phases that make me want to smack someone

[Karen]

Maybe it stems from being an English teacher/writer's kid, but I have always paid more attention to pronunciation than most people, I guess. I remember the girl next door getting mad at me when, in second grade, I tried to kindly tell her the word is church, not turch, as she pronounced it. Chimbley for chimney got the same reaction. After the buzghetti for spaghetti battle, I gave up on her pronunciation of anything.

We never discussed this at college - I went to Mass Art, where they were happy if we were literate. But one day, apropos of absolutely nothing, my Illustration teacher wrote on the chalkboard:
Bostin
Bosten
Boston
and said "Of everyone in the room, I bet Karen is the only one who would pronounce these three words differently."

One of those odd moments, where I was thinking "how could you NOT?" and everyone else was thinking "What the heck is he talking about?"

[finn's mom]

Irregardless Is A Made-up Word!

I am quoting this because it was a huge pet peeve of mine. It's in the dictionary, now, though, so I bite my tongue. Much as it pains me, new words must be introduced or we'd all still be talking in Old English.

[finn's mom]

Bostin
Bosten
Boston
and said "Of everyone in the room, I bet Karen is the only one who would pronounce these three words differently."

One of those odd moments, where I was thinking "how could you NOT?" and everyone else was thinking "What the heck is he talking about?"

hahaha, I totally pronounced each one of those out loud, completely differently. That's great!

[finn's mom]

BETTA (bet tah)= fish species, possibly Latin, not Greek letter

wow, i have NEVER heard anyone pronounce it that way! Interesting!

[finn's mom]

I do say y'all. It seems to be an acceptable way to make a contraction of "you all." My cousin (I think he's from Indiana, maybe?) says "you's." I love it. Or "you'uns", that one cracks me up.

I do admit, speech will oftentimes get my attention, but I don't typically let it bother me for more than a split second.

These threads are always enlightening.

[davidpizzica]

The Pittsburgh equivelent of "Y'all" is "Yinz" I catch myself using it a lot. If you hear a Pittsburgher speak, it's almost a different language from English. I even have a English/Pittsbuurghese translation guide!

[Glacier]

Did I make a boo-boo, LOL I can be such a goof?

LOL, you left out an R...I assume phRases drive you nuts, not phases! Although, some people's phases can be very annoying too!

[Pam]

Okay y'all.
I sometimes imitate my mother's speech (New Jersey) to get their attention. Joyzee, Boyd, and turlet, get some strange looks.

Your examples are definitely NORTH Jersey. We don't speak that way down here in South Jersey.

My mother, who was born in Virginia, lost most of her accent over the years since moving to Pennsylvania and then New Jersey, but there are two words she still pronounces as she always did.

Cain't (can't)
Afred (afraid)

[catnapper]

I generally don't care what people say or how they say it unless they're being insincere or rude. Basically, not WHAT you say but HOW.

I can say that working with the public though, I've really come to roll my eyes with "we're just looking" --- you came in with something in mind. A sofa? Lamps? A recliner? Please don't throw your hand up in the air at me and tell me you're just looking... we do get insulted (awwwwww.... pity poor catnapper). If you share what you're looking for I might have some suggestions to help your search. Many people miss exactly what they're looking for because they say they are just looking (I know this is true because if I can catch them on their way out of the store and ask them, "what WERE you looking for?".... 5 minutes later I'm writing up a sale for what they didn't find )

My husband can not stand the phrase "whatever". Want to take away his good mood and replace it with a cranky one? Answer any question with "whatever" and you've instantly got grumpy-man

[K9soul]

I can say that working with the public though, I've really come to roll my eyes with "we're just looking" --- you came in with something in mind. A sofa? Lamps? A recliner? Please don't throw your hand up in the air at me and tell me you're just looking... we do get insulted

When I say that it's my polite way of saying I just want to be left alone to wander and look on my own, and be left to my own thoughts or conversation .

[Pam]

When I say that it's my polite way of saying I just want to be left to wander and look on my own, and be left to my own thoughts or conversation .

Me too! I purposely avoid going into stores where I am confronted immediately with someone asking me that question. I find that happens all the time in this one particular furniture store near me and also on the lots of car dealerships. These people appear out of mid-air within seconds after I am there.

[catnapper]

Ah, I never ever approach someone right away. I leave them to shop. I had someone last week who accused me of ignoring him -- I was trying to politely give him time to take everything in. There are furniture stores around here that pounce on you as you enter the door, shoving bottled water at you. Thats not me. I'm trying to honestly help people.... my job doesn't depend on how many sales I make since I'm technically not a salesperson. I'm just there to offer design advice. Maybe if all salespeople thought that way, they'd make more people happy and make more sales

[Miss Z]

Miss Z, "bu' nay, ahdunt fink thas' t' case atall! Ent nobbut cus-tum!" sounds pretty much like how a person from Pittsburgh would pronounce them! We speak a form of english called Pittsburghese. I can PM you some samples.

Wow, that's really interesting! Perhaps Pittsburgh and Lancashire were once joined? If I tour the states, then I'll have to visit Pittsburgh first, so I can be 'broken into' American English, as when I was last in Florida, I didn't have a clue what some of the words and phrases meant, and the way they were pronounced complicated things further! I just smiled and nodded when that happened.

[Alysser]

To each his own. I sometimes imitate my mother's speech (New Jersey) to get their attention. Joyzee, Boyd, and turlet, get some strange looks.

What area is that from?? I know North Jersey, but what cities? I have never heard anyone around here talk like that LOL. Sounds interesting though.

hehe, Zara I have to give you a video of my fake british accent. I want to see where I'm from in England.

[cassiesmom]

Just a question: is "Hey!" a substitute for "Hello!" anywhere other than the Chicago area?