Definitions/pronunciations

[Guest Tishabet]

My fave is a type of wheel which came on many Porsches in the 70s and 80s. The wheel is called a Fuchs wheel (fuchs is German for fox) and it is pronounced "fooks" but I'm sure you can imagine some of the head scratching and polite verbal contortions when someone tries to reference one in conversation.

Restorer32, most of my family lives in Schuylkill county. My very dutchie grandpa (94 years old, grew up speaking PA dutch) will ask me, "You're tinkering with that 38 Buick yet, ain't?" Then we go out for some honky eggs.

[trimacar]

Was in Japan recently, there was a clothing store in the mall called "Rodeo Crowns." Their spoken version of clowns, perchance?

Regional words will get you. I went to work as a trimmer at White Post Restorations in the late 80's. Was a move from Lousiana, and I was in Virginia for 6 months before my wife came. One day in the lunchroom, I asked Billy Thompson, where's the closest Washateria? What, he asked? Washateria. Looking at me like I was a mad man, he said, David, I have no idea what you're talking about. Washateria, a place to wash clothes......oh, a laundromat.......

[Dick380185]

Two that bother me being the gross overuse of: "EXACTLY! and "ABSOLUTELY!"

They seem to have spread like wildfire just in the past 5 years.

Also mentioned by other posters, {often} OFF -TEN

and {Illinois} ILLI-NOISE.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Dick380185 (see edit history)

[Barry Wolk]

One of the main streets in Detroit is Livernois, imagine how that's pronounced.

[keiser31]

One of the main streets in Detroit is Livernois, imagine how that's pronounced.

I lived in the Detroit area for 20 years and never could figure out the true pronunciation of THAT one!!

[jazzer3]

I'm from PA and was working in Brighton and Troy, Mich. a few years ago and learned that a High-Low there is a Forklift in PA. I used to say to coworkers that "all but for an E it would be Liver Noise" (Livernois).

Jay

[Larry Schramm]

And while you are at it, Sault St. Marie, MI is pronunced Sue St. Marie.

[Shop Rat]

I heard this one today from the guy that shoes my horses, "I needed a new bat-tree (battery) for my lantern (6 volt flashlight)".

[Guest billybird]

We say this one alot where I'm from: " He ain't no count " meaning he is no good. Come to think of it, unless he's Dracula, he AIN'T no count. LOL.

[Dave@Moon]

Regional words will get you.

Just regional? Hardly! The following is a true story....

I worked my way through undergraduate college as a door guard at Kmart. If you remember those days the door guard was stationed right next to the service desk at the front of the store, stapling shut bags and adding stupid "color of the day" tags to them to help reduce shoplifting. Standing right there, when the store got busy, it was also part of my job to field incoming phone calls that were usually answered by the service desk people.

One day when I was 19 I got this call:

"Thank you for calling Kmart. How may I help you?"

"I'd like to speak to someone about men's rubbers."

"I'm sorry?"

"I said I'd like to speak to someone about men's rubbers."

"Please hold."

I transferred the call. One minute later, for the only time ever in 5 years at that store, I heard over the P.A. "Door Guard, Please take the call on line 1."

The (proper British) man was VERY upset!

"I meant rubbers for your FEET!!!"

I then transferred him to the Shoe Department. I don't think he found what he wanted in the Health and Beauty Dept.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

One of the main streets in Detroit is Livernois, imagine how that's pronounced.

You mean, "der-TWAH", Michigan... ?

[trimacar]

OK, Marty, tell them how to pronounce "Tchoupitoulas Street," in New Orleans. Or introduce them to Mr. Herbert (OK, so that's "a-bear"). How about Breaux Bridge (that's "bro").

And just for the record, I have a daughter living in Raw Kill, South Carolina. To the unknowing, that's Rock Hill........

[Shop Rat]

....."Tchoupitoulas Street," ........

That is what I call an "alphabet soup word/name". Because it looks like someone had a mouth full of alphabet soup and sneezed and those are the letters that stuck on the wall. :eek:

[MochetVelo]

Renault: ru-no (not wren-alt)

Peugeot: Pu-joh (not poo-joh)

Citroen: sit-row-en (not sit-wrone)

Edited November 18, 2010 by MochetVelo (see edit history)

[Dave@Moon]

OK, Marty, tell them how to pronounce "Tchoupitoulas Street," in New Orleans.

You want to have some real fun? Take your GPS down Tchoupitoulas Street and listen to it try and pronounce it! It's endlessly amusing.

BTW, it supposed to be pronounced. "chop-it-too-liss". I wish I knew who "liss" was.

[Guest Oldengineer]

My father, born and raised in the county seat of Harrisville in rural Ritchie County, West Virginia used the word "poke" sometimes. However, because he had a college degree in journalism and was a newspaper City Editor by the time I came along he was pretty careful with his English.

I grew up in Marmet, WV. When I worked at my Dad's drugstore, a customer who requested a "poke" actually wanted a paper bag for their purchases. We also had customers who asked for "Creeps" - turned out they wanted a package of Certs.

