Pop-up suggesting download of repair tool

[Bob Henson]

Ugh! I agree with you.


But how do you want to pronounce it? "Spee-seez"?

As far as I'm concerned, that's wrong, and the proper pronunciation
*is* "spee-shees." And by the way, all my American dictionaries *and*
the OED agree with me.

Not in my OED it isn't. The American ones don't surprise me. So would you
describe something as "speshiffic" or "specific"? You can't have it both
ways.

--
Bob
Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England

Bank Manager: A man who lends you his umbrella on a sunny day, and demands
it back as soon as it rains. - Mark Twain

 

[Juan Wei]

Bob Henson has written on 7/25/2013 1:41 PM:

Not in my OED it isn't. The American ones don't surprise me. So would you
describe something as "speshiffic" or "specific"? You can't have it both
ways.

Of course you can!! Um, how do you pronounce Worcestor?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Gene E. Bloch has written on 7/24/2013 8:46 PM:

"Fon Veber", please!

That isn't what he says, as I indicated.

He says (using English spelling for your edification) "Vahn Fayber".

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Bob Henson has written on 7/25/2013 1:41 PM:

Of course you can!! Um, how do you pronounce Worcestor?

How do you *spell* Worcester?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Not in my OED it isn't. The American ones don't surprise me. So would you
describe something as "speshiffic" or "specific"? You can't have it both
ways.

My OED Compact Edition gives *only* spee'sheez. My American Heritage
Dictionary 5th Ed. gives both.

 

[Bob Henson]

Bob Henson has written on 7/25/2013 1:41 PM:

Of course you can!! Um, how do you pronounce Worcestor?

Names, even spelt correctly, aren't a good example as they can, and are,
pronounced differently by local people who "own" (in a sense) the name. A
good example is the village just down the road from here where Prince
Charles lives - which he would know is spelt Doughton, and pronounced
"dufftun". However, no English speaker would have any difficulty with
"though", "through", "thorough", enough, or any one of a number of
similarly homographic words. "Species" is a universal word, and as such
should be pronounced correctly by people such as the BBC who purport to
uphold high standards in speech. Sadly, even they are slipping these days.
It has never been the same since the newsreaders stopped wearing formal
dress.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

[snip]

Likewise. As a practising pedant, may I chip in with "vunnerable"
(vulnerable) and "speeshees" (species) as my two particular bêtes noires of
the moment - even the BBC newsreaders cannot pronounce them correctly.

You need to practice more. "species" has two pronunciations
"spee-sees" and "spee-shees". I checked two on-line dictionaries for
this.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Ken Blake]

Not in my OED it isn't.

How odd! Do you have a second edition? Mine is first.

The American ones don't surprise me.

Most of the people I know are Americans. Despite what the dictionaries
say, most of them pronounce it your way.

So would you
describe something as "speshiffic" or "specific"? You can't have it both
ways.

So, do you think it's "spesseeall" or "speshull"?

And do you say "djigabyte" (as I do) or "ghigabyte" (as most people
do)? Assuming the latter, how do you prounce "gigantic"?

 

[Ken Blake]

[snip]

Likewise. As a practising pedant, may I chip in with "vunnerable"
(vulnerable) and "speeshees" (species) as my two particular bêtes noires of
the moment - even the BBC newsreaders cannot pronounce them correctly.

You need to practice more. "species" has two pronunciations
"spee-sees" and "spee-shees". I checked two on-line dictionaries for
this.

Whenever a dictionary lists two pronunciations, the first one listed
is the preferred one. Some people will disagree with me, but as far as
I'm concerned, the preferred pronunciation is the one that should be
used. In this case, it's "spee-shees".

 

[Iceman]

X-No-Archive: Yes

Whenever a dictionary lists two pronunciations, the first one listed
is the preferred one. Some people will disagree with me, but as far as
I'm concerned, the preferred pronunciation is the one that should be
used. In this case, it's "spee-shees".

