Why do the British call him "Barrick Obamer"?

[bluestateguy]

Can't they speak English correctly?

[Cali_Democrat]

1. .....

[thereismore]

2. Some people say warsh instead of wash. I don't get that. nt

[madmom]

28. My mom says warsh because ...

"some one has to use all the r's the New Englanders drop". She's from Maryland.

[Speck Tater]

45. The reason that English has so few z's and x's

is that when movable type was first invented, the Polish people used them all up, so the rest of Europe had to make do without them. ;)

[hlthe2b]

35. I grew up in the Midwest... My Mom always used to say WARSH

It took awhile before my sister and I stopped doing so. You tend to absorb what you hear and it is common to hear it pronounced that way there. Of course she always said Missour(a) as they do on the eastern side of the state (St. Louis) and we ALWAYS said Missour(ee) as they do more centrally and on the western side, so go figure...

[Cant trust em]

3. I had this volunteer last year who loves Barack O-bam-a

Bam like the sound effect when something falls down.

Not like bomb.

Why the hell is it so hard to pronounce a name correctly?

[polmaven]

18. Sorta like

Ala-bam-a?

[Cant trust em]

21. Exactly. Really smart guy, but apparently tone deaf.

[Fire1]

4. British accent, maybe???

[denem]

15. ER and AH have the same sound in British English.

Have a listen the Beatles singing
"Getting so much bettAH all the time

See also : http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8326977&mesg_id=8327032

[Puzzler]

60. The Beatles were from Liverpool...

... and spoke with different accents than the average BBC/London reporter.

[csziggy]

83. The last time this subject came up the BBC announcer they were complaining about

Was from New Zealand!

[liberal N proud]

5. Tow-mate-tow, ta-mat-tow

Why do the British call the hood of the car the bonnet and the trunk the boot?

[truebrit71]

30. Why? Because that is what they are called...

..silly...

As to why they can't get the President's first name correct I couldn't tell you. They pronounce it the same way they pronounce barrack (as in military barracks) so I am at a loss for their continued mis-pronounciation...it's not like it's called 'English' or anything...

Oh wait..... ;-)

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. Some people say "Nook You Ler"

:evilgrin:

[xxqqqzme]

74. or

colly four knee ya.

[BlooInBloo]

7. hahahaha!

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Following Rupert Murdoch's strange predeliction to mock authority figures with

more influence than he has.

[Cha]

9. I think it's sweet and cute that

different nationalities have their own way of saying Baracklava Obama.

"There's no one as Irish as Barrick Obama"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek

[denem]

10. My wife gets me on this all the time.

There is more or less no difference between a "er" and "a" ending in British or Australia english.

So I say ButtER and AmericA with the same sound ending.
So she says I say ButtAH and AmericER
but infact I end both words with the same sound.
(It's somewhere in the middle of an American AH and ER)

Have a listen to the Beatles singing:
"Getting so much bettAH all the time".

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. Do you pronounce H as "hay-tch" too?

[denem]

17. No, but we say HERbs

Haven't heard too many Americans calling someone 'erbert though ;)

and Carparks - not Parking Lots. A park for cars where they park.

Foot paths not sidewalks.

Petrol not gasoline

countless others.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. My husband is a Brummie. I once got a very long winded explanation of every dialect in England

And their oppression of the Brummie people.

[denem]

27. Brummie? Long winded? No!

:evilgrin:

[Joe Chi Minh]

49. Aren't sidewalks, pavements?

[MiniMe]

81. Of course...

Park you car is prounced differntly in Boston than in many other places.

[truebrit71]

32. That drives me up the friggin' wall...

...I had a maths teacher in the UK that threatened automatic demerits anytime someone said 'hay'tch insteand of 'aitch'....funny thing was he was a Welsh git....;-)

[polmaven]

20. Been to New England lately?

Same sounds. That's the CORRECT way to say it!...

