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How do you say "siren"?

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MC

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Mar 15, 2012, 12:05:34 PM3/15/12
to
The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)

http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]

--

"If you can, tell me something happy."
- Marybones

tony cooper

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Mar 15, 2012, 12:43:17 PM3/15/12
to
On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:05:34 -0400, MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net>
wrote:

>The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>
>http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]

I think the "si-reen" pronunciation is rather common. Irritating, but
common.

It's like "po-leece" for "police".
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

Peter Young

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Mar 15, 2012, 1:26:44 PM3/15/12
to
But not as irritating to me as "plice" for police.

I must say I've never heard the "sireen" pronunciation.

ObAUE: The nearby town of Cirencester is almost always called "Ciren"
by its inhabitants, and that rhymes with the "siren" pronunciation
that I've always heard.

Peter.

--
Peter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004.
(US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist)
Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired.
http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk

tony cooper

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Mar 15, 2012, 2:09:22 PM3/15/12
to
On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:26:44 GMT, Peter Young <pny...@ormail.co.uk>
wrote:

>On 15 Mar 2012 tony cooper <tony.co...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:05:34 -0400, MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net>
>> wrote:
>
>>>The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>>>it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>>>
>>>http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>
>> I think the "si-reen" pronunciation is rather common. Irritating, but
>> common.
>
>> It's like "po-leece" for "police".
>
>But not as irritating to me as "plice" for police.
>
>I must say I've never heard the "sireen" pronunciation.

Spend some time in the (US) South and you will. Not that this
pronunciation is limited to the South, but it is more prevalent there.

Steve Hayes

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Mar 15, 2012, 2:19:00 PM3/15/12
to
On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:26:44 GMT, Peter Young <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote:

>On 15 Mar 2012 tony cooper <tony.co...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:05:34 -0400, MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net>
>> wrote:
>
>>>The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>>>it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>>>
>>>http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>
>> I think the "si-reen" pronunciation is rather common. Irritating, but
>> common.
>
>> It's like "po-leece" for "police".
>
>But not as irritating to me as "plice" for police.
>
>I must say I've never heard the "sireen" pronunciation.
>
>ObAUE: The nearby town of Cirencester is almost always called "Ciren"
>by its inhabitants, and that rhymes with the "siren" pronunciation
>that I've always heard.

So it's an urban legend that says it was called sisister?




--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Peter Young

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Mar 15, 2012, 2:38:38 PM3/15/12
to
On 15 Mar 2012 Steve Hayes <haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote:

> On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:26:44 GMT, Peter Young <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote:

>>On 15 Mar 2012 tony cooper <tony.co...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:05:34 -0400, MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net>
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>>>>it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>>>>
>>>>http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>>
>>> I think the "si-reen" pronunciation is rather common. Irritating, but
>>> common.
>>
>>> It's like "po-leece" for "police".
>>
>>But not as irritating to me as "plice" for police.
>>
>>I must say I've never heard the "sireen" pronunciation.
>>
>>ObAUE: The nearby town of Cirencester is almost always called "Ciren"
>>by its inhabitants, and that rhymes with the "siren" pronunciation
>>that I've always heard.

> So it's an urban legend that says it was called sisister?

That's often stated to be so, but I have never heard anyone saying
that they have ever heard that pronunciation. I suspect that it's
either a myth or an upper-class 19th century affectation. Wikipedia is
doubtful about it, too: "once used locally as an abbreviation".
However, this section has the standard Wikipedia "This section need
additional citations".

John Varela

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Mar 15, 2012, 4:07:36 PM3/15/12
to
On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:05:34 UTC, MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net>
wrote:

> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>
> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]

You're getting me confused. My wife and I sometimes play with
deliberate mispronuncuations generally adopted from our respective
rural midwestern and urban southern backgrounds. One of those things
that I say is "si-reen". I associate it with the fat deputy sheriff
behind the dark sunglasses saying, "You're in a heap o' trouble,
Boy." Now you tell me that a Boston cop says "si-reen". I lived for
about six years in Boston or its suburbs and can't recall ever
hearing that usage from the natives. My world is crumbling.

--
John "The Sky is Falling" Varela

R H Draney

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Mar 15, 2012, 4:28:14 PM3/15/12
to
tony cooper filted:
>
>On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:05:34 -0400, MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net>
>wrote:
>
>>The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>>it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>>
>>http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>
>I think the "si-reen" pronunciation is rather common. Irritating, but
>common.

