Thursday, September 18, 2008

You Say Po-tay-toh, I Say Po-tah-toh

My kids are always making fun of me because I pronounce the word "measure" differently than they do. I say, "may-zure" and they say, "mez-zure".

So in the cafeteria today, one of the managers was laughing because people were making fun of how he was pronouncing different words. He said, "It's because I grew up in Oregon." Hey, now... I grew up (mostly) in Washington. Maybe that's the missing link...? I asked him how he pronounced "measure". Guess what? It was "may-zure". :)

My official scientific experiment has proven to me that I suffer from "Pacific Northwesternism".

Dang... I should have asked him if he says "law-yer" or "low-yer". In the meantime, I've just resigned myself to saying "attorney" to avoid any further pronunciation embarrassment.

12 comments:

trousers said...

But do you say "mirrOR, or mirrOH"?
Just wondering :) I came here not via the Black Box, but picked up your comment back at my own place, and thought I'd say hi.

Jaggy said...

How do you say worm? woooorm, like the English, or, Wurrrum, with a rolling "r" like the Scots?

GreenJello said...

trousers, I think it would be "meer-er". (I'm sitting here, saying it over and over to get the right phonetic spelling!)

jaggy, I guess I say it in Western American style-- "wurm". And from what I understand, I would probably sound a bit nasally to you. :)

DJ Kirkby said...

Lol what a great post. I suffer terribly from this 'affliction' as I lived in Canada until I was 26 then moved to England! Sigh... I've been here 15 years and people still think I talk funny! Oh and congratulations you got an honerable mention on this week's wordless Wednesday over on my Chez Aspie blog.

Joe said...

SSC and I have the same issue with the way we pronounce the word orange. She says "OR-ange" and I say it correctly.

GreenJello said...

dj kirkby, your lot is much worse than mine, it sounds. I only have to avoid saying a few things so I don't get the funny looks. It must be a full-time job for you!

I'm going to have to side with SSC on how to pronounce orange, joe. "ar-enge" just sounds plain weird. Like a pirate saying it.

The W.O.W. factor! said...

How do you say ROOF?.. Ruf? or Roooooof?
Curious...cuz I'm a Washingtonian..
Got here via the "Black BOx" and now going to scan thru your funny posts!

The W.O.W. factor! said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The W.O.W. factor! said...

Sorry...I hit pub twice...it was going too slow...

GreenJello said...

w.o.w., I think I say it like "rufe", with the "u" making the sound of it's name. Does that make sense? And I say it quickly, not drawing out the vowel sounds.

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

Love your blog. Found you via the black box. I'm from Oregon as well, but I moved to England 8 years ago and people STILL make fun of the way I pronounce things. OK, mostly just my husband, but still. I sympathise.

GreenJello said...

Hi, Michelle! Thanks for stopping by and leaving nice comments. :)

I figure if I get made fun of this much, and I'm still in the States, I can't imagine what you must go through living in another country!