel
unnatural.

Ear...@gmail.com

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Nov 22, 2005, 3:12:32 PM11/22/05
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I go with Mole-skine, unless I think too long about it. I usually just
call it "mi JURN-ul." Unless I'm in my Porsche, or on my porch. Where
are those recordings of Van Gohn, Hemingway and Picasso walking into a
store and buying them when we need them?

E

argonic

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Nov 22, 2005, 5:15:31 PM11/22/05
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I'm more and more in the 'my notebook' or 'my planner' school these
days. Great books, a lot of baggage.

em-dash

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Nov 22, 2005, 5:34:51 PM11/22/05
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argonic wrote:
> Similar to the moleskin or molaskeena choice, I mostly hear porsh
> rather than the native porsha.

As I mostly hear "Sigmund Freud" rather than "Zigmundt Freudt."
Fowler's English Usage, under "foreign phrases," I believe, offers some
useful, typically terse, and wholly appropriate advice on such
pronunciations.

chimerical.brio

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Nov 23, 2005, 11:42:54 AM11/23/05
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I pronounce in MOLE-skeen. I like the way it rolls off the tongue

grunch

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Nov 24, 2005, 12:29:48 PM11/24/05
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I pronounce it...Moleskin leaving the final 'e' silent.

sushuma

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Nov 25, 2005, 2:23:30 AM11/25/05
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The way I see it, Moleskine was originally created in France. In
French, they would say "mole - SKEEN" approximately.

I think the mol-eh-skeen-eh pronunciation came about from Italian ...
Modo & Modo, the present publishers of the Moleskine, are Italian.

In my opinion the CORRECT pronunciation would be the French one -- and
it is the most common way I have heard people say it here in the US.

Fredrik Nordstrom

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Nov 25, 2005, 5:10:26 AM11/25/05
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I say it like this: Min anteckningsbok (the swedish equivalent for "My
notebook").

You pronounce it something like this:

Min an tech ning's book (use english pronounciation for these words)

I hope you at least get an idea of how I say it :)

best,
Fredrik Nordström, Sweden

Fredrik Nordstrom

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Nov 25, 2005, 5:14:46 AM11/25/05
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I thought about it, and this way of saying it is closer to the real Swedish:

Mean ann tech ning's book

Gregory Jones

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Nov 25, 2005, 8:27:33 AM11/25/05
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Since the word is ultimately derived from the English word 'moleskin' I
think it makes the most sense to pronounce it 'mole skin'. The French
took the word over and added an 'e' to make it sound French, hence
'mole skeen'. And Italians pronounce the sequence of letters
'moleskine' as 'mol ah skeen a'. But both Italians and French are
deviations from the original English word.

Charlz

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Nov 25, 2005, 9:50:10 AM11/25/05
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I called MoleskineUS and asked them how they pronounce it.
They said "Mah-lah-ski-naw."

Paul Worthington

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Nov 25, 2005, 11:05:25 AM11/25/05
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Thanks, Charlz, for making the call. That official pronunciation is how
I've always said it.

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