Regards:

Oldengineer

48 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Town Sedan

[CarlLaFong]

Renault: ru-no (not wren-alt)

Peugeot: Pu-joh (not poo-joh)

Citroen: sit-row-en (not sit-wrone)

No-run

poop-joh

s#it-row-en

[Marty Roth]

I was on Tchoupitoulas St just this morning, and had my GPS going absolutely bezerk. took 2 turns and headed up Carondelet, but then, Saturday night my '37 Buick and I drove on Bourbon, Burgundy (Burr-gun'-dee), Dauphine (Dough-feen'), and several others

When the Streetcars were still pulled by mules (per story my father-in-law told), a Police Commander asked why a patrolman and a streetcar operator were dragging the mule down Napolean Ave, they replied that the mule pulling the Tchoupitoulas Stretcar had died from the heat, but neither of the men could spell the street name to fill out the report, so they were dragging the mule down the block to the Camp Street tracks.

Baptisms for German and Alsatian families improperly spelled by Sicilian and French priests?; late night TV Sermonettes in 1968 by Fr. (Reuben?) Cohen?; Shrimp and Oyster fundraising dinners in the 1950s Reform Jewish congregations?; Mardi Gras Balls poking fun at European Royalty - becoming their own inbred, self-serving royalty/society-Debutant (Debutramp?) form of "Society" - and yet we love to hate to love it

The French, Indian, Sicilian, and German names -- all spelled improperly by the recorders of our area history -- could be the subject of an evening's entertainment, even without the benefit of some of our great food and liquid refreshment (but better when enhanced!).

Right, David?? I miss your Ides of March parties!

[stock_steve]

No-run

poop-joh

s#it-row-en

Mochet serves up a nice fat softball...and 58Stang hits it right out of the park!

Funny stuff!

Edited November 18, 2010 by stock_steve (see edit history)

[Restorer32]

Here in small town US you have to tailor your pronunciation to the time and place. Local Italian restaurant also serves Gyros (pronounced as spelled). Ask for a Gyro (pronounced correctly as Hero) and they look at you funny. Just the reverse in a Greek owned restaurant. When I was in school if you had pronounced "Renault" with the t silent you would have been mocked and Porsche was a one syllable word. My Mom still thinks I'm being "uppity" if I pronounce either word correctly. The one that grates on my nerves is "Lank caster" for Lancaster.

[Guest bkazmer]

having lived in both Louisiana and Michigan, I can tell you Michigan corrupts French names far more thoroughly. In Detroit (itself a mildly corrupted D'étroit) there is a street called Gratoit. "Grashit"

[Dave@Moon]

having lived in both Louisiana and Michigan, I can tell you Michigan corrupts French names far more thoroughly. In Detroit (itself a mildly corrupted D'étroit) there is a street called Gratoit. "Grashit"

I grew up in Monroeville PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The neighboring municipality was North Versailles ("north vir-sales").

Spanish gets slaughtered just as badly. I went to grad school in Ames. IA. The next city east on the old Lincoln Highway was Nevada ("neh-vae-da"). Not far away was Madrid, IA ("mad-rid").

BTW, I love gyros. But often when I'm in a greek restaurant for the first time I'll order souvlaki instead until I find out how they pronounce "gyro".

[TG57Roadmaster]

A friend living in Atlanta needed to fly to Paris for a conference, and called the local Air France office for reservations.

The gal answered the phone with the standard company greeting...

"Good morning, Air Fraunce, can I hep yew?"

TG

[Guest Gary Hearn]

Many people seem to think "then" and "than" are interchangeable. They are prolly write....

Years ago when I worked at Blue Cross we had a salesman in Virginia Beach who was the master of butchering the English language. His name was Carson so I ended up coining the word Carsonoma which was defined as a real or imagined word used out of context. He would call up with questions and we would just roll our eyes. Just a few of the gems I remember:

"He is in the hospital with something caught in his asparagus."

"I am stuck in traffic on the Monica Mary Mack Bridge"

"I think they are on a Pacific stop loss program."

In the end I had three pages of his quotes which we all circulated behind his back.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Gary Hearn
Change Merrimac to Mary Mack (see edit history)

[Guest Gary Hearn]

And one of my favorites, "I cut that thing half in two....". Probably after he put it in Granny gear and kept on gittin' up!

[Guest De Soto Frank]

When I was driving my '61 Rambler back from Chicago last summer, I took my time and made some stops along the way...

While I was in north-central Ohio, I fueled-up at a mini-mart, and I asked the clerk how far it was to Milan, birthplace of Thomas Edison... only I pronounced it like you would in Italy: "mih-LAHNN"...

The clerk looked at me blankly for several seconds then replied, " there's a Thomas Edison historic site about ten miles down the road in MY-len..."

Good thing I wasn't in Iowa, asking "how far to "day-Mwann" ?

[Guest Gary Hearn]

OK, youze guys made me search for the list of Carsonomas. Here are a few more...:

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> What he says What he means

Speech impedlement Speech impairment

Enema Enigma

Wiff With

Expand and subtract Expand and contract

Asplix OR aspecks Asterisks

Floor mat Format

All timers Alzheimers Disease

Seltzer phone Cellular phone

Presidents Precedence

Subway Segue

[Restorer32]

he must be related to my ex employee

[Shop Rat]

A friend living in Atlanta needed to fly to Paris for a conference, and called the local Air France office for reservations.

