Pet Peeves

I’m happy about people who care about each other. The world needs more of that. But, the world doesn’t need to hear you call them “babe”. My daughter does this with her boyfriend. She’ll say, “Hey babe...did you see this?” “Hey babe...try some of this pizza.” “Babe? Can you help me with this?” I have never heard her call him by his actual name.

After a while, I swear it sounds like she’s just saying, “Babe...babe babe babitty babe babe baby babe.” Now, just for fun, I’ll start calling my wife “babe” in front of my daughter. The object of this new game I just created is for both of us to not bust out laughing.
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I’m happy about people who care about each other. The world needs more of that. But, the world doesn’t need to hear you call them “babe”. My daughter does this with her boyfriend. She’ll say, “Hey babe...did you see this?” “Hey babe...try some of this pizza.” “Babe? Can you help me with this?” I have never heard her call him by his actual name.

After a while, I swear it sounds like she’s just saying, “Babe...babe babe babitty babe babe baby babe.” Now, just for fun, I’ll start calling my wife “babe” in front of my daughter. The object of this new game I just created is for both of us to not bust out laughing.
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You sound an awful lot like a dad with a teenage daughter. :laugh:

CD
 
caseydog said:
In the fish taco episode, they all pronounced taco wrong, except for one time, Barry pronounced it right, and then "corrected" himself to the British mispronunciation -- I'm guessing for the local audience. Ben called a tortilla a taco. A tortilla is an ingredient for tacos.

BTW, a tortilla is a different thing in Mexico than in Spain, which causes confusion itself. But, it is pronounced the same in Mexico and Spain. Tor-tee-yah. A double-L is pronounced like a Y in Spanish.

Americans mispronounce plenty of words, but some of us make the effort to pronounce foreign words correctly, once we hear it pronounced correctly. I care because I've had my Italian name mispronounced my whole life -- people read my name and mentally add letters that aren't there.
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My Irish maiden name was always being mispronounced - to the point where it was more usual for people to get it wrong than right. It didn't bother me though, and I soon learned to respond to various garbled names that only had a passing familiarity with my actual name :laugh:

In that fish taco episode they pronounced taco correctly the in the British way - it may be different to the way its pronounced in Texas, but they aren't Texans so I wouldn't expect them to pronounce it in the same way. Almost all foreign words are Anglicised when they're adopted into the English language (and the same is true when English words are adopted into other languages) - loanwords are just a normal part of language evolution.

The official language of the company I work for is English but 99% of the people I work with are not native English speakers so I hear English words being mispronounced every day - I don't correct anyone's pronunciation unless they are obviously struggling or if they ask. To do otherwise would be rude. After all, their command of English is far better than mine of their native language!

TastyReuben said:
I do also get quite annoyed with celebrity chefs who speak in their "normal" plain-as-vanilla American voice...until they want to flex their ethnic credentials by pronouncing every Italian/Spanish/French word with flourish. It's just unsettling, like hitting a speed bump at 50mph.
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Yes that irritates me too....I definitely see it as them trying to show off. But as Shania said....that don't impress me much :whistling:
 
My real pet peeve is not someone who mispronounces words, it is someone who mispronounces words, and when taught how to pronounce them correctly, insists on mispronouncing them. To me, that is arrogant.

When I mention cities in Italy, I generally use their Italian names, like Napoli, Firenze, and Torino (where my family came from). Why, because I went to Italy and learned what Italians call their cities. I'm sure MyPinchofItaly doesn't care if I say Turin or Naples, but it matters to me. Now that I know, I can't un-know it.

In the same way, if someone spends time in Texas with Mexican Americans, and insists on mispronouncing "Taco," they are either lazy or arrogant.

CD
 
caseydog said:
My real pet peeve is not someone who mispronounces words, it is someone who mispronounces words, and when taught how to pronounce them correctly, insists on mispronouncing them. To me, that is arrogant.

When I mention cities in Italy, I generally use their Italian names, like Napoli, Firenze, and Torino (where my family came from). Why, because I went to Italy and learned what Italians call their cities. I'm sure MyPinchofItaly doesn't care if I say Turin or Naples, but it matters to me. Now that I know, I can't un-know it.

In the same way, if someone spends time in Texas with Mexican Americans, and insists on mispronouncing "Taco," they are either lazy or arrogant.

CD
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To me its all down to the definition of "correct". Sure, there is the way native speakers pronounce a word, but there are also ways to pronounce the same word in a different language that are equally correct. I think that a lot of people forget that in many ways US English and British English are almost different languages...they each have their own way of doing things and both are correct.

Another couple of examples.....overhearing French people talking about visiting Londres. I'm 100% certain they know that in the English speaking world its called London. So why aren't they using the "correct" pronunciation/name? Well they are....because they're speaking in French not English, and if you're talking French the "correct" name is Londres. Equally, if I'm talking in English about visiting Paris I pronounce it pariss, I don't say paree even though I know that's how the French pronounce it. If I was talking in French then of course I'd use the French pronunciation. So I don't see someone using their own native language/pronunciation as lazy or arrogant at all.

