According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover , in
American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
lover. British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
Is that really true?
(We may have discussed this before here, but I don't know in what
context.)
On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Ruud Harmsen <r...@rudhar.com> wrote:
> According tohttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover, in
> American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
> lover.
> British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
> Is that really true?
Webster’s Collegiate 11th ed. (AmE) has it pronounced as in “cover”
and “spot,” in that order.
OED (BrE?) has it pronounced as in “spot” and “cover,” in that order.
Definitely. I'd probably even go as far to say that it's the majority pronunciation in the US. I've lived in five different dialect regions (deep South, eastern and western New England, northern California, and Philadelphia), and I can't recall ever hearing "hover" with /A/.
> British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
> Is that really true?
> (We may have discussed this before here, but I don't know in what
> context.)
This sounds familiar; I think we did discuss it before, and it was the first time I"d ever heard of the /A/ pronunciation.
> According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover , in
> American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
> lover.
> British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
> Is that really true?
In my experience that is true of British pronunciation: I've never heard it rhyme with cover.
> (We may have discussed this before here, but I don't know in what
> context.)
> On 2012-02-09 17:31:46 +0000, Ruud Harmsen said:
>> According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover , in
>> American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
>> lover.
>> British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
>> Is that really true?
> In my experience that is true of British pronunciation: I've never heard it rhyme > with cover.
> Definitely. I'd probably even go as far to say that it's the majority
> pronunciation in the US. I've lived in five different dialect regions
> (deep South, eastern and western New England, northern California, and
> Philadelphia), and I can't recall ever hearing "hover" with /A/.
But when E.English dictionary says hover has vowel of words like
spot, hot, dot, it doesn't imply its /A/ like in AmEnglish, does it?
In my CED, hover refers to pot, botch, and sorry,
while hovel quotes cut, flood, rough, and son.
> > Definitely. I'd probably even go as far to say that it's the majority
> > pronunciation in the US. I've lived in five different dialect regions
> > (deep South, eastern and western New England, northern California, and
> > Philadelphia), and I can't recall ever hearing "hover" with /A/.
> But when E.English dictionary says hover has vowel of words like
> spot, hot, dot, it doesn't imply its /A/ like in AmEnglish, does it?
/A/ is one of the usual transcriptions of the AmE vowel in spot/hot/dot, the LOT vowel:
>> Definitely. I'd probably even go as far to say that it's the majority
>> pronunciation in the US. I've lived in five different dialect regions
>> (deep South, eastern and western New England, northern California, and
>> Philadelphia), and I can't recall ever hearing "hover" with /A/.
> But when E.English dictionary says hover has vowel of words like
> spot, hot, dot, it doesn't imply its /A/ like in AmEnglish, does it?
I think I've heard [A] and [O] but I'm not competent to say.
David Tibet likes that word a lot. I don't know anything about his origins, but he's been living in London since very long:
Warm protective clothing - check
Safety helmet on - check
Goggles - failing to wear!
Vehicle registration number - not visible!
Annual licence sticker - failing to display!
To all district PCs: Stop and apprehend at the nearest opportunity!
On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Ruud Harmsen <r...@rudhar.com> wrote:
> According tohttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover, in
> American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
> lover.
> British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
> Is that really true?
> (We may have discussed this before here, but I don't know in what
> context.)
<ranjit_math...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Ruud Harmsen <r...@rudhar.com> wrote:
> > According tohttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover, in
> > American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
> > lover.
> > British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
> > Is that really true?
> > (We may have discussed this before here, but I don't know in what
> > context.)
> Do you mean "as if it were a Dutch word written hoovercraft"?
> If you mean "as if it were an English word written hoovercraft", then
> it would presumably be pronounced as if it were a Dutch word written
> huvercraft.
Just a few minutes ago, I came across a poem by Sidney Lanier (of
Macon, Georgia), written in 1868, that rhymes hover, lover, and cover.
(It's the song "May the maiden" -- about the month of May.)
> On Feb 10, 12:50 pm, "ranjit_math...@yahoo.com" <ranjit_math...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Ruud Harmsen <r...@rudhar.com> wrote:
> > > According tohttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hover, in
> > > American English that word can have the vowel of words like cover and
> > > lover.
