How do the Brits among you pronounce "breeches"?
Dena Jo
I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a short I. I'm
wondering if there's a difference in the pronunciation between
breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says breeches is pronounced
with a long E sound. An American attorney claims breeches and
britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm thinking, he's a Yank,
what does he know...
Hope everyone is doing extraordinarily well.
Dena Jo
MC
<d43f35ba-914b-47c1...@x37g2000prb.googlegroups.com>,
Dena Jo <den...@yahoo.com> wrote:
I say "britches" but I may have unknowingly absorbed some American
habits in my time on this side of the pond.
On the other hand, if I'm talking about breech-loading weapons, I say
"breeches."
--
"If you can, tell me something happy."
- Marybones
Dr Peter Young
Ditto here, but I've never heard a BrE speaker use any other than the
"britches" pronunciation.
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
Nick Spalding
<d43f35ba-914b-47c1...@x37g2000prb.googlegroups.com>
on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:12:28 -0700 (PDT):
> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
> I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a short I. I'm
> wondering if there's a difference in the pronunciation between
> breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says breeches is pronounced
> with a long E sound. An American attorney claims breeches and
> britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm thinking, he's a Yank,
> what does he know...
Britches.
--
Nick Spalding
BrE/IrE
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
Hello there.
Good to "see" you again. How are you?
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Nick Spalding
on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:15:14 -0400:
I think I would too.
--
Nick Spalding
BrE/IrE
Robin Bignall
wrote:
>How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
>I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a short I. I'm
>wondering if there's a difference in the pronunciation between
>breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says breeches is pronounced
>with a long E sound. An American attorney claims breeches and
>britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm thinking, he's a Yank,
>what does he know...
>
Britches, as others, but I had to learn to pronounce it that way. It
was one of the many words I'd read before I knowingly heard it and
connected the two.
--
Robin Bignall
(BrE)
Herts, England
Athel Cornish-Bowden
> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
On the whole they don't pronounce it at all. I think of it as an
American word (so far as modern usage is concerned). However, if called
upon to say it I'd rhyme it with "beaches".
> Hope everyone is doing extraordinarily well.
Likewise. Long time no see.
--
athel
Irwell
Once more into the keks, dear friends.
John Dean
> On 25 Apr 2011 MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net> wrote:
>
>> In article
>> <d43f35ba-914b-47c1...@x37g2000prb.googlegroups.com>,
>> Dena Jo <den...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the
>>> pants? I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a
>>> short I. I'm wondering if there's a difference in the
>>> pronunciation between breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says
>>> breeches is pronounced with a long E sound. An American attorney
>>> claims breeches and britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm
>>> thinking, he's a Yank, what does he know...
>>>
>>> Hope everyone is doing extraordinarily well.
>>>
>>> Dena Jo
>
>> I say "britches" but I may have unknowingly absorbed some American
>> habits in my time on this side of the pond.
>
>> On the other hand, if I'm talking about breech-loading weapons, I say
>> "breeches."
>
> Ditto here, but I've never heard a BrE speaker use any other than the
> "britches" pronunciation.
>
More or less ditto apart from the breeches buoy ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches_buoy
... which is long e for me.
Do Americans call it a britches boo-ey?
--
John Dean
Oxford
Jonathan Morton
news:91m2vo...@mid.individual.net...
> On 2011-04-25 19:12:28 +0200, Dena Jo said:
>
>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
>
> On the whole they don't pronounce it at all. I think of it as an American
> word (so far as modern usage is concerned).
Really?
> However, if called upon to say it I'd rhyme it with "beaches".
Really?
Regards
Jonathan
James Hogg
Same here.
--
James
Jerry Friedman
>
> >> In article
> >> <d43f35ba-914b-47c1-9ea3-d5f8556ee...@x37g2000prb.googlegroups.com>,
> >> Dena Jo <dena...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the
> >>> pants? I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a
> >>> short I. I'm wondering if there's a difference in the
> >>> pronunciation between breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says
> >>> breeches is pronounced with a long E sound. An American attorney
> >>> claims breeches and britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm
> >>> thinking, he's a Yank, what does he know...
>
> >>> Hope everyone is doing extraordinarily well.
>
> >>> Dena Jo
>
> >> I say "britches" but I may have unknowingly absorbed some American
> >> habits in my time on this side of the pond.
>
> >> On the other hand, if I'm talking about breech-loading weapons, I say
> >> "breeches."
