Pronouncing "Foie Gras"

[sherribabee]

Houston.  In TX, it's hews-ton.  In NYC it's house-ton.

When I was at the Chinese lunch in NY several weeks ago and pronounced it HEWS-ton, no fewer than 8 voices responded in complete unison: "HOWS-ton"

I think I was one of them.

Only because the same thing happend to me when I first moved here.

The one NY-ism I refuse to abide by is standing ON line. No! I am in a line not on it. I'm staning IN line. This one drives me batty.

[alacarte]

One should be mindful of ferret spys as well, as they tend to drag one's things under the bed and hide them.

Maybe that's where they hide all the dropped "s"s and butchered vowels.

[tammylc]

And no amount of correcting will convince my friend to say sangria instead of sangUria.

There are some people who will obstinately continue to do something that's incorrect, usually saying something like "Oh, I don't care if that's the right way to say it, this is the way I say it." Those people really annoy me.

[badthings]

To say a French word in the middle of an English sentence exactly as it would be said by a Frenchman in a French sentence is a feat demanding an acrobatic mouth; the muscles have to be suddenly adjusted to a performance of a different nature, and then as suddenly recalled to the normal state. It is a feat that should not be attempted. The greater its success as a tour de force, the greater its failure as a step in the conversational progress; for your collocutor, aware that he could not have done it himself, has his attention distracted whether he admires or is humiliated. All that is necessary is is a polite acknowledgement of indebtedness to the french language indicatedby some approach in some part of the word to the foreign sound, and even this only when the difference between the foreign and the corresponding natural English sound is too marked to escape a dull ear.

Fowler (2nd ed.), p. 213

However, I am as amused by yokels as anyone. eXpresso is perhaps even more grating than eXcape.

Occasionally, I become a yokel myself -- many of you would have been quite amused at my attempts to procure a Mont d'Or from a cheese tray in France last year. On a more serious note, I find that if I'm not paying attention I mispronounce some words that I actually know how to say in the same way as my father. Aside from the disturbing oedipal implications, this means that sommeliers sometimes catch me inserting a T into Montrachet and mock me accordingly behind my back.

(Just kidding: if I could afford to drink Montrachet I wouldn't give a shit how I said it).

[Al_Dente]

Nola-

I have pronounced foie gras properly, but I've totally botched most of the other french words.  Could someone start listing the correct pronunciation for all the french words listed in this thread.  It would be very helpful to us derelicts.  Thanks in advance.

I'm confusilated on the pronuncifications as well.

[SobaAddict70]

Otto.

Soba

[hjshorter]

Nola-

I have pronounced foie gras properly, but I've totally botched most of the other french words.  Could someone start listing the correct pronunciation for all the french words listed in this thread.  It would be very helpful to us derelicts.  Thanks in advance.

Just don't ask for French pronunciations from a New Orleans native. You wouldn't believe how Chartres Street is pronounced down there.

The local way with the word mayonnaise had me asking for a translation too.

[Mark Sommelier]

Nola-

I have pronounced foie gras properly, but I've totally botched most of the other french words.  Could someone start listing the correct pronunciation for all the french words listed in this thread.  It would be very helpful to us derelicts.  Thanks in advance.

Well, for openers, the country in question is pronounced "Fronce", not "Fraaaanse"

Please, no "cheese eating surrender monkey" jokes. - Credit Homer Simpson

[Rachel Perlow]

Houston.  In TX, it's hews-ton.  In NYC it's house-ton.

Newark:

Noo-work in NJ

new-Ark in DE

[bloviatrix]

The one NY-ism I refuse to abide by is standing ON line.  No!  I am in a line not on it.  I'm staning IN line.  This one drives me batty. 

The origin for New Yorkers standing on line comes from the fact that they used to draw lines on the ground in order to indicate where people should stand. So people stood "on the line."

Yet one more way you can tell a native new yawka.

[tommy]

Yet one more way you can tell a native new yawka.

i'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure i use both "on" and "in" without giving it much thought. and i don't think twice when someone else uses either one.

[lamb]

Yet one more way you can tell a native new yawka.

i'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure i use both "on" and "in" without giving it much thought. and i don't think twice when someone else uses either one.

As a native NY'er, I agree with Tommy. Don't give it much thought, I've been on AND in.

I've heard before that we stand ON line. Don't know where that one came from.