How do you pronounce the name of the order that includes dugongs and
manatees?...r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

Ray O'Hara

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Mar 15, 2012, 4:56:10 PM3/15/12
to

"MC" <cope...@mapca.inter.net> wrote in message
news:copespaz-EE9A78...@news.eternal-september.org...
> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>
> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>


Yes "sireen" is a common pronunciation in these parts.
{Boston and environs}


Don Phillipson

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Mar 15, 2012, 4:47:47 PM3/15/12
to
"Steve Hayes" <haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote in message
news:8jc4m7dhe734ukm9g...@4ax.com...

>>ObAUE: The nearby town of Cirencester is almost always called "Ciren"
>>by its inhabitants, and that rhymes with the "siren" pronunciation
>>that I've always heard.
>
> So it's an urban legend that says it was called sisister?

Both are used (or were 50 years ago) by different social classes.
Rural proletarians all said Siren: the gentility of neighbouring
villages all said Sisister.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)





Curlytop

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Mar 16, 2012, 5:07:42 PM3/16/12
to
MC set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time continuum:

> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>
> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]

This is the usual pronunciation over here, certainly in South Wales.
--
ξ: ) Proud to be curly

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply

James Silverton

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Jun 8, 2012, 2:50:18 PM6/8/12
to
As you say, it's irritating but I've heard it often enough in New
England. Perhaps, we could go to more native mythology and call it a
"Banshee".

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

Mike L

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Jun 8, 2012, 6:11:15 PM6/8/12
to
I like banshee; but there's also Lorelei and even bunyip to consider.

--
Mike.

Katy Jennison

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Jun 9, 2012, 10:51:40 AM6/9/12
to
Rusalka too.

--
Katy Jennison

amyba...@gmail.com

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Apr 14, 2018, 3:04:01 AM4/14/18
to
I say sireene. My kids tease me. I grew up near Boston.

Peter Moylan

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Apr 14, 2018, 8:55:13 AM4/14/18
to
On 14/04/18 17:03, amyba...@gmail.com wrote:

> I say sireene. My kids tease me. I grew up near Boston.

[saIr@n], but the gmail address makes me suspect that this is a
resurrection of an ancient thread.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

CDB

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Apr 14, 2018, 8:56:29 AM4/14/18
to
On 4/14/2018 3:03 AM, amyba...@gmail.com wrote:

[How do you say 'siren"?]

> I say sireene. My kids tease me. I grew up near Boston.

Merriam-Webster gives "sī-ˈrēn" (sigh-REEN) as an alternative
pronunciation for the word in this meaning:

a : an apparatus producing musical tones especially in acoustical
studies by the rapid interruption of a current of air, steam, or fluid
by a perforated rotating disk
b : a device often electrically operated for producing a penetrating
warning sound an ambulance siren an air-raid siren

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/siren

Please put your topic or question in the body of the posting, as well as
in the title.


Peter T. Daniels

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Apr 14, 2018, 10:11:40 AM4/14/18
to
On Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 8:55:13 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 14/04/18 17:03, amyba...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I say sireene. My kids tease me. I grew up near Boston.
>
> [saIr@n], but the gmail address makes me suspect that this is a
> resurrection of an ancient thread.

Not that ancient -- May 15, 2012. The participants, after "MC"'s initial
query, are Tony Cooper, Peter Young, Steve Hayes, John Varela, R H Draney,
Raymond O'Hara, Don Phillipson, Curlytop, James Silverton (who revived
it on June 8), Mike L, and Katy Jennison.

I didn't look at any of the 14 messages to see whither it had drifted.

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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Apr 14, 2018, 10:37:09 AM4/14/18
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"MC" was Matthew Cope.
http://www.northernstars.ca/cope_matthew/

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

Mark Bryant

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Jul 20, 2021, 2:21:00 PM7/20/21
to
My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.

Lewis

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Jul 20, 2021, 4:08:05 PM7/20/21
to
In message <f151ad7a-cd5f-4b7a...@googlegroups.com> Mark Bryant <checker...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 11:05:34 AM UTC-5, MC wrote:
>> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>>
>> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]

> My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West
> Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.

I have certainly heard it, infrequently. I don't know what region it may
be associated with.

--
Lobotomy means never having to say you're sorry -- or anything else.