>
> > Ditto here, but I've never heard a BrE speaker use any other than the
> > "britches" pronunciation.
>
> More or less ditto apart from the breeches buoy ...
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches_buoy
>
> ... which is long e for me.
> Do Americans call it a britches boo-ey?
Some probably do. I'd say "britches boy".
However, I say "breech birth" with /britS/, like "breach".
--
Jerry Friedman
Mike Lyle
wrote:
Hi, Deej! Good to see you again.
Me too.
--
Mike.
Stephen
My grandmother migrated here (Aust) in the early 20th century and taught
my mother the song "Little Mr Baggy Breeches". "Britches" is the only
pronunciation I have heard in Australia among older folk. The younger
ones often haven't come across the term, (you might as well say
"pantaloons"), so if they see it they will say "breeches".
I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
US) to "forehead."
Also dying is the traditional pronunciation of halfpenny and the names
of other coins that have been discontinued, like threepence (thripp'nse).
--
Stephen
Ballina, NSW
tony cooper
wrote:
>How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
Same Dena Jo that is a court reporter or legal transcriber? Glad to
see you around again.
I see two different words here. Breeches were something worn in Louis
the Roman Numeral's court. Continental Army soldiers wore breeches.
Indians wore breechcloths.
Britches are the pants/trousers that one gets too big for. Britches
go all the way to the ankle but breeches didn't.
I say "britches" to rhyme with "riches", but I'm not saying "breeches"
when I do so. I say "breeches" to rhyme with "teaches", but I'm
talking about something other than britches.
I know you asked for BrE opinions, but I'm a Yank and you know we have
to poke our noses into everything.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Robert Bannister
> On 25 Apr 2011 MC<cope...@mapca.inter.net> wrote:
>
>> In article
>> <d43f35ba-914b-47c1...@x37g2000prb.googlegroups.com>,
>> Dena Jo<den...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
>>> I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a short I. I'm
>>> wondering if there's a difference in the pronunciation between
>>> breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says breeches is pronounced
>>> with a long E sound. An American attorney claims breeches and
>>> britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm thinking, he's a Yank,
>>> what does he know...
>>>
>>> Hope everyone is doing extraordinarily well.
>>>
>>> Dena Jo
>
>> I say "britches" but I may have unknowingly absorbed some American
>> habits in my time on this side of the pond.
>
>> On the other hand, if I'm talking about breech-loading weapons, I say
>> "breeches."
>
> Ditto here, but I've never heard a BrE speaker use any other than the
> "britches" pronunciation.
Except, as MC said, when it doesn't mean 'trousers'. We don't say "Once
more into the britch", but we do try to keep our britches on.
Hi, Dena Jo. Good to know you're still around.
--
Robert Bannister
Athel Cornish-Bowden
> "Athel Cornish-Bowden" <acor...@ifr88.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote in message
> news:91m2vo...@mid.individual.net...
>> On 2011-04-25 19:12:28 +0200, Dena Jo said:
>>
>>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
>>
>> On the whole they don't pronounce it at all. I think of it as an
>> American word (so far as modern usage is concerned).
>
> Really?
Yes, really. I didn't say everyone thinks of it like that, but that I
do. I've no idea what the relative frequencies are in the US and UK,
but I've certainly heard it used in ordinary conversation 100 times
more often in the US.
>
>> However, if called upon to say it I'd rhyme it with "beaches".
>
> Really?
Yes, really, but that just reflects the first really: if you rarely if
ever hear or use a word, you tend to think of it with a spelling
pronunciation.
>
> Regards
>
> Jonathan
--
athel
John Dunlop
> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
> I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a short I. I'm
> wondering if there's a difference in the pronunciation between
> breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says breeches is pronounced
> with a long E sound. An American attorney claims breeches and
> britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm thinking, he's a Yank,
> what does he know...
I'm with Athel: I don't hear it much, if at all, and I think I would've
pronounced it as a spelling pronunciation, /britSIz/.
The Longman Pronunciation Dictionary gives "breeches" as /brItSIz/ with
/bri:tSIz/ as an alternative. It doesn't distinguish Br- and AmE here.
The word in Scottish English is "breeks", pronounced /briks/, although
according to the DSL, Aberdonians pronounce it /brIks/ ("bricks").
As a child, I often stood on the hearth. My trousers would start to smell,
from the heat or the smoke. This came to be known as "reekin' breeken".