> > > British dictionaries say it can only be like spot, hot, dot etc.
> > > Is that really true?
> > > (We may have discussed this before here, but I don't know in what
> > > context.)
> > Do you mean "as if it were a Dutch word written hoovercraft"?
> > If you mean "as if it were an English word written hoovercraft", then
> > it would presumably be pronounced as if it were a Dutch word written
> > huvercraft.
> Just a few minutes ago, I came across a poem by Sidney Lanier (of
> Macon, Georgia), written in 1868, that rhymes hover, lover, and cover.
> (It's the song "May the maiden" -- about the month of May.)
Am 10.02.2012 18:50, schrieb ranjit_math...@yahoo.com:
> On Feb 9, 12:31 pm, Ruud Harmsen<r...@rudhar.com> wrote:
>> (I ask for my Dutch articlehttp://rudhar.com/fonetics/hovrkrft.htm.
>> In Dutch, hovercraft is often pronounced as if written hoovercraft.)
> Do you mean "as if it were a Dutch word written hoovercraft"?
> If you mean "as if it were an English word written hoovercraft", then
> it would presumably be pronounced as if it were a Dutch word written
> huvercraft.
Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the direction of the airflow.
> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
> > direction of the airflow.
> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
> literally "dust sucker".
The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
>> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
>> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
>> > direction of the airflow.
>> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
>> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
>> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
>> literally "dust sucker".
> The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
Often people call them just "vacuum".
It's my pet peeve, people calling vacuum cleaners vacuums,
cell phones cells, and transistor radios transistors.
The transistor used to annoy me because I couldn't understand
why wouldn't people call it a radio at the time when portable
valve radios were long since gone a buried. Well, it's not an issue
anymore, now in the 21st century you hardly ever come across
anybody who'd carry anything that could be refer to as
a transistor radio. :-)
> >> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
> >> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
> >> > direction of the airflow.
> >> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
> >> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
> >> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
> >> literally "dust sucker".
> > The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
> Often people call them just "vacuum".
> It's my pet peeve, people calling vacuum cleaners vacuums,
> cell phones cells, and transistor radios transistors.
> The transistor used to annoy me because I couldn't understand
> why wouldn't people call it a radio at the time when portable
> valve radios were long since gone a buried. Well, it's not an issue
> anymore, now in the 21st century you hardly ever come across
> anybody who'd carry anything that could be refer to as
> a transistor radio. :-)
Mph. Around here, kids now carry 'mp3's. Unless they're trendy, in
which case they'll carry 'mp4's.
> > >> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
> > >> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
> > >> > direction of the airflow.
> > >> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
> > >> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
> > >> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
> > >> literally "dust sucker".
> > > The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
> > Often people call them just "vacuum".
> > It's my pet peeve, people calling vacuum cleaners vacuums,
> > cell phones cells, and transistor radios transistors.
> > The transistor used to annoy me because I couldn't understand
> > why wouldn't people call it a radio at the time when portable
> > valve radios were long since gone a buried. Well, it's not an issue
> > anymore, now in the 21st century you hardly ever come across
> > anybody who'd carry anything that could be refer to as
> > a transistor radio. :-)
> Mph. Around here, kids now carry 'mp3's. Unless they're trendy, in
> which case they'll carry 'mp4's.
I think over here they're iPods (whoever manufactured them). Aren't
mp4's videos?
> > > >> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
> > > >> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
> > > >> > direction of the airflow.
> > > >> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
> > > >> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
> > > >> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
> > > >> literally "dust sucker".
> > > > The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
> > > Often people call them just "vacuum".
> > > It's my pet peeve, people calling vacuum cleaners vacuums,
> > > cell phones cells, and transistor radios transistors.
> > > The transistor used to annoy me because I couldn't understand
> > > why wouldn't people call it a radio at the time when portable
> > > valve radios were long since gone a buried. Well, it's not an issue
> > > anymore, now in the 21st century you hardly ever come across
> > > anybody who'd carry anything that could be refer to as
> > > a transistor radio. :-)
> > Mph. Around here, kids now carry 'mp3's. Unless they're trendy, in
> > which case they'll carry 'mp4's.
> I think over here they're iPods (whoever manufactured them). Aren't
> mp4's videos?
