The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXXI

[cardgame]

Isn't that Justin Bieber? Wait, who is that? Are you saying that's a male version of a Paris Hilton, someone who has no talents but is famous? But he's starting in a movie or TV show it seems, so..

Cameron Dallas, who is apparently famous for vines and taking selfies. Ugh.

 

[metatron]

Are you saying that's a male version of a Paris Hilton, someone who has no talents but is famous?

Well, there's always royalty.

 

[Glassfan]

Trump Names Army Strategist as National Security Adviser

"U.S. President Donald Trump named a new national security adviser Monday, picking Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, a military strategist who has spent his entire career in the U.S. armed forces."

For you older members, you may recall this is the "Capt." H.R. McMaster who commanded Eagle Troop (2nd Arm Cav Rgt, VII Corps, Desert Storm, 1991), the pointy-end-of-the-spreer in the Battle of 73 Easting; the "last great tank battle of the 20th Century". Basically, Eagle and Ghost troops of the 2nd ACR wipe out the Tawakalna Division of the Republican Guard.

"McMaster is a much-decorated soldier, winning a Silver Star early in his Army career leading U.S. troops in their destruction of 80 Iraqi Republican Guard tanks without U.S. losses in a battle against Saddam Hussein's forces during their 1991 invasion of Kuwait. McMaster has held numerous key Army postings over the last 25 years.

"Three years ago, Time magazine put him on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, calling him "the architect of the future U.S. Army."

 

[warpus]

"last great tank battle of the 20th Century"

I watched a documentary on this tank battle I think, it was pretty boring and one sided. Most boring tank battle ever

 

[Valka D'Ur]

we forgive famous women an absence of talent if they can display grace and good looks, and we forgive famous men and absence of grace and good looks if they can display talent.

The problem is that so many of them display none of those qualities these days. I really don't understand why modern "socialites" walk around dressed like they're on the stroll, with half the world's supply of mascara and other makeup plastered on their faces.

Well, there's always royalty.

Oh, come now. Lady Diana was supposedly not too bad at tap dancing, and Princess Margaret liked to play the piano.

 

[warpus]

Yeah and the queen is good at waving, big deal

 

[civvver]

why are British names so weird? I'm watching that fx show Taboo which is set in victorian England and there is a guy named Cholmondeley, only I couldn't figure it out on imdb because they kept calling him "Chumley" on the show. I mean what the eff? So the ol and onde are basically silent?

Then I found this page http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/06/why-are-british-names-so-odd.html.

"
You’re undoubtedly aware that some British surnames are not only odd, but also pronounced very differently from their spellings.

Examples: Cholmondeley (pronounced “Chumley”), Featherstonehaugh (“Fanshaw”), Marjoribanks (“Marchbanks”), Brougham (“Broom”), and Beauchamp (“Beecham”).

There’s a wonderful Monty Python sketch (which we’ve referred to before on the blog) about the odd pronunciation of odd British names.

A character in the sketch is named Raymond Luxury Yacht. As he explains, “My name is spelt ‘Luxury Yacht’ but it’s pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove."

Like what the heck britian? How is one non native supposed to even realize that?

Another one that really bugs me, a brewery by my house is named Daught Horse. Which I just recently realized is pronounced Draft Horse. GAH

 

[Arakhor]

Well, the boardgame draughts is spelt that way and pronounced "drafts". How were you saying it?

Beauchamp is clearly a former French name which has simply been Anglicised over the years.

 

[warpus]

What's a lot weirder is the oddly shaped hat-like things British women wear on their heads when a prince and/or princess is getting married. Maybe also during other occasions, I haven't been paying enough attention to really tell

 

[Valka D'Ur]

What's a lot weirder is the oddly shaped hat-like things British women wear on their heads when a prince and/or princess is getting married. Maybe also during other occasions, I haven't been paying enough attention to really tell

Oh, silly... obviously hats are meant to be worn on the side of the head, not the top (as evidenced by the weird thing Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wore when the Prime Minister and his family met the Queen last year), and the bizarre things worn by Prince Andrew's daughters.

 

[warpus]

Yeah, so you've noticed the same phenomenon. I think these people think that they are wearing hats, but I don't really understand the social customs and assumptions involved

 

[civvver]

Well, the boardgame draughts is spelt that way and pronounced "drafts". How were you saying it?

Beauchamp is clearly a former French name which has simply been Anglicised over the years.

Like it's spelled, draught. Dra - aught but one syllable. It is just weird to me. I can't think of many, if any, american words that are pronounced so unlike their spelling phonetically but I'm sure there are some. Most of the words I can think of are americans being lazy and slurring constants together to drop syllables so probably becomes prolly or probly, and restaurant becomes rest-rant and groceries becomes gross-ries.

