h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm with Mina, Shagbark and Ictoan.

I have a strong belief that those born in february get to decide on the pronunciation....

That'll include me then! And I say "Feb-rue-ery".

The 28th, if you're interested.


Geggs

I was born in this month (not saying when, but before Geggs). I say Feb-ru-ary. The R is there for a reason - the name comes from the Latin februa, the festival of purification that took place in this month.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it's Febuary is an acceptable pronunciation.

"The R is there for a reason"

Yes, to confuse foreigners, like much of our language!

...like the silent D in Wednesday.

and second 'e'
wensday

What about those who pronounce it Weddensday? (I'm not one, but it's just as valid, surely)

I've never heard anyone so pronounce it - they exist, then?

I've heard people say "weddnsday" with a sounded d but I always assumed it was those pretentious people who assume that they're being more correct because that's the way it is spelt. Like the people who pronounce the t in often.

Or the people who pronounce "iron" as "eye-ron". In fact, iron has always been pronounced "eye-urn" and used to be spelt "iurn" until some idiot decided it must be something to do with "ironic" so he changed the spelling.

We (Dublin, 1960) were always given out to if we pronounced February as Feb-yew-ary. We were told we had to say the first r and as a result it changed into a sort of Febrrry if you're being particular or just Februey for short.

so whilst we're on pronunciation:

picturesque - pronounced as picture-skew
Annoying?
Pretentious?
Humourous?

'Haitch' for H is one of my personal cringes (for anyone speaking with an English accent)

Would you say Wubble-you? or Yie? or Rarr? Well, then, get over it.

I say "haitch" because that's the name of the letter, as far as I'm concerned. Still doing the research to see am I right, though.

Hate to say this, Gnomon, but you're wrong. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, aitch is 'Name of the letter H'. There is no dictionary entry for haitch, not even as 'mis-pronunciation of aitch'.

Ictoan, regarding the pronunciation of picturesque as 'picture-skew', when I was a kid that's how I thought it was pronounced. I knew of the word picturesque, but I must have assumed that it was spelled 'picturesk'. The correct spelling just looked wrong for the word.

Yes but the American Heritage Dictionary says that aitch came from the French hache and the English dropped the initial "h" sound. If this were true, then it might be just that the Irish are still using the original pronunciation. That's why further research is needed.

>>Haitch' for H is one of my personal cringes (for anyone speaking with an English accent)

Well 'Haitch' is more sensible, of course. It actually has the sound of the letter in it. Although it's not what I say myself.

During The Troubles, the pronunciation could be a matter of life and death. In Norn Irn there is a Protestant/Catholic split between Aitch/Haitch. A driver on a dark country road might suddenly come across a roadblock. He'd be asked to spell something. He'd have to make a guess as to which gang of thugs he was up against.



How do we say J? I say Jay. Scots children (like mine) are taught Jye.

Irish people say "Ore" for R, while we're told it should really be "Are".

Tell them back!

My English son had his pronunciation corrected by his Irish children when reading an alphabet book - from "are" to "ore"