MP3 stood for MPEG 1, Layer 3 (iinm, audio layer of the version 1 of
the Moving Pictures Experts Group's standard) - so, the 'encoding'
used for an audio stream of a movie file, but it could be used by
itself, without a video. It then started designating the thing used to
play those files. Then it started designating any portable audio file
player. Then an octogenarian who was President twice (from '86 to '96)
decided to run again in '06, and to look 'young' named his campaign
'MP3' - supposedly, 'Mário Presidente 3'. An utter joke.
MP4 stands for MPEG 4. Again iinm, it specifies many audio and video
possibilities to make up the movie. Apple at least uses .m4a for files
that contain only audio. I've seen .mp4 used for complete movies, but
at this point file extensions are not as important as they used to be.
But of course the guys who do marketing for kids here could not let it
pass - they noticed there were files around with an .mp4 extension, so
they decided newer portable audio players would not be 'MP3's any
longer, but 'MP4's. 'iPod' isn't used generically here, and Apple
wouldn't hear of having even video iPods marketed as 'MP4's.
> >> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
> >> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
> >> > direction of the airflow.
> >> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
> >> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
> >> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
> >> literally "dust sucker".
> > The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
> Often people call them just "vacuum".
> It's my pet peeve, people calling vacuum cleaners vacuums,
> cell phones cells, and transistor radios transistors.
OTOH, a "machine" was an answering machine.
And people still input PIN numbers into ATM machines.
> The transistor used to annoy me because I couldn't understand
> why wouldn't people call it a radio at the time when portable
> valve radios were long since gone a buried. Well, it's not an issue
> anymore, now in the 21st century you hardly ever come across
> anybody who'd carry anything that could be refer to as
> a transistor radio. :-)
When we were emptying my mother's apartment, we came across a
"portable valve [i.e. tube' radio." I t was powered by something
called, apparently, a B cell, which wasn't intermediate between AAA,
AA, C, And D cells, which are different-size cylinders, but almost a
cube several inches on a side.
>> >> > Many (I'd say most) Germans say "hoovercraft" and many probably
>> >> > erroneously write it with double o. They don't seem to care about the
>> >> > direction of the airflow.
>> >> I should think "Luftkissenboot" (lit. "air cushion boat") is more
>> >> widespread. German speakers like to be explicit with their technical
>> >> words, same in "Staubsauger", the German word vor hoover, which is
>> >> literally "dust sucker".
>> > The American word for "hoover" is "vacuum cleaner."
>> Often people call them just "vacuum".
>> It's my pet peeve, people calling vacuum cleaners vacuums,
>> cell phones cells, and transistor radios transistors.
> OTOH, a "machine" was an answering machine.
The same here.
Aren't we lucky they didn't start calling them "answers".
("John, please ring me with an answer to this problem tonight,
if I don't pick up, leave your answer in/with my answer." :-)
> And people still input PIN numbers into ATM machines.
These don't worry me much at all. I see "PIN", "ATM", "CSN",
"FIN", etc. as free standing names. If somebody talked about
his "pee aye number" or "personal aye en" I wouldn't immediately
realise what he is talking about.
These days people don't talk much about ATMs. The monstrously
expensive machines are beginning to disappear, I haven't used
one in years. If I need any cash (usually just coins for the parking
meters) I get it in a supermarket with my shopping, ATMs don't
usually give out coins anyway.
>> The transistor used to annoy me because I couldn't understand
>> why wouldn't people call it a radio at the time when portable
>> valve radios were long since gone a buried. Well, it's not an issue
>> anymore, now in the 21st century you hardly ever come across
>> anybody who'd carry anything that could be refer to as
>> a transistor radio. :-)
> When we were emptying my mother's apartment, we came across a
> "portable valve [i.e. tube' radio." I t was powered by something
> called, apparently, a B cell, which wasn't intermediate between AAA,
> AA, C, And D cells, which are different-size cylinders, but almost a
> cube several inches on a side.
Right, I remember the large cubical B cells. My grandparents in
northern Bohemia had doorbells powered by those. They were
hanging off the ceiling in the entrance hall. If I remember correctly,
they had DC power supplies in their house well into the fifties.
You couldn't use a simple inexpensive transformer to convert DC
to low voltage. It was cheaper to use batteries.
