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Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by martin in the USA <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=martin+in+the+USA' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 12:52 pm

When we pronounce the letter "Z", it sounds like "ZEE". You pronounce it "ZED".

Serious questions: Do you pronounce "zebra" "zedbra"? Are there any other letters of the alphabet that we pronounce differently?

Thanks in advance. I will be away from the computer for the next 12 hours so won't be able to answer replies.

Lock him up! (your bike, that is)

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Stuart <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Stuart' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 12:59 pm, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Hi Martin,

"zeh-bra", not "zee-bra".

Hth.

Regards,

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

It does. Thank you, Stuart.

Lock him up! (your bike, that is)

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by pete_s <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=pete_s' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 1:09 pm, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

W its "w" or "double u" not "Dub-ya" . Dubya is George Bush's middle name.

Trivia question: Why does the acronym WWW have 9 syllables while the full phrase "World Wide Web" only have 3?

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by jimmy <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=jimmy' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 1:11 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Aluminium as opposed to Aloominum

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Hants Ian <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Hants+Ian' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 1:58 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Route in English. Root. In American. Rowt.

The light at the end of the tunnel maybe an oncoming train

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by spriddler <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=spriddler' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 2:15 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

English (well borrowed French actually).....Entrepreneur
American ........Entreprenoooer.

English.....Internet
American silent 'T' ........Innerne'.

English......Newclear
American.....Nookiller (perhaps a George Dubya exclusive?).

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by pete_s <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=pete_s' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 5:21 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

George Bush (wrongly) reputed to have said

The problem with the French,is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur.”

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by spriddler <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=spriddler' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 7:11 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Excellent result. A pal finally got his basket case purchase back together last year and has ridden it a few hundred yards in his road. The rebuild was hampered by a total lack of any documentation; Owners Handbook, Workshop Manual, Spares list. I think he even contacted the VMCC library as he already has another bike that he rides in the Pioneer and Banbury runs.
Have you managed to locate any documentation?

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Olivefritz <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Olivefritz' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 22, 2021, 10:11 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Titanium as opposed to Tyetanium,

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Yes, a lot of people over here pronounce "W" as "dubya" (especially in the South) but not in my neck of the woods.

Lock him up! (your bike, that is)

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Beezabryan <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Beezabryan' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 2:23 pm, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Although I'd gotten used to most Americanizations such as Awaya/ Ohio, bayzil for the herb basil etc I could still get caught out. One time during a campfire conversation I made reference to MZ motorcycles. Immediately a shocked voice called out " HE SAID ZED!!"

BeezaBryan does not do politics, here or anywhere else.

He knows not where he's going, For the ocean will decide,
Its not the destination, It's the glory of the ride (Edward Monkton, Zen Dog)

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by JERRY <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=JERRY' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 2:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

I was always surprised the Americans called there bums a fanny

The oldest rocker in town!

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by geoff the bonnie <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=geoff+the+bonnie' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 3:07 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

They get muddled up in bed Jerry. Poor woman would sleep with her hand over her arse.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Tonupdave <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Tonupdave' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 3:28 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

As a Lunduna I use Backslang or Cockney rhyming slang.. So it's Bottle & Glass not Fanny

Or Annyfa...

Tonupdave..T.U.D.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by ChrisG <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=ChrisG' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 10:52 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Surely that should be 'lahndana'. Lunduna is what a brummie would call you.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by moe <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=moe' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 3:26 pm, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

WE say solder not sauder

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Andy C <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Andy+C' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 3:45 pm, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Never understand why 'mericans write the word colour as color.

Here are a few "Somserset" words my Grandad and Dad used to use, and I still do sometimes:

Casbn't - means you cant
Oosent - means you wont
Whart - means what as in "whart theee talkig about"
Hasn't - means havent you
Gurt - means big
twernt - means it was not, as in "twernt me"
to have your "knob" on - to be clever, as in "he had his knob on when he came up with that idea"
Zider - means cider

This song says a lot about Somerset folk - from the late Adge Cutler a master of the Somerset dialect - no idea what the song is about....

Also song using casnt and asnt....

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Hampy <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Hampy' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 3:58 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Aris - Aristotle - bottle - bottle & glass - arse.
Hence "his bottle's gone".

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Al Urquhar <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Al+Urquhar' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 4:56 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

"In North America, the "curb" is the stone edging of the sidewalk. Outside North America (where the sidewalk is called the pavement), the spelling is "kerb." This, however, is not the end of the story because "to curb" (meaning "to control" or "to limit"

has the same spelling in American English and British English."

About as clear as mud then.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by The Prodigal <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=The+Prodigal' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 8:50 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Lieutenant?

