Pronunciations

[superfly]

Lamy is correctly pronounced LAH-mee.

 

And while I'm being pedantic, r<span style='color:red'>O</span>tring is correctly pronouced ROTE-ring (as if it were two separate words but without any pause between them), not RO-tring. (In German, the name means "red ring.") Yes, I know, the automatic phone answering system in Janesville says it wrong.

 

Both "Rot" and "Rote" translate "red" from German to English, so if it is written Rotring, it is pronounced ROT-ring. That's how it's pronounced in Germany...

 

cheers,

Nenad

[Hans-Peter Ording]

so if it is written Rotring, it is pronounced ROT-ring. That's how it's pronounced in Germany...

Yes, but I think you have to write "rote" to make the English speaking people pronounce it the right way.

 

[Ernst Bitterman]

That reminds me of the time I ordered a "hogh-aarden" (that's as close as I can phonetically spell it)

As long as we are OT wrt fountain pens ...

 

In East Texas there is a town named Mexia. Nobody knows how to pronounce it correctly except for the locals. Even Texas natives generally only approximate the pronunciation.

 

An old joke tells about two travelling salesmen (it's an old joke, so it's not gender-neutral) who were NOT from Texas (we suspect they were Yankees). They saw a sign on the highway while driving from Dallas to Houston, indicating that Mexia was five miles ahead. They got into an argument about the way the town name should be pronounced. Since it was mid-day, they decided to stop for lunch in Mexia and ask a local. They pulled into a fast-food establishment, went inside, were seated, and they ordered their food. When the waitress brought them their iced tea (it was summer), one of the salesmen asked her, "Say , lady, how do you pronounce the name of this place?" She leaned over the table and said, very clearly and slowly, "DAY-ree KUH-ween."

 

This very same joke is used, replacing the salesmen with American hunters headed northward, by some inhabitants of the provincial capital of Saskatchewan, the city of Regina. Which, to differentiate it from the female name, and Latin word, is pronounced in such a way as to make non-locals say, "WHAT?! It rhymes with... er, anatomy?!"

 

I believe this evening I will retire to the local pub with a Waterman Phileas and a Rotring Skynn and do some writing in a Moleskine while enjoying a Hoegaarden Wit or a Unibroue Trois Pistoles.

[GirchyGirchy]

And since we're on town names, too, I need to vent! When I moved to Lexington, I could not figure out why EVERY person in this town laughed at me every time I spoke (I mean, sure, I'm a Yank, but surely I wasn't the first Yank they ever heard, right?)

 

There's a town just outside Lexington named Versailles. The road between here and there is, aptly, also called Versailles (unless you're in Versailles, then it's called "Lexington"). Well, after several weeks of "mispronouncing" Versailles (you know, by saying it correctly :bonk: ), I was informed it is, in fact, "ver-SAY-uhlz". Try as I might, I just could not convince this town of several hundred thousand to change their ways. I eventually gave in, and did it "their way."

 

The only problem is....now whenever I travel and refer to my hosts' local "Ver-Sales," they all look at me like some kind of grade school dropout! :blink:

 

~~King

Ok, now you know how it feels when a Kentucky native moves up North and is hounded by everyone about their accent! And we do sometimes get tired of Damn Yankees telling us how to pronounce our city names.

 

You could also just refer to Versailles Road as US 60 - that might make it easier for everyone. Have you explored much around there, the area between 60 and Old Frankfort Pike and US 421/Leestown Rd? It's fun wandering through there. You should also take 62 towards Lawrenceburg....you'll get to go over Tyrone bridge, which always scared the (Potty Mouth) out of me as a child, and see Wild Turkey.

 

Did you go to the Leather, Inc pen show this year? It wasn't too bad, really.

[punch]

pronounciations

Just be glad that you can't hear my accent.

 

I've probably heard it. My Father's side of the family is from Mexia.

[Hardtack]

This whole thread is a bit strange to me.

 

In German and in French, Lamy is pronounced like the two notes LA MI - two short syllables, no stress on either.

 

Phileas is of Greek origin, the final S is pronounced as in Pâris, the Homerian hero, not the French capital.

[rogerb]

"Let's call the whole thing off" (Ira Gershwin) (Apologies if someone has already said this..the thread was too long for me to read right through!)

 

There is no definitive answer to most of these issues....It seems a bit arrogant to say that 'we' are the only ones who are correct.

 

"Parris" versus "Parree" is a classic example ....both are 'correct' (whatever that means!) depending on which language you speak!

(I'm sure they say it differently in Paris, Texas, too!)

 

 

Edited February 2, 2008 by rogerb

[kudzu]

Taking this thread even more off-topic: how do the esteemed Richard Binder and Ruaidhrí pronounce their names? :hmm1:

I wouldn't even make a verbal stab at Ruaidhrí but my mind seems to say something like Rood-are-ee, :embarrassed_smile: which I know is completely wrong.

I've always said Richard's last name (he who so beautifully repaired a batch of pens for me when I first discovered eBay and fountain pens)

as "Bine-der" but I supposed it could also be "Bend-er".

[Deirdre]

Taking this thread even more off-topic: how do the esteemed Richard Binder and Ruaidhrí pronounce their names? :hmm1:

dh is somewhere between d and j, but in this case is typically silent, so it's pronounced closer to Rory.

 

Ruaidhrí comes from Rua (meaning red, pronounced roo-ah).

 

I'd always guessed that Binder was pronounced with the short I like wind.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Deirdre

[penburg]

In the U.S. south you can tell how FAR south a person is from by how many syllables in the word "grits".

 

"Grits"... northerner

"Gree-uts"... southerner.

"Guh-ree-uts"... deep south.

 

Sorry couldn't resist

 

[Bill]

And since we're on town names, too, I need to vent! When I moved to Lexington, I could ...There's a town just outside Lexington named Versailles...after several weeks of "mispronouncing" Versailles (you know, by saying it correctly :bonk: ), I was informed it is, in fact, "ver-SAY-uhlz".

~~King

 

The locals and the TV stations pronounce the city of Versailles, Ohio the same way as the KY version. And Lima, Ohio is LYE-mah, not LEE-mah.

 

A couple of years ago up in James P. country I pronounces Milan, Michigan as mil-LAHN (as in Milan, Italy). The local I was talking with must have laughed continuously for 60 seconds before he explain that it was known locally as MY-luhn. He was still laughing 5 minutes later.

 

Bill