Maybe a mid-westerner or west-coaster, who when visiting our fair city was milling about a line. Can't you just see a bunch of NY'ers yelling at a tourist "HEY YOU!!! - YEAH!!! YOU WITH THE CAMERA AROUND YOUR NECK!!!

ARE YOU ON OR OFF THE EFFING LINE?? "

See, very easy to misconstrue.

[tirgoddess]

If you're unsure of the pronunciation, order by number.

[cakewalk]

Yet one more way you can tell a native new yawka.

i'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure i use both "on" and "in" without giving it much thought. and i don't think twice when someone else uses either one.

I've been on AND in.

And I've been up and down and over and out, and I know one thin' ...

When I lived in Jerusalem these tourists once asked me which bus to take to get to the Nesset. I thought it was a lovely mistake.

[sherribabee]

The one NY-ism I refuse to abide by is standing ON line.  No!  I am in a line not on it.  I'm staning IN line.  This one drives me batty.

The origin for New Yorkers standing on line comes from the fact that they used to draw lines on the ground in order to indicate where people should stand. So people stood "on the line."

Yet one more way you can tell a native new yawka.

Huh. Well, if they start drawing lines on the ground again, I'll say on line. Until then...

[Suzanne F]

Otto.

Soba

Thank you thank you thank you. I've been waiting to see who would bring that up.

Now that we've gone totally OT: what about the different ways to indicate that you are trying to leave the elevator or bus? "Getting out" versus "Coming out." The latter took some getting used to, when I lived in Detroit. That's dee-TROYT, not DEE-troyt or day-TRRWAH even if it was named for both a French gentleman of that pronunciation AND the fact that it's on a strait (étroit in French).

[Bux]

Standing on line is zen thing. When you stand in line, you become part of the line. When you stand on line, there is the line and there is your identity. We don't lose our identity to the line here in New York. For one thing, we maintain an consciousness about how to get ahead on the line.

As had been said, New Yorkers know how to pronounce Houston, Texas. We also know that Houston Street is named for another guy and we know how he pronounced his name too.

As for Illinois, Detroit and Des Moines, I always figured those were Indian tribes.

[Lady T]

You mean 'detroit' isn't the opposite of 'introit'? Son of a gun.

[JAZ]

Why is it that when French people mispronounce English words, we think it's cute or charming, but when Americans mispronounce French words, we think it's a mark of stupidity?

[Bux]

Why is it that when French people mispronounce English words, we think it's cute or charming, but when Americans mispronounce French words, we think it's a mark of stupidity?

I think it's just because English sound so much cuter, if not better, when pronounced with a French accent than French does with an American accent.

It may also have something to do with the fact that French has given us so many words that describe the finer parts of our life from the food terms--pork, veal--to words like deluxe and lingerie. Let's face it French is a class act language.

[Squeat Mungry]

Varmint will be familiar with the North Carolina town of Fayetteville. He will probably back me up when I assert that the inhabitants of this town pronounce it "FED-vul".

When I wish to disembark from a bus or elevator, I signal that wish with "going out!".

Cheers,

Squeat

[jackal10]

There is the old story of the tourist who asked for newts in one of the fancier London hotel dining rooms.

"I'm sorry Sir", replied the impeccable head waiter "While we try to satisfy our guest's needs, newts are out of season at the moment. I believe it is the breeding season"

"What is all this about breeding season?" the tourist spluttered "I wanted a bottle of Newts St George""

[elyse]

Houston.  In TX, it's hews-ton.  In NYC it's house-ton.

When I was at the Chinese lunch in NY several weeks ago and pronounced it HEWS-ton, no fewer than 8 voices responded in complete unison: "HOWS-ton"

As one of the 8, here I write. Houston here in NY is named after a guy, somethingorother Houston. I have no idea who or what the Texas place came from.

Sorry if this has already been explained.

And I see that Bux has done it above.

Edited November 6, 2003 by elyse (log)

[fifi]

Houston (Hewston) TX is named after General Sam Houston, the commander at the battle of San Jacinto where Texas won its independence from Mexico with the defeat of Santa Anna's army.

I dunno about the New York guy.

In New Orleans they have strange ways of pronouncing many things. The ones that drive me nuts are some streets in uptown that are named for the muses. For instance, they don't pronounce Calliope Cal-li-o-pi, but say Calli-ope as in hope. Drives me nuts.

[Suzanne F]

This thread reminds me of my early days in college. The Midwesterners had never met any Easterners, and vice versa. So we sat around comparing how we said words like "orange" and "roof." As you can imagine, THEY said them wrong.