"What do we want?"
"PROCRASTINATION!"
"When do we want it?"
"TOMORROW!"

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by spriddler <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=spriddler' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 9:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

"What do we want?"
"PROCRASTINATION!"
"When do we want it?"
"TOMORROW!"

all you can eat wilmington nc

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

"Never understand why 'mericans write the word colour as color."

Goes back to America's first dictionary compiled by Noah Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/about-us/spelling-reform

Lock him up! (your bike, that is)

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Leon Novello <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Leon+Novello' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 9:03 pm, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Gotten when the word is got. Why do Americans" fall off of" something when they have fallen off?

Leon Novello

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Hampy <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Hampy' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 20, 2021, 9:30 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

fall off is current - Fallen off is in the past tense,

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Thanks everyone for the replies and examples of words we pronounce differently. It was very interesting and entertaining.

When you sing the "alphabet song" (you know, ABCDEFG, HIJKLMNOP,...)are there any letters you pronounce differently than we do here in the US? Like the "Z" "Zed" example.

Lock him up! (your bike, that is)

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by calidavid <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=calidavid' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 8:34 am, in reply to "Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Took me a while to understand the original Kawasaki Z1 advert of “Z and be seen”.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Andy C <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Andy+C' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 8:44 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Zee Zee top would just not have sounded right as Zed Zed top

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Al Urquhar <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Al+Urquhar' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 9:22 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

And, I would guess, Ford's 'Zetec' models are so-called because its an American company rather than a British one, otherwise we might have found ourselves choosing a 'Zedtec' version of their cars.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Tonupdave <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Tonupdave' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 10:50 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Oh come off it the English is no better
Bough and Bow? Rough & Ruff,

Tonupdave..T.U.D.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by ChrisG <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=ChrisG' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 10:59 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Ive just finished reading the Velo OC extract from Phil Irving's autobiography. As a young Aussie in Birmingham he found the dialect quite challenging.
He used an example when asking for for some parts. The operative told him Ah 'ers wer all med las wik' (Yes, they were all made last week).
It day arf mek me laff.

Meanwhile, in Leeds...

Posted by The Prodigal <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=The+Prodigal' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 6:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

"The object is not in the metal container."

Yorkshire version: "Tin tin tin."

"What do we want?"
"PROCRASTINATION!"
"When do we want it?"
"TOMORROW!"

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Andy C <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Andy+C' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 11:27 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

And why is "done" not spelt "dun" - there are loads of examples Dave.

Why do some words have silent letters - Medicine, which everyone seems to pronouce as "Medsin".

What gets up my nose the the abbreviation of words that people use these days "Perf" Instead of perfect being one example.

Just quirks of the language!!

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Tonupdave <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Tonupdave' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 11:31 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

I can't stand Acronyms you read an artical and it's full of them

Tonupdave..T.U.D.

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by pete_s <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=pete_s' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 5:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Fellow dug up a mine. Army officer came to recover it with the words...

If you don't mind, the mine you mined is mine

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Stuart <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Stuart' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 11:52 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

red, read (present tense), read (past tense) ...

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Stuart <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Stuart' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 11:56 am, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by jimmy <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=jimmy' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 12:29 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Their, there, they're
Were, where, we're

Still not been mastered by some

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Andy C <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Andy+C' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 1:17 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

"Still not been mastered by some"

Very true Jimmy

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Al Urquhar <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Al+Urquhar' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 12:39 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

>Ford's 'Zetec' models are so-called because its an American company rather than a British one, otherwise we might have found ourselves choosing a 'Zedtec' version

Uh-uh, wild animals are held captive in a "zoo" whether in GB or the US, not in a "zed-oo" or a "zee-oo".<

True, Stuart, but the (rather weak) point I was trying to make (and not very well at that, on reflection) was that 'Zetec' is clearly a made-up word, probably emanating from Ford's publicity people and, I've always assumed (dangerous activity!), meant to be a contraction of 'Z Technology'. But there again, who knows?

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by The Prodigal <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=The+Prodigal' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 2:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Wikipedia sez:

"Ford Motor Company used the Zetec name on a variety of inline 4-cylinder automobile engines. It was coined to replace "Zeta" on a range of 1.6 L to 2.0 L multi-valve engines introduced in 1991 because Ford was threatened with legal action by Lancia who owned the Zeta trademark."

Who knew that? I didn't.

"What do we want?"
"PROCRASTINATION!"
"When do we want it?"
"TOMORROW!"

Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation

Posted by Al Urquhar <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Al+Urquhar' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on February 21, 2021, 3:41 pm, in reply to "Re: Alphabet and letter pronunciation"

Thanks The Prodigal; good forum this!

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