Jerry Friedman

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Jul 20, 2021, 5:07:18 PM7/20/21
to
On Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at 2:08:05 PM UTC-6, Lewis wrote:
> In message <f151ad7a-cd5f-4b7a...@googlegroups.com> Mark Bryant <checker...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 11:05:34 AM UTC-5, MC wrote:
> >> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
> >> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
> >>
> >> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]

> > My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West
> > Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.

> I have certainly heard it, infrequently. I don't know what region it may
> be associated with.

I don't either, but I associate it with "jagwire", not necessarily for any
good reason.

--
Jerry Friedman

Peter Moylan

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Jul 20, 2021, 10:24:25 PM7/20/21
to
On 21/07/21 05:20, Mark Bryant wrote:
> On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 11:05:34 AM UTC-5, MC wrote:

>> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall
>> hearing it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston
>> MA)

> My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West
> Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.

I thought bruce bowser was the only regular to go on archaelogical digs
for ancient news threads.

--
Peter Moylan Newcastle, NSW http://www.pmoylan.org

occam

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Jul 21, 2021, 2:57:20 AM7/21/21
to
Is "jagwire" referring to the British car? The weird pronunciation I
wince at are the attempts at 'Peugeot'. From 'pew-got' to 'pee-jot' and
everything in between.

charles

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Jul 21, 2021, 3:41:03 AM7/21/21
to
In article <ilpuqb...@mid.individual.net>, occam <oc...@nowhere.nix>
wrote:
'pug' is the easist

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

occam

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Jul 21, 2021, 4:12:15 AM7/21/21
to
'pug' by itself is not going to get you far in France. 'pug-ot' is too
close to 'fagot' for comfort elsewhere.

Jerry Friedman

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Jul 21, 2021, 10:19:00 AM7/21/21
to
On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 12:57:20 AM UTC-6, occam wrote:
> On 21/07/2021 00:07, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at 2:08:05 PM UTC-6, Lewis wrote:
> >> In message <f151ad7a-cd5f-4b7a...@googlegroups.com> Mark Bryant <checker...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 11:05:34 AM UTC-5, MC wrote:
> >>>> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
> >>>> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
> >>>>
> >>>> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
> >
> >>> My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West
> >>> Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.
> >
> >> I have certainly heard it, infrequently. I don't know what region it may
> >> be associated with.
> >
> > I don't either, but I associate it with "jagwire", not necessarily for any
> > good reason.

> Is "jagwire" referring to the British car?

Yes, or the Neotropical big cat.

> The weird pronunciation I
> wince at are the attempts at 'Peugeot'. From 'pew-got' to 'pee-jot' and
> everything in between.

I don't hear a lot of attempts at "Peugeot".

--
Jerry Friedman

Adam Funk

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Jul 21, 2021, 10:45:07 AM7/21/21
to
Peugeot Sound?


--
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided
missiles and misguided men. ---Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ken Blake

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Jul 21, 2021, 11:29:01 AM7/21/21
to
On 7/21/2021 7:18 AM, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 12:57:20 AM UTC-6, occam wrote:
>> On 21/07/2021 00:07, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> > On Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at 2:08:05 PM UTC-6, Lewis wrote:
>> >> In message <f151ad7a-cd5f-4b7a...@googlegroups.com> Mark Bryant <checker...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>> On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 11:05:34 AM UTC-5, MC wrote:
>> >>>> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>> >>>> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>> >>>>
>> >>>> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>> >
>> >>> My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West
>> >>> Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.
>> >
>> >> I have certainly heard it, infrequently. I don't know what region it may
>> >> be associated with.
>> >
>> > I don't either, but I associate it with "jagwire", not necessarily for any
>> > good reason.
>
>> Is "jagwire" referring to the British car?
>
> Yes, or the Neotropical big cat.


I've never heard anyone say jagwire. I say JAG-wahr, and I think that in
BrE JAG-yoo-ahr is more common.

On the other hand, when talking about the car, a lot of people just say JAG.


I'm not sure what Mark means when he says "sireen." Is that sigh-REEN or
SIGH-reen? Either way, I've never heard it. SIGH-rin is the only
pronunciation I've heard.


--
Ken

Garrett Wollman

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Jul 21, 2021, 12:05:21 PM7/21/21
to
In article <0fa2d603-89c4-4d1f...@googlegroups.com>,
There was a time in the 1980s when Peugeot tried to make a go of it in
the US market, and I remember the radio commercials making a thing of
the pronunciation -- it's been a long time but I think the English
pronunciation they used was /pu:'ZoU/. I don't think they lasted very
long, but Vermont was something of a backwater for car brands and we
had a dealership. Peugeot-brand bicycles lasted longer. (Renault was
in the US market at about the same time, thanks to their
part-ownership of Chrysler, and didn't seem to have the same sort of
issues with pronunciation.)

