Audiobooks have begun to outsell print

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

And you just taught me there must be another way to say oregano...! Well, as long as I cook with the right stuff, I'm good.

We pronounce it "oreg-AH-no". I believe in American English the stress is on the second syllable, rather than the third? You say something like "uh-REGG-uh-no"?

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

And you just taught me there must be another way to say oregano...! Well, as long as I cook with the right stuff, I'm good.

It really threw me in the book, I had to go back and listen again to figure out what she'd said! But great, that's two of us who have learned something new today.

That looks just about spot on HarryT, you can hear it here.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pron...nglish/oregano

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Great, that's two of us who have learned something new today. Those pesky American's mangling yet another word (says me with my terribly slang Glaswegian accent!)

That looks just about spot on HarryT, you can hear it here.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pron...nglish/oregano

Have you encountered the mysterious "rutabaga" yet in your exploration of American vegetables? It's the American name for what we call a "swede". I first came across that one in a David Eddings fantasy novel, where someone was described as a "rutabaga farmer". For years I thought it was a name made up for Eddings' fantasy world .

[soulfuldog]

Ha ha, rutabaga, that's a great one isn't it. I can't remember where I first read it, but at the time I thought it was a made-up name or something. Those crazy Americans.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by soulfuldog

Ha ha, rutabaga, that's a great one isn't it. I can't remember where I first read it, but at the time I thought it was a made-up name or something. Those crazy Americans.

I'm sure that many of the names we use for things sound just as strange .

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm sure that many of the names we use for things sound just as strange .

Yeah, like "swede" for turnip, apparently.-) As for rutabaga, I first learned of that Americanism through Frank Zappa.

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm sure that many of the names we use for things sound just as strange .

Yes, you need to start throwing things in the trash instead of a bin, and learn that biscuits are something to put gravy on instead of having with your tea, and that we leave cookies out for Santa Claus, not Father Christmas. Those crazy British

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

Yeah, like "swede" for turnip, apparently.-) As for rutabaga, I first learned of that Americanism through Frank Zappa.

Swedes and turnips aren't the same thing. Same family (brassica), but different members of it. A swede in Britain is a rutabaga in the US, but both countries use the same name for a turnip.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Swedes and turnips aren't the same thing. Same family (brassica), but different members of it. A swede in Britain is a rutabaga in the US, but both countries use the same name for a turnip.

Not quite that simple, apparently. Wikipedia:

Rutabaga has many national and regional names. Rutabaga is the common North American term for the plant. This comes from the old Swedish dialectal word rotabagge, from rot (root) + bagge (short, stumpy object; probably related to bag).[2] In the U.S., the plant is also known as Swedish turnip or yellow turnip.[citation needed] The term swede is used instead of rutabaga in many Commonwealth Nations, including much of England, Wales, Australia, and New Zealand. The name turnip is also used in parts of Northern and Midland England, the Westcountry (particularly Cornwall), Ireland, Manitoba, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. In Scotland, it is known as turnip, and in Scots as tumshie or neep (from Old English næp, Latin napus).[3] Some areas of south east Scotland, such as Berwickshire and Roxburghshire, still use the term baigie, possibly a derivative of the original Swedish rutabaga.[4] The term turnip is also used for the white turnip (Brassica rapa ssp rapa).[3][5] Some[who?] will also refer to both swede and (white) turnip as just turnip (this word is also derived from næp).[5] In North-East England, turnips and swedes are colloquially called snadgers, snaggers (archaic) or narkies.[citation needed]

[HarryT]

Thanks - very confusing!

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We pronounce it "oreg-AH-no". I believe in American English the stress is on the second syllable, rather than the third? You say something like "uh-REGG-uh-no"?

Here in the South, I usually hear it as or-EGG-an-o.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Here in the South, I usually hear it as or-EGG-an-o.

I have always heard it as Or ray gone O.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by issybird

As for the battle between English and American, where the heck did you folks get the "f" in "lieutenant"? Our pronunciation makes more sense as well as respecting its French origins, as with "quay."

In Houston, Texas there is Kuykendahl Road. The residents of Houston pronounce it Kirkendahl.
Apache

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How do you get an "ee" sound out of the word "buoy"? There's no "e" in the word. I can understand how "quay" might be pronounced as "kway" by people who are unaware of its French origin, but putting an "ee" in the word "buoy" is a lot more puzzling.

Well, buoy is originated from either the middle dutch boye for signal or old spanish boyar for float, so either pronunciation works on that basis.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Swedes and turnips aren't the same thing. Same family (brassica), but different members of it. A swede in Britain is a rutabaga in the US, but both countries use the same name for a turnip.

Both swedes and turnips are neeps if you are Scottish though.