The gal answered the phone with the standard company greeting...

"Good morning, Air Fraunce, can I hep yew?"

TG

My father was the City Editor for the local evening paper. He met the guy that came over here to train the very people you are talking about. He told Dad the very same story about when he had called back in after he did the training. A very funny story.

[Shop Rat]

he must be related to my ex employee

Dad, the newspaper City Editor, was forced to deal with a new hire (nephew of someone in power at the paper) that was as dumb as a stump.

One time this guy was writing an article about Elvis Presley and he wrote that Elvis wore blue swayed shoes.

Dad was finally able to get rid of this guy by sending copies of the articles he wrote to me during my freshman year in college. His winning arguement was that if his eighteen-year-old daughter could edit the guy's copy..... The paper fired the guy, finally!!

[trimacar]

Marty, great mule story, and yes, I miss the parties too!

This may get censored, but I had a friend who used to say, "With friends like you, who needs enemas?"

On projects I work on, a lot of equipment gets moved, and I always love it when a rigger yells "lower it down" or "raise it up...." , more Department of Redundancy Department.

Now, as to the French language, it's simple.....Gracie Allen explains it like this: "You speak it the same way you speak English, you just use different words......"

[Amphicar BUYER]

In our club there is a guy (a friend and nice guy!) who can not spell nor does he attempt use the spell check. He thinks it's not a concern, but I can tell you for certain he has lost customers because of it. They have repeatedly told me that if he couldn't spell simple words (or take the time to spell check), then they had second thoughts about the quality or attention to detail of his work not to mention how they view his intelligence (he's no dummy). It's that adage about how you never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression.

I've tried to respectfully explain this to him as a friend, but he has his own thoughts on it.

We also have a big parts supplier who refuses to use any terms accurately! he told me if he makes the part "it's NOS" HUH? He routinely says "original Amphicar" when it is a reproduction or replacement part (VERY different animals!) He interchanges NOS, reproduction and replacement so you really don't know if it's really NOS or a re-pop. One day he will **** off the wrong guy and get sued for false advertising. If you hurt his feelings, all of the sudden that next part you need is "unavailable" or you are branded a troublemaker. What a poor way to do business! (I personally would want MORE $ money from those who **** me off) No matter, when any of us are on his $hit list, we just have a friend order up the unavailable part for us. It's a constant topic between the real Amphicar folks. He chooses to penalize the people who spend the most $ with him, so we do all we can to not buy from him. Yup, that is good business sense! (I'm gonna be on that list again (still?) by the end of the day now!)

[Shop Rat]

.....Now, as to the French language, it's simple.....Gracie Allen explains it like this: "You speak it the same way you speak English, you just use different words......"

Or in the words of Henry Higgins, "The French don't care what they do so long as they pronounce it correctly".

[Barry Wolk]

Regardless of how you might feel on the subject, you ARE judged by the way you write.

People will say, "It's just the internet!" Yes, it is just the internet, the place where people can't experience your intelligence through anything but your writing.

What I truly don't understand is those that refuse to use spellcheckers. You have your choice of browsers that come so equipped.

Although, I did have to laugh at a friend that owned a lighting showroom. He made a sign that read, "No Reasonable Offer Refussed". I pointed out his error, he shrugged his shoulders and left it. The other day I saw a sign for Prepayed Cell Phones.

However, spellcheckers don't know everything. On Safari "Arggg" is picked up as an error, but "Argggg", isn't. Who knew?

[Guest bkazmer]

spellcheck also doesn't pick up incorrect use (e.g. homonyms).

In an office supply store a saw a sign over the paper department that said "Stationary." I thought it was wrong at first, but upon reflection the sign wasn't going anywhere.

[trimacar]

One of the problems, as I see it, is that some people rely on spell check too much, and never learn the right grammar from the get-go.

The English language is full of traps, from hear here to there their they're. It's its sometimes hard to tell what is right write. So sew, some sum people never learn the right write way weigh to start with, and that affects effects there their they're us of the language. Just simple things like where wear to use capitals capitols, and they lose loose sight site cite of past passed mistakes. Its it's all awl to two too much for me.......but I'll have to two too accept except it, I eye guess.......

Now, someone tell me why it's "frame off restoration," instead of "off frame restoration....."

[Barry Wolk]

Now, someone tell me why it's "frame off restoration," instead of "off frame restoration....."

Boy Howdy. Do I agree with that!

[keiser31]

Boy Howdy. Do I agree with that!

ME, TOO!! So, since my car was partially buried (engine for 3 years), does that mean that my car will be a "from the ground up) restoration??

[Barry Wolk]

"Ground up restoration", doesn't sound right.

[keiser31]

"Ground up restoration", doesn't sound right.

Yeah....sounds like it started out in pieces when I say it that way....little bitty ground-up pieces! Maybe I should just stick with "body off" restoration.