[denem]

23. I'm in Ohio

The only words I know are "Go Bucks!"

[eShirl]

Ayah.

I resemble that remark! :hi:

[Number23]

65. Yep! Aussies call him "Barrick" too!

Makes me want to pound the crap outta somebody... :)

[IntravenousDemilo]

11. For the same reason they park their motorcars in the "garridge". n/m

[Jackeens]

12. Dunno, there's somefink strange about their accents

:-)

[Captain Hilts]

13. Same reason for 'SEK-ra-tree' instead of 'sek-ra-TAIR-ree.' nt

[JuniperLea]

19. Al-U-minium...

Con-TROV-ercy...

Same words, different language;)

[CTyankee]

71. How about "shedule" for "schedule"? Don't they see that "c"?

It's confusing to me and I teach ESOL. Of course, there are two different tracks in ESOL: British and American. I once taught a class of Chinese visitors and learned to tell the difference between those who learned English in Hong Kong (Brit colony) and the mainland. The Hong Kong Chinese would start their sentences with the word "Ectually.."

[Captain Hilts]

75. Eleanor Roosevelt said 'shedule' instead of 'skedule'. Drove the WH staff nuts.

Part of that deal with learning French before English and speaking English in England.

[JuniperLea]

16. Much like Germans in Germany... and German speaking Austrians...

It's almost as if there were two different languages;)

[mwooldri]

22. Which part of the British Isles are you talking about?

Too many accents on those isles I'm afraid.

[Jackeens]

24. In fairness, at least those Brits can spell. 'Center'? What's that all about?

** Running for the hills **

:yoiks:

[Occam Bandage]

29. Something that cents, obviously.

[denem]

31. 19th Century Spelling: Group of professors decided 'put things right'

Used french/german as a template and
made every mistake in the book: so

center became centre
plow became plough.
etc. etc.

[LisaM]

25. Oh, come on - remember when Michelle Obama mispronounced Nevada

and then had to correct herself? And I know perfectly intelligent people who say Ore-GON (instead of "Gun", thanks for catching that, SeattleGirl), and call the Mackinac Bridge "Mackinack". And people who pronounce Huron "Yoor-On" and Houston as "Youston" (the latter two REALLY annoy me). And there are people who pronounce Roosevelt two different ways - Rose and Roooz.

[SeattleGirl]

33. Actually, the correct pronunciation is "Ory-GUN".

:)

When I hear someone pronounce it "ARE-e-gone", I want to immediately correct them. It's usually some newsie person who does that.

[LisaM]

36. I know! I put it backwards!

Thanks for catching that!!!!

[denem]

38. I like Obama's 'Way-silly-er' for Wasilla.

[truebrit71]

34. Oh, oh....Gro-shur-ese (groceries)..will someone please explain to me where the 'SHH' sound comes...

...from in that word??....almost drives me to distraction whenever I hear that...

[Occam Bandage]

41. The influence of the retroflex 'r' morphed the alveolar fricative 's' to the postalveolar 'sh.'

Letters can pull the letters around them forward or back or up or down, because the tongue is lazy. That kind of stuff happens all the time.

[5thGenDemocrat]

61. Groceries

I would pronounce that word "GROSS-reez." Don't know if that's just me or the regional dialect.
And it's a "gross-ree" store.
John
Saginaw, Michigan

[IntravenousDemilo]

42. Apparently TR pronounced it "Rooz" and FDR pronounced it "Rose".

That's what I heard, anyway. So for me it's Teddy "Rooz-evelt", but Franklin "Rose-evelt".

[AyanEva]

51. Mackinac Bridge

What is the proper pronounciation of that? I confess, my first thought was "Mackinack." Also, with Roosevelt, I say it both ways. In my head, it ALWAYS comes out "Roooz" but if I'm speaking it's either "Rose" or something halfway between "Roooz" and "Rose." I'm not sure why there's a difference between my brain and my mouth. Kind of bizarre.