I guess you can tell that I'm a linguist and absolutely love discussions like these about the way languages evolve and how they relate to one another LOL
 
MrsDangermouse said:
Yep we pronounce it with either a hard T at the end, or the glottal stop as Morning Glory says. Someone saying it with the French pronunciation would probably sound quite pretentious to British ears :happy:

But I wonder how often the description filet mignon is seen outside the USA? I don't recall seeing it on (m)any menus around Europe - we tend to call it fillet steak, and in France I think they use tournedos more than filet mignon.
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I believe we do mostly the French pronounciation. File, with the e emphasized. No T. It gets a bit tricky with declination, Croatian has 7 cases, but we make it work. However I would not be surprised to hear many versions of it. A lot of people are used to read as written, a sort of a basic rule, more or less, in the Slavic languages...

It was a part of the language transformation in 19 th century I believe.

There were a lot of jokes and missunderstandings with caffee bar and buffet.

Usually there are Croatian substitute words, so some tend to avoid the internationalisms...but some of them sound a bit silly...it depends.

I do believe one could/should ask/hear a local as to how to pronounce. But if it is in an Asian language that gets it distinctly more difficult to say it correctly, one may go back to either descriptive or the best possible.

I believe locals should be,and are, very forgiving of mistakes. One can't be expected to get everything right...😎
 
caseydog said:
In the same way, if someone spends time in Texas with Mexican Americans, and insists on mispronouncing "Taco," they are either lazy or arrogant.
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Possibly, in some cases, yes, but from my experience some persons' brains,that is, the coordination between reception in hearing and flexibility to change a pronounciation is very very low...I struggle with this a lot in my teaching...

In addition, some languages set up a different 'base' of vocals, habits,sounds early in the childhood and are difficult to change drastically later on...e.g. we do nothing with our R. It is a very minimal roll. So the French Rrrr or even the American Softened R requires effort. I am 1000% willing to put in the effort, but it never sounds completely like a native does...
I think mine are pretty good but not all the time...
But back to topic, I guess one can feel it, is the person at keast trying...or not...
 
MrsDangermouse said:
To me its all down to the definition of "correct". Sure, there is the way native speakers pronounce a word, but there are also ways to pronounce the same word in a different language that are equally correct. I think that a lot of people forget that in many ways US English and British English are almost different languages...they each have their own way of doing things and both are correct.

Another couple of examples.....overhearing French people talking about visiting Londres. I'm 100% certain they know that in the English speaking world its called London. So why aren't they using the "correct" pronunciation/name? Well they are....because they're speaking in French not English, and if you're talking French the "correct" name is Londres. Equally, if I'm talking in English about visiting Paris I pronounce it pariss, I don't say paree even though I know that's how the French pronounce it. If I was talking in French then of course I'd use the French pronunciation. So I don't see someone using their own native language/pronunciation as lazy or arrogant at all.

I guess you can tell that I'm a linguist and absolutely love discussions like these about the way languages evolve and how they relate to one another LOL
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Oh so lovely to hear this. I am not a linguist,(had I not studied piano, would have studied English and Russian, probably) but I am passionate about languages, speak several, to a different degree...love love love the topic and the history ...
 
The mispronounced words thing has pretty much played out.

New pet peeve, people who won't make the effort to roll their empty shopping cart 30 feet to a cart corral. It is windy in North Texas. I don't like coming out of the store to find a shopping cart has been blown into the side of my car.

I have actually run across a parking lot to catch a cart blown by the wind before it hits somebody's car. A few times, I've gotten applause for it. It takes less than a minute to roll your shopping cart to a proper place.

CD
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I’m happy about people who care about each other. The world needs more of that. But, the world doesn’t need to hear you call them “babe”. My daughter does this with her boyfriend. She’ll say, “Hey babe...did you see this?” “Hey babe...try some of this pizza.” “Babe? Can you help me with this?” I have never heard her call him by his actual name.

After a while, I swear it sounds like she’s just saying, “Babe...babe babe babitty babe babe baby babe.” Now, just for fun, I’ll start calling my wife “babe” in front of my daughter. The object of this new game I just created is for both of us to not bust out laughing.
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It's even funnier when people introduce you to their significant other as "my boyfriend/husband/girlfriend/wife". Always makes me want to ask "Does the creature have a name of its own?"

Anyway, my 17 year old sister calls her boyfriend "bro"🤦‍♀️
 
Oh, I do have a pet peeve, which is people who walk slowly. I am a very fast walker and can't stand walking behind slow walkers. If I can't overtake them I will loudly say "EXCUSE ME" so they will notice me and let me go ahead.
 
caseydog said:
The mispronounced words thing has pretty much played out.

New pet peeve, people who won't make the effort to roll their empty shopping cart 30 feet to a cart corral.
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My apologies. I have only discovered the thread this morning.
Yes, the cart rolling. Here often there is a coin inserted to motivate people to get it back.
 
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