 

[Gori the Grey]

There’s a wonderful Monty Python sketch (which we’ve referred to before on the blog) about the odd pronunciation of odd British names.

A character in the sketch is named Raymond Luxury Yacht. As he explains, “My name is spelt ‘Luxury Yacht’ but it’s pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove."

This is also the grounds for another great running joke: Mrs. Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances claiming that the name is to be pronounced "Bouquet."

 

[warpus]

Like it's spelled, draught. Dra - aught but one syllable. It is just weird to me. I can't think of many, if any, american words that are pronounced so unlike their spelling phonetically but I'm sure there are some.

How about "Sean"

 

[sophie]

That just follows Irish spelling convention:

se is pronounced sh. So if it were written in English it would be spelled Shan. Welsh does the same with si: Sian.

The problem in English spelling isn't in the lack of correspondence to "what a letter is supposed to sound like". The problem in English spelling is that rules are inconsistent and difficult to predict without memorizing words wholesale.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Yeah, so you've noticed the same phenomenon. I think these people think that they are wearing hats, but I don't really understand the social customs and assumptions involved

Back in the summer of 1981, the theatre group I worked with decided to enter the Westerner Parade that year. The idea was to do a mock Royal Wedding, and they went around at the production party of Jesus Christ Superstar (the musical we did that spring) and asked the techies if we wanted to be part of it - as actors, not tech people. So I got to wear a long, fancy white lace dress, long gloves, hat, and learn to wave regally... and walk three miles on pavement, in medium-heeled sandals, staying in character the whole time.

Damn, my feet hurt at the end of that. It was fun, though.

Our "Lady Di" was brunette, and I was about 10 years too old for the part I was playing (one of the flower girls). But our "Queen Elizabeth" was really from Scotland, and I forget who supplied the corgi on the leash... Somebody in town actually owns a double-decker bus and it followed us as we walked along the parade route. From time to time "Lord Snowden" would gather us all in a group to take an "official" photograph.

Later on, someone in the theatre gathered the photos, newspaper writeup, and notes for this whole thing, made a copy, and sent it off to Buckingham Palace to show the real Queen how we had commemorated Charles & Diana's wedding. It's weird to think that somewhere in the palace archives, there's a picture of me, at age 18, in a "Royal Wedding" costume.

But our hats weren't weird. We were all very ladylike and normal-looking.

 

[civvver]

That just follows Irish spelling convention:

se is pronounced sh. So if it were written in English it would be spelled Shan. Welsh does the same with si: Sian.

The problem in English spelling isn't in the lack of correspondence to "what a letter is supposed to sound like". The problem in English spelling is that rules are inconsistent and difficult to predict without memorizing words wholesale.

Do you mean English as in England, or as in american English language? American English has a lot of weird grammar rules but I think most words are phonetic unless derived from other languages like french or Sean being Irish for example.

 

[sophie]

Do you mean English as in England, or as in american English language? American English has a lot of weird grammar rules but I think most words are phonetic unless derived from other languages like french or Sean being Irish for example.

trough-though

plow-blow

gin-gimp

coop-coopt

cob-cobalt

assist-asset

coal-coalition

stab-stable

quay-queue

two-too

aim-aight

and so on.

As I said, the problem is not one of weird rules, it's one of weird, inconsistent, rules.

If -ow is /oʊ/ as in blow, glow, slow, show, flow, and know, then it should always be that sound. If -ow is /aʊ/ as in bow, pow, cow, how, vow, and now, then it should always be that sound. German has weird pronunciation rules, but once you learn how they work they are extremely consistent. English's rules are so inconsistent that you end up having to memorize how to spell thousands of words individually as if the language were Mandarin or Japanese. Consider that you can learn how to spell any word in Korean in a matter of hours. That's what a consistent orthography looks like.

 

[Traitorfish]

Do you mean English as in England, or as in american English language? American English has a lot of weird grammar rules but I think most words are phonetic unless derived from other languages like french or Sean being Irish for example.

Doo yoo meen Inglish az in Ingland, or az in Ameriken Inglish langwej? Ameriken Inglish haz a lot of wird grammar rools but I think most wurds are fonetik unless deryved from other langwejes lyk French or Sean beeing Yrish for eksampel.

I mean, you can quibble whether or not my rendering is any more phonetic than the conventional one, but that just emphasises the extent to which English lacks a clear idea of what constitutes a phonetic spelling.

 

[Lohrenswald]

I can speak-e float-ende ingelsk