A few days ago I was in my friend's office while he was discussing some things with his lab mates. One of them mispronounced the word 'nuclear,' pronouncing it the way our well spoken president does (nuc-u-lar) instead of the correct way (nu-clee-ar). When my friend corrected her, the other guy that was there said that it wasn't necessarily pronounced wrong, but that it was just a form of dialect.
He argued that it was just the way the word was pronounced in certain parts of the country. I said that was just because those people were also pronouncing it wrong. Similar to the word creek. Just because many people say 'crick' doesn't mean that should be accepted as a proper pronunciation. At least not for someone who's working toward a Ph D. After I pointed that out to him, he still said that it was just part of an accent. Just like people from the east coast pronounce their "O's" differently than people in the west, or how people from New England never pronounce their "R's" at the end of words.
Since he was taking her side, she took the idea of the accent and ran with it. I can't remember how the switch was made, but she somehow got on the fact that newscasters don't have accents because they have to work hard to lose them if they want to go far in their career, and therefore, all newscasters sound like they're from California (she's from CA too).
Her: People from California don't have accents.
My Friend: I disagree. I can almost always tell when someone who's talking is from California.
Her: That's because they don't have an accent.
Me: No, it's because they never shut up about California.
10 comments:
I know...in DJ people wanted to say favorite different.
I think it should be fav-or-it
some people said fav-or-Ite
LOL love the burn on miss cally-FOR-NIGH-AY. *snicker*
Now that was sharp.
And true also.
So she's from California, where people have no accents, but she still claims a regional dialect is responsible for her use of the word "Nucular"?
I thought Cali-accent was just about adding "hecca-" in front of all of your adjectives.
Better than Fav-urt or Diff-ernt (instead of favorite or different)... :)
have you ever heard people put on ethnic accents when they are ordering food? For example, adopting a chinese accent when ordering chinese food?
more annoying than mispronuciation!
That is all funny coming from a guy whose last name is pronounced so unlike how most of the population pronounces it in relation to it's spelling. :) Was the family pronunciation due to dialect differences, or does the rest of the country just say it wrong?
Uh, adding "hella" or "hecka" is a northern California thing. I claim no affiliation with northern CA, nor would I ever be caught dead saying "hella." That's just gay.
Nu-cyu-ler is not part of the CA dialect (should we have any). No one I know says that word that way.
Names are different...your name is whatever your mother says it is. If your mother pronounces your name a certain way...THAT IS THE WAY YOU SAY YOUR NAME...it's all in who names you...
Yeah...nucUlar is not a word. I'm an actor...dialects/accents are vowel/consonant(usually r) SUBSTITUTIONS, INVASIONS, or DROPPINGS. There is no "u" in the second or third syllable of "nuclear." Erego, the use of that sound is incorrect, not an accent or dialect.
Furthermore, when ordering food, if you know how to pronounce it correctly, you should do so. My family is from Lebanon. When I order dessert I do not say "BAHK-lu-vah" I say "bahk-LA-vah" because that is the correct pronunciation. Likewise, when going to Chipotle I don't say "peeko day gallow" I say "piko de gayo."
Moreover, I agree whole heartedly with "alpha"...my name is "JEN-i-fur" or "JEN" not "HEN-ee-fur" or "YEN-i-fair" and God knows it's not "JEN-ee"!!!! I Don't care which country I'm in or what language I happen to be speaking, my name is the one my parents gave me and I don't expece some french ponce to mispronounce it 'cause he thinks it's sexy!!
Ok, I'm finnished!
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