(Sigh) I feel genuinely guilty. I responded to a post about Malwarebytes
antivirus program, made one spelling error, and now the thread has turned
into a totally OT discussion about English vs. German pronunciation.

Can we please get it back on track (or just drop it)?

 

[Mike Barnes]

Whenever a dictionary lists two pronunciations, the first one listed
is the preferred one.

Really? Can you provide a reference backing that up?

 

[Mitch Bujard]

So, do you think it's "spesseeall" or "speshull"?

And do you say "djigabyte" (as I do) or "ghigabyte" (as most people
do)? Assuming the latter, how do you prounce "gigantic"?

Like tomaato and tomayto...

 

[Mitch Bujard]

X-No-Archive: Yes



(Sigh) I feel genuinely guilty. I responded to a post about Malwarebytes
antivirus program, made one spelling error, and now the thread has turned
into a totally OT discussion about English vs. German pronunciation.

Can we please get it back on track (or just drop it)?

You should not feel guilty for the two elderly muppets from the muppet
show who hate everything, and rant all day long about their anal
tendancy to get offended by the slightest hair split.

Don't worry. After lots of arguing, they will get tired and fall
asleep. That is what gaga do

Mitch
Pouring gas over fire is a damn enjoyable activity when forums are low.
Ouch. Ouch.

 

[Ken Blake]

Really? Can you provide a reference backing that up?

Although I can't remember looking it up, it's something I've known for
many decades--since I was in high school.

No time now, but perhaps I can do a web search on it tomorrow.

 

[Drew]

Of course there is the ever popular word that 90% of politicians, actors
and all around famous people cannot even get right! The old nucular (
NUKE-U LAR) war versus the proper word being nuclear (NU CLEAR). Drives
me nuts to have somebody that supposedly has some education and cannot
even pronounce or spell that word!

 

[Ken Blake]

The old nucular (
NUKE-U LAR) war versus the proper word being nuclear (NU CLEAR). Drives
me nuts to have somebody that supposedly has some education and cannot
even pronounce or spell that word!

Ditto! Especially if he's a US President.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

How odd! Do you have a second edition? Mine is first.


Most of the people I know are Americans. Despite what the dictionaries
say, most of them pronounce it your way.


So, do you think it's "spesseeall" or "speshull"?

And do you say "djigabyte" (as I do) or "ghigabyte" (as most people
do)? Assuming the latter, how do you prounce "gigantic"?

I have a paid CD edition of the second edition, but it isn't installable
on my 64-bit W7. In response to this thread, I set it up in my virtual
XP machine, which must be 32-bit, because it works OK there (I don't
know how to check for that in XP).

That edition (OED2) also gives spee'shees as the *only* pronunciation.

Now it's time for Bob Henson to insist that we have special
(spess'ee-al) American editions of the OED.

I say djigabyte, and when necessary I explain that I think that to say
it the other way would be a ghigantic mistake.

I have come to believe that many people with a background in physics &
related fields (I'm one) say djigabyte, since we always said djigahertz,
and so on, as well.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Although I can't remember looking it up, it's something I've known for
many decades--since I was in high school.

No time now, but perhaps I can do a web search on it tomorrow.

I have seen at least one dictionary point out that when the choices are
equal, they still have to put one of them first. It may have been an
older edition of the American Heritage Dictionary.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

X-No-Archive: Yes



(Sigh) I feel genuinely guilty. I responded to a post about Malwarebytes
antivirus program, made one spelling error, and now the thread has turned
into a totally OT discussion about English vs. German pronunciation.

Can we please get it back on track (or just drop it)?

I hereby grant you, unconditionally, permission to ignore my OT posts in
this and all threads in all newsgroups in which I post.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

You should not feel guilty for the two elderly muppets from the muppet
show who hate everything, and rant all day long about their anal
tendancy to get offended by the slightest hair split.

You might have meant "tendency"