--
John
Dr Nick
writes:
> "Athel Cornish-Bowden" <acor...@ifr88.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote in message
> news:91m2vo...@mid.individual.net...
>> On 2011-04-25 19:12:28 +0200, Dena Jo said:
>>
>>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
>>
>> On the whole they don't pronounce it at all. I think of it as an American
>> word (so far as modern usage is concerned).
>
> Really?
Don't see why not. I'm genuinely not sure it's a word I've ever spoken
in my life.
>> However, if called upon to say it I'd rhyme it with "beaches".
>
> Really?
I'm not sure. I do know the standard "itch" pronunciation, but can't
guarantee it would come to mind in the unlikely circumstances (reading,
replying to someone who has used it) I had to speak it.
--
Online waterways route planner | http://canalplan.eu
Plan trips, see photos, check facilities | http://canalplan.org.uk
Peter Moylan
>
> I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
> pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
> US) to "forehead."
I would have said that the "four-head" pronunciation is still rare ...
or am I missing seeing some corner of popular culture?
"When she was good she was very very good
And when she was bad she was whore-head."
No, I can't see it. That poem is still well-known, is it not?
> Also dying is the traditional pronunciation of halfpenny and the names
> of other coins that have been discontinued, like threepence (thripp'nse).
What is dying, in my experience, is any mention at all of those words.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
Nick Spalding
on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:02:10 +0800:
That britch is a breach, not a breech.
> Hi, Dena Jo. Good to know you're still around.
--
Nick Spalding
BrE/IrE
Dr Peter Young
wrote:
> Stephen wrote:
>>
>> I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
>> pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
>> US) to "forehead."
> I would have said that the "four-head" pronunciation is still rare ...
> or am I missing seeing some corner of popular culture?
> "When she was good she was very very good
> And when she was bad she was whore-head."
> No, I can't see it. That poem is still well-known, is it not?
>> Also dying is the traditional pronunciation of halfpenny and the names
>> of other coins that have been discontinued, like threepence (thripp'nse).
> What is dying, in my experience, is any mention at all of those words.
A special case is the piece originally known as Die Dreigroschenoper,
translated as The Threepenny Opera. It still sounds odd and
unidiomatic to me when the second word is pronounced "three penny"
instead of "Threppenny" or even "Thruppenny". But then I grew up with
British pre-decimal currency.
Nick Spalding
on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:08:52 +0100:
> On 26 Apr 2011 Peter Moylan <inv...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid>
> wrote:
>
> > Stephen wrote:
> >>
> >> I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
> >> pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
> >> US) to "forehead."
>
> > I would have said that the "four-head" pronunciation is still rare ...
> > or am I missing seeing some corner of popular culture?
>
> > "When she was good she was very very good
> > And when she was bad she was whore-head."
>
> > No, I can't see it. That poem is still well-known, is it not?
>
> >> Also dying is the traditional pronunciation of halfpenny and the names
> >> of other coins that have been discontinued, like threepence (thripp'nse).
>
> > What is dying, in my experience, is any mention at all of those words.
>
> A special case is the piece originally known as Die Dreigroschenoper,
> translated as The Threepenny Opera. It still sounds odd and
> unidiomatic to me when the second word is pronounced "three penny"
> instead of "Threppenny" or even "Thruppenny". But then I grew up with
> British pre-decimal currency.
"Thrippenny" in my dialect.
--
Nick Spalding
BrE/IrE
Robin Bignall
That's left me having short pants.
Mike Lyle
wrote:
>Dr Peter Young wrote, in <6beffdc95...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk>
I think that's usual north of Warwick and south of Lerwick (or, for a
margin of error, Reykjavik); on both shores of the Tasman, too, though
some in Aus said "throopence" with the "book" vowel. I don't think
anybody in Britain or Ireland called the coin a "tray-bit", though
(Hey, fellow-colonials: did you, too, find the Brit polygonal brass
tray wildly exotic?)
My British school had an apparently bottomless stash of the old silver
ones to put in the House Christmas puddings: I've still got some of
them somewhere.
--
Mike.
musika
Mike Lyle <mike_l...@yahoo.co.uk> typed:
Definitely threppence and threppenny in my Shropshire dialect.
--
Ray
UK
Nick Spalding
on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:38:33 +0100:
There was just one in our family which had to be redeemed for current
coin so it could be re-used next year. My school was on holidays at
Christmas.
