I spent the last ten years+ far from the city, teaching my kids, their friends, family and the odd stranger English. Too far from the city to socialize and until recently too busy to see new TV shows. I’m a pretty well socially isolated.
Sticking my head out of the turtle shell, I’ve noticed people on TV are saying off-ten with the “t” pronounced instead of silent. This is on mainstream TV shows like MacGyver. I knew there always has been an alternative pronunciation of the word but it was my understanding that the pronounced “T” would become archaic.
So what’s the deal here? Is the T on a comeback? What other words have changed recently?
I think it’s still quite common. No t sound where I come from though
Just regional variation, surely. In the UK it’s usually pronounced ‘off-en’, but I’ve also heard both of the variants you mention, depending on the locale.
I would say you hear both in Texas. Offen in the country and Often in the city.
The more important question should be:
Is that the old MacGyver tv series, or the new one?!
Furthermore, which one is the better version?
[quote=“The_Seeker, post:1, topic:167782, full:true”] “T” would become archaic.
So what’s the deal here? Is the T on a comeback? What other words have changed recently?
[/quote]
Nothing has changed; only you.
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It’s the new MacGyver . I like it. He has that “cute” MacGyver smile I remember from the old one. My wife remembers that the original MacGyver worked alone. In this version he’s part of a team that is more like a family. It has given me selective amnesia about the old series. I might dig out the old NightMarket DVDs to better compare but not now.
PEEVES… I’m an old ham radio guy and tinkerer. Some of his solutions are plausible. But then, he comes up with an impossible extension of the modification.
Ex. Makes a direction finder to find police cars (with two antennas). Yeah, done that. Ok I was with people who have done that. Then he jams them over a wide area. Not so easy. Then he forgets to jam one that was in another area. OK… You’d need some more antennas and be a lot closer…
My kids want to make hydrogen in the toilet. Maybe I can find a safer way to do something like that but chemistry is not my thing.
as long as it is not ‘haw-fan’ because that’s delicious.
Fun fact: Torontonians call Toronto “Torono” – it’s immediately apparent when Americans come to visit and emphasize the second T. It also confuses a lot of Europeans because it sounds like a different place.
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… and Australians laugh at foreigners who pronounce Melbourne as if it’s a relative of Jason Bourne.
Correct pronunciation is more like Melbin.
I’m from the better city, up the coast a bit, known as Sinny.
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I don’t understand why Brits always pronounce Los Angeles as “Loss-an-ge-leez” with a long E.
Try going to Britain and attempting to pronounce the place names there. Much hilarity will ensue.
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I’