-GAWollman

--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
wol...@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is
Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

Ken Blake

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Jul 21, 2021, 12:21:10 PM7/21/21
to
On 7/21/2021 9:05 AM, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> In article <0fa2d603-89c4-4d1f...@googlegroups.com>,
> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 12:57:20 AM UTC-6, occam wrote:
>>> The weird pronunciation I
>>> wince at are the attempts at 'Peugeot'. From 'pew-got' to 'pee-jot' and
>>> everything in between.
>>
>>I don't hear a lot of attempts at "Peugeot".
>
> There was a time in the 1980s when Peugeot tried to make a go of it in
> the US market, and I remember the radio commercials making a thing of
> the pronunciation -- it's been a long time but I think the English
> pronunciation they used was /pu:'ZoU/. I don't think they lasted very
> long, but Vermont was something of a backwater for car brands and we
> had a dealership. Peugeot-brand bicycles lasted longer. (Renault was
> in the US market at about the same time, thanks to their
> part-ownership of Chrysler, and didn't seem to have the same sort of
> issues with pronunciation.)


As I remember it, everyone in the USA pronounced Renault as ren-AULT.
Almost nobody tried to pronounce it the French way.


--
Ken

Lewis

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Jul 21, 2021, 12:23:48 PM7/21/21
to
In message <ilpuqb...@mid.individual.net> occam <oc...@nowhere.nix> wrote:
> On 21/07/2021 00:07, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> On Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at 2:08:05 PM UTC-6, Lewis wrote:
>>> In message <f151ad7a-cd5f-4b7a...@googlegroups.com> Mark Bryant <checker...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 11:05:34 AM UTC-5, MC wrote:
>>>>> The cop interviewed in this clip says "sireen" - I don't recall hearing
>>>>> it before. Is it a regionalism? (The clip is from Boston MA)
>>>>>
>>>>> http://snipurl.com/22muzpp [www_theglobeandmail_com]
>>
>>>> My mom always said "sireen". She lived all her life in rural West
>>>> Texas, but I've never heard anyone else say that.
>>
>>> I have certainly heard it, infrequently. I don't know what region it may
>>> be associated with.
>>
>> I don't either, but I associate it with "jagwire", not necessarily for any
>> good reason.
>>

> Is "jagwire" referring to the British car?

Or the cat.

> The weird pronunciation I wince at are the attempts at 'Peugeot'. From
> 'pew-got' to 'pee-jot' and everything in between.

No one can agree on the right pronunciation of Porsche, it seems. I
think like "Portia" is the most common, but "porsh" is not far behind.

--
Sarah, age 18, says "man, once you go Crayola you can't go back."

Ken Blake

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Jul 21, 2021, 12:38:21 PM7/21/21
to
I think something like "Portia" is correct, but I also think that porsh
is far more common in the USA.


--
Ken

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Jul 21, 2021, 12:41:32 PM7/21/21
to
How about Citroën, which doesn't even have a proper French
pronunciation? The original André-Gustave Citroën was the son of a
diamond merchant called Levie Citroen, so maybe we should try to
pronounce it in a Dutch way.
--
Athel -- French and British, living mainly in England until 1987.

Peter T. Daniels

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Jul 21, 2021, 12:49:25 PM7/21/21
to
On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 12:05:21 PM UTC-4, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> In article <0fa2d603-89c4-4d1f...@googlegroups.com>,
> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 12:57:20 AM UTC-6, occam wrote:
> >> The weird pronunciation I
> >> wince at are the attempts at 'Peugeot'. From 'pew-got' to 'pee-jot' and
> >> everything in between.
> >
> >I don't hear a lot of attempts at "Peugeot".
> There was a time in the 1980s when Peugeot tried to make a go of it in
> the US market, and I remember the radio commercials making a thing of
> the pronunciation -- it's been a long time but I think the English
> pronunciation they used was /pu:'ZoU/. I don't think they lasted very
> long, but Vermont was something of a backwater for car brands and we
> had a dealership. Peugeot-brand bicycles lasted longer. (Renault was
> in the US market at about the same time, thanks to their
> part-ownership of Chrysler, and didn't seem to have the same sort of
> issues with pronunciation.)