[LisaM]

59. It's pronounced Mackinaw

The same as Mackinaw City, which is spelled differently but pronounced the same.

[Yavapai]

37. The town of Prescott Arizona

is pronounced "Preskit" by the local population. It rhymes with biscuit! If you
do pronounce it as Pres-cott, they know you ain't from these parts, are you?

[denem]

39. Chicken in a Prescott?

[emmadoggy]

72. I know a lot of towns like that...

A lot of them are in Wisconsin...

Chippewa Falls = Chippwa Falls (or often just a simple Chip Falls) to the natives.
Fall Creek = FALLcrick to the natives.
Milwaukee = Mwaukee
Waukesha = Waukshaw

Leroy, MN = Leeroy to the natives. Some confusion happens here because townspeople and the green town population sign when entering the town, spell it with the lower case "r". However, other references including maps etc. often spell it with a capitol "R".

I'm sure there are many more, but those are a few I can think of...

Funny how one language can have so many variations.

[CTyankee]

77. It's also "Fishcrik" in Fish Creek, in Door County.

I wondered about that (we have a little house in Egg Harbor and go visit each August).

[Bucky]

40. They also used to say "Tewny Bleh"

It's their language to butcher, I guess, but it's damn annoying.

[AyanEva]

52. I can't even begin to guess what that word is actually supposed to be...

[Aristus]

43. I had always understood that the British put an "-er" at the end of a word that usually ends

with a vowel, if the next word also starts with a vowel. This smooths the transition from one word to the next. As in: "Barack Obamer and I..." With an American pronunciation, "Barack Obama and I..." there is a short breathless break between 'Obama' and 'and'.

Listen to the BBC News sometime. Newscasters there will pronounce his name correctly if it is followed by a consonant. For example: "President Barack Obama told the nation today..."

[Speck Tater]

44. They just talk funny.

I was watching Doctor Who once, and I couldn't figure out why they were worried about letting the gods hear them. Then later on I saw they had been talking about the guards. I can't figure out why they don't know the difference between a guard and a god. They're so very strange. ;)

[SPedigrees]

46. Just some words that come to mind

American to Brit

(baby) crib = cot
(french) fries = chips
(potato) chips = crisps
french toast = eggy bread
any kind of dessert = pudding
soft or carbonated drinks = fizzy drinks
cookie = bisquit
breakfast = brekkie
Indian food = curry
take out (food) = take away
appetizers = starters
snacks = nibbles
trunk (of car) = boot
hood = bonnet
muffler = car silencer
turn signals = indicators
gas station = petrol station
parkinglot = car park
expressway, freeway or interstate highway = motorway
sofa and chairs set = suite
bangs = fringe
pharmacy = chemist
vacation = holiday
laid off = redundant
apartment = flat
pass = overtake
rest area or pull-off = lay by
rotary, traffic circle = roundabout
overpass = flyover
bathroom = loo
diapers = nappies
wastebasket = bin
flashlight = torch
moose = elk
elk = moose
shots - jabs
-------------------------------------

Pronunciations

WEEKend = weekEND
aluminum = aluminium
schedule = shedule
herb = herb (h pronounced)
specialty = speciality

These don't take into account regional accents (which are vast) both in the UK and US.

variety = spice of life

[Speck Tater]

62. plus...

elevator = lift
cell phone = mobile
trash bag = bin liner
sorcerer's stone = philosopher's stone ;)

Although in my neck of the Pacific Northwest woods we call roundabouts "roundabouts".

[SPedigrees]

48. And on both sides of the pond..

the grammatical error that drives me right up the wall: try AND (do something) in place of try TO (do something.)

[yodermon]

66. a Dr. Who episode was the first occasion that I heard "Aluminium" pronounced thus

I laughed out loud when I heard it, assuming it was a joke.
Tom Baker in his big old scarf.

[ieoeja]

47. Cause they're wankers!

[Lex]

50. the 'ole lot of 'em.