--
Nick Spalding
BrE/IrE
Dena Jo
The question stems from a deposition about riding wear. Everyone
involved--American attorneys and a British deponent--pronounced it
britches, but in [British] documents, it was written breeches. The
American attorney, when asked about the discrepancy, said that it was
pronounced britches but spelled breeches and chalked the whole thing
up to "those whacky Brits." I thought I'd check with you guys.
I'd spend more time here in AUE but I find Google Groups to be a
little...well..user-hostile.
Thanks again!
Dena Jo
Stephen
> Stephen wrote:
>>
>> I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
>> pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
>> US) to "forehead."
>
> I would have said that the "four-head" pronunciation is still rare ...
> or am I missing seeing some corner of popular culture?
>
> "When she was good she was very very good
> And when she was bad she was whore-head."
>
> No, I can't see it. That poem is still well-known, is it not?
>
>> Also dying is the traditional pronunciation of halfpenny and the names
>> of other coins that have been discontinued, like threepence (thripp'nse).
>
> What is dying, in my experience, is any mention at all of those words.
>
That too.
--
Stephen
Ballina, NSW
Stephen
>>
>> I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
>> pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
>> US) to "forehead."
>
> I would have said that the "four-head" pronunciation is still rare ...
> or am I missing seeing some corner of popular culture?
>
I hear "four-head" constantly in US English, and rarely "forrid", if
ever. Now four-head is gaining ground here in Australia.
--
Stephen
Ballina, NSW
Peter Moylan
I think I only ever saw one in my life, and indeed it looked seriously
foreign. By now it would perhaps be more acceptable, because Australia
now has a polygonal 50-cent coin. It was originally round, but the
shape was changed because people kept confusing it with the 20-cent coin.
By the way, I've always used the spelling "trey" for the thripenny bit.
The pronunciation led me to believe that the word came from Ireland, so
I'm surprised to hear that it was not used in Ireland.
R H Draney
Do you still say "clabberd", "foaxel" and "vittles" in open defiance of how
those words are actually spelt?...r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
MC
<c49629b4-f8ee-408e...@r33g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
Dena Jo <den...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The
> American attorney, when asked about the discrepancy, said that it was
> pronounced britches but spelled breeches and chalked the whole thing
> up to "those whacky Brits."
Breets, surely?
--
"If you can, tell me something happy."
- Marybones
Peter Moylan
It's hard to tell, because opportunities to say them rarely arise.
"Clapboard" is an AmE word that's rarely or never heard in Australia, so
I never knew how to pronounce it. (I had to look up the word to see
what you meant.) "Victuals" is also rare here; I encounter it mainly in
American books, and I mentally say "vittles" if I'm trying to imitate an
American accent. It has just occurred to me, now that I'm trying out
the word, that "vik-tew-alls" is difficult to pronounce and
unnatural-sounding.
That leaves only "forecastle", which I do indeed say as "fo'c'sl". But
I'm not a sailor, so for me just about its only use in that old saying
about there being no atheists in forecastles.
Robert Bannister
Whoops! But it's still a breech on a rifle.
--
Robert Bannister
Robert Bannister
Take a deep breath.
--
Robert Bannister
Robert Bannister
> On 26/04/2011 3:12 AM, Dena Jo wrote:
>> How do the Brits here pronounce the word "breeches," as in the pants?
>> I believe the Americans say britches, pronounced with a short I. I'm
>> wondering if there's a difference in the pronunciation between
>> breeches and britches. Merriam-Webster says breeches is pronounced
>> with a long E sound. An American attorney claims breeches and
>> britches are pronounced the same way, but I'm thinking, he's a Yank,
>> what does he know...
>>
>> Hope everyone is doing extraordinarily well.
>>
>> Dena Jo
>
> My grandmother migrated here (Aust) in the early 20th century and taught
> my mother the song "Little Mr Baggy Breeches". "Britches" is the only
> pronunciation I have heard in Australia among older folk. The younger
> ones often haven't come across the term, (you might as well say
> "pantaloons"), so if they see it they will say "breeches".
>
> I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
> pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
> US) to "forehead."
Not just US - I've heard young Australians say "forehead" almost as if
it were two words "fore head".
--
Robert Bannister
Stephen
The only one of these I use (and then rarely) is victuals, and yes, it's
vittles.
But I say housewife, not huzzif.
--
Stephen
Ballina, NSW
Stephen
Yes, but still not the most common pronunciation here.