A frequent "big prize" on game shows in the 1960s was the Renault
Dauphine (I think that was the model) --[r@'nOlt] ("ruh-NAWLT")
[dow'fijn] ("dough-FEEN"). It sold for $1645; the price was even
shown on their ads in subway cars.

It's Hyundai that has a variety of pronunciations around the world.
Here it's HUN-day in their ads.

Quinn C

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Jul 21, 2021, 2:00:19 PM7/21/21
to
* Peter T. Daniels:

> It's Hyundai that has a variety of pronunciations around the world.
> Here it's HUN-day in their ads.

Daewoo made a big deal out of their pronunciation* in their first big ad
campaign in Germany (when they started selling cars instead of just VHS
machines), but to little effect.

*[deIyu:] Most Germans still say [de:vo:] or at best [de:vu:].

--
A "moderate Republican" now is a far-right Republican who
publicly laments it.
-- John Fugelsang (2021)

Quinn C

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Jul 21, 2021, 2:00:19 PM7/21/21
to
* Jerry Friedman:
Will that change with the emergence of Stellantis
(Fiat-Chrysler-Peugeot-Citroën)?

I guess not. They can just slap a "Chrysler" badge on their cars and
avoid trouble.

--
... English-speaking people have managed to get along a good many
centuries with the present supply of pronouns; ... It is so old and
venerable an argument ... it's equivalent was used when gas, railways
and steamboats were proposed. -- Findlay (OH) Jeffersonian (1875)

Quinn C

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Jul 21, 2021, 2:00:21 PM7/21/21
to
* Lewis:

> No one can agree on the right pronunciation of Porsche, it seems. I
> think like "Portia" is the most common, but "porsh" is not far behind.

Or the "it's not a Porch, it's a Ferrari" joke wouldn't work.

--
... why the English language is riddled with all this gender.
What's it FOR? How did it GET there? Will it go AWAY now please?
-- Helen Zaltzman

Lewis

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Jul 21, 2021, 2:10:08 PM7/21/21
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I heard both, not sure which I heard more in general, but my mother had
a Renault in the late 70s or early 80s (a lousy car) and she pronounced
it as a French name.


--
The true prize was control. Lord Vetinari knew that. When heavy
weights were balanced on the scales, the trick was to know where
to place your thumb. --The Fifth Elephant

Peter Moylan

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Jul 21, 2021, 9:40:23 PM7/21/21
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On 22/07/21 03:21, Ken Blake wrote:
>
> As I remember it, everyone in the USA pronounced Renault as ren-AULT.
> Almost nobody tried to pronounce it the French way.

Not even in Renault, Nevada?

Peter T. Daniels

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Jul 22, 2021, 9:13:35 AM7/22/21
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On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 9:40:23 PM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 22/07/21 03:21, Ken Blake wrote:

> > As I remember it, everyone in the USA pronounced Renault as ren-AULT.
> > Almost nobody tried to pronounce it the French way.
>
> Not even in Renault, Nevada?

That appears to be the name of a car model (not sold in Nort6h America,
where it was called the Medallion) rather than a place in the state of Nevada.

But probably not, given the familiarity of the name of Army Air Corps General
Claire Chennault, famous for leading the Flying Tigers during WWII.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Lee_Chennault

Peter Moylan

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Jul 22, 2021, 9:06:13 PM7/22/21
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On 23/07/21 04:11, Stefan Ram wrote:
> Ken Blake <k...@invalidemail.com> writes:
>> As I remember it, everyone in the USA pronounced Renault as ren-AULT.
>> Almost nobody tried to pronounce it the French way.
>
> From my sources:
>
> Peugeot:
>
> US:
>
> pjuːˈʒoˑʊ, puː-, pɚː-
>
> France:
>
> pøʒo
>
> From the appearance of the phonetic transcription,
> the French pronunciation actually looks easier here!

That vowel is reasonably close (although not identical) to the BrE "er"
vowel, which is [V"] in Kirschenbaum notation. As far as I know, that
vowel doesn't exist in AmE. In words that have an "er" in BrE, the AmE
equivalent is, depending on context, usually either a syllabic R or a
stressed schwa.

Quinn C

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Jul 23, 2021, 1:08:25 PM7/23/21
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* Peter Moylan:
Darn the inventor of "stressed schwa", they ruined one of the happiest
linguistic jokes.

--
Sure, everybody has the right to speak their opinion; but not
the right to identify this opinion as truth, and erect pyres
for dissenters.
-- Hedwig Dohm (1903), my translation
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