[Joe Chi Minh]

54. I think the pronunciation by the English upper class and upper-middle class,

and the Northern Irish, of "house", for example, as "hise" (i.e. vowel pronounced as in "ice") is probably a relic of earlier centuries, as are some of the features of Canadian and, I believe, some Cajan French, too. The upper-class "orf", I think, was the normal pronunciation of "off" in Edwardian England.

But, generally, unlike most Celts, most English people have poor language skills, and find some French sounds particularly difficult: "en" or "an" is usually pronounced as "ong" with a very soft "g". Apparently, the toffs believe even words that have long been in wide and common use here, should be pronounced with the corresponding foreign accent. For example, "envelope", should be pronounced as "ongvelope", and restaurant" as "restorong" - which kind of defeats the purpose of trying to retain the French pronunciation, it seems to me. Trying to pronounce the second "a" in "Barak" would seem very alien to most English people, I think, though more from an antipathy for formal language and pronunciation, probably instinct in our (English) speech, than any disrepsect.

Some twerps make scant attempt to pronounce a foreign personal name with even the remotest semblance of the foreign pronunciation, although an approximation could be guessed easily enough, in favour of a grotesquely garbled version, such as "Olatharble" for Olazabal". I'm thinking in particular of a TV commentator who pronounced the Spanish golfer's name that way. I suspect it's a trifling relic of imperial arrogance. You know, "They should speak English. Just shout louder", sort of thing.

[ieoeja]

80. So what you're saying is ...

... they're wankers?

[Joe Chi Minh]

82. Well, the ones who do it deliberately. Yes. But mostly it's a certain inaptitude in

in the use of language; which, howevr, doesn't mean they don't have other compensatory gifts.

[paparush]

53. Cause he's a Barrick..........HOUSE!

funk it up ya'll!

[Captain Hilts]

55. I got it.

Lettin' it all hang out...

[paparush]

56. Can ya dig it!

[KamaAina]

57. He actually IS "Barrick Obamer".

Remember, he's really a British subject who was born in Kenya, so they oughta know. :sarcasm:

[Arugula Latte]

58. My British friend's sister is not "Rita" -- she's "Reeter"

Of course, with my lazy-tongued American accent she's more like a "Reeduh" to me.

:)

[PBS Poll-435]

63. Cuz, yo

They can't talk good

[comrade snarky]

64. As Eddie Izzard says

You say 'erbs', and we say 'herbs', because there's a fucking 'H' in it!

[Jackeens]

69. ROFL!!! Me loves Eddie!

[AbbeyRoad]

67. Hypercorrection

That's the linguistic term for it.

Check out the wikipedia entry under "phonemes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection

[marshall]

68. I believe Obama's name is Swahili, NOT English

The British have a history of anglicizing pronunciations--Don Juan for instance is pronounced "Don Joo-uhn".

[Odin2005]

70. It's the "Intrusive R" of R-dropping English dialects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linking_and_intrusive_R

[DevonRex]

73. Why does my New Yorker husband say "close the draw" and "drarwer me a map?"

[WI_DEM]

76. Why did JFK call Cuba Cuber?

[SoCalDem]

78. same reason they say al-you-MIN-eeee-um

and we say al-OOh-minum

[intaglio]

79. My dear chap,

We speak in received pro-nun-ciation about par-li-ament.

(sniff) we do not speak colonial jibber-jabber because we is much more superior to you; honest, guv

:sarcasm:

[LeftishBrit]

84. Cos we talk the Queens English and you're just a bunch of colonials who can't talk proper!

[Odin2005]

85. American English is actually more conservative in pronounciation and grammar then UK English.

Case-in-point, the Subjunctive (If I WERE good, If I BE good vs I WAS good, I AM good) is still used in everyday informal speech over here while it's rarer in the UK, or so I've heard.

It's typical for "colonial" dialects to be more conservative then the speech of the "mother country."