--
Stephen
Ballina, NSW
Jerry Friedman
wrote:
> Stephen wrote:
>
> > I'm sure the spelling is pulling the word away from its traditional
> > pronunciation, as is happening here (and appears to have happened in the
> > US) to "forehead."
>
> I would have said that the "four-head" pronunciation is still rare ...
> or am I missing seeing some corner of popular culture?
>
> "When she was good she was very very good
> And when she was bad she was whore-head."
>
> No, I can't see it. That poem is still well-known, is it not?
I learned it as a child and assumed that /'fOr,hEd/ and /'hOr@d/ was
one of those strange rhymes that showed up now and then, like "Ride a
cock horse/ To Banbury Cross", or "spacious skies" and "majesties".
--
Jerry Friedman
Mike Barnes
>In news:pqvdr6dn1ks019r6b...@4ax.com,
>Mike Lyle <mike_l...@yahoo.co.uk> typed:
>> On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:51:03 +0100, Nick Spalding <spal...@iol.ie>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dr Peter Young wrote, in <6beffdc95...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk>
>>> on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:08:52 +0100:
>>>
>>>> Dreigroschenoper, translated as The Threepenny Opera. It still
>>>> sounds odd and unidiomatic to me when the second word is pronounced
>>>> "three penny" instead of "Threppenny" or even "Thruppenny". But
>>>> then I grew up with British pre-decimal currency.
>>> "Thrippenny" in my dialect.
>> I think that's usual north of Warwick and south of Lerwick (or, for
>>a
>> margin of error, Reykjavik); on both shores of the Tasman, too, though
>> some in Aus said "throopence" with the "book" vowel. I don't think
>> anybody in Britain or Ireland called the coin a "tray-bit", though
>> (Hey, fellow-colonials: did you, too, find the Brit polygonal brass
>> tray wildly exotic?)
>> My British school had an apparently bottomless stash of the old
>>silver
>> ones to put in the House Christmas puddings: I've still got some of
>> them somewhere.
>
>Definitely threppence and threppenny in my Shropshire dialect.
Thruppence and thrupp'nny (Surrey, Essex).
--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England
Robin Bignall
We used both. My mother, descended from Londoners, said "Thruppence",
while my father, Nottingham for generations, used "Threppence".
MC
Robin Bignall <docr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> We used both. My mother, descended from Londoners, said "Thruppence",
> while my father, Nottingham for generations, used "Threppence".
Birmingham WIWAL... Threppence.
Mike Lyle
wrote:
>Mike Lyle wrote, in <pqvdr6dn1ks019r6b...@4ax.com>
> on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:38:33 +0100:
[...]
>> My British school had an apparently bottomless stash of the old silver
>> ones to put in the House Christmas puddings: I've still got some of
>> them somewhere.
>
>There was just one in our family which had to be redeemed for current
>coin so it could be re-used next year. My school was on holidays at
>Christmas.
We had Christmas puddings on the last full day of the Michaelmas Term.
--
Mike.
Mike Lyle
wrote:
Yes, "huzzif" is how you pronounce the little army sewing kit, not the
busy missus.
"Vittles" is the only pron I recognize: there's also "licensed
victuallers" in BrE -- they keep pubs.
"Clapboard" is a particular focus of irritation for me, as it's one of
the Americanisms BBC reporters don't know how to say properly: I once
even heard "clapperboard", which is not _quite_ the same thing.
--
Mike.
Robert Bannister
The book vowel "throopence" is how my family said it in England back
then - I thought everybody else around did too, but I probably heard
what I was expecting. "Threppence" was fairly common too.
--
Robert Bannister
Peter Brooks
> On 27/04/11 1:38 AM, Mike Lyle wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > wrote:
>
> >> Dr Peter Young wrote, in<6beffdc951.pnyo...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk>
> >> on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:08:52 +0100:
>
"
thrup(p)ence, thrup(p)enny
(ˈθrʌpəns, ˈθrʌpənɪ; ˈθrʊ-)
Repr. colloq. or dial. pronunc. of threepence, threepenny a. (n.).
1895 H. Nevinson Neighbours of Ours v. 142 They paid 'er fivepence
for doin' each large flag.‥ So she sublets to Ginger at thruppence a
flag. 1962 Spectator 27 July 117 A letter with a thrupenny stamp.
"
ke...@cam.ac.uk
Experimenting, I seem to say it with pretty much a schwa vowel, but a
"threepenny bit" is "threppenny" (second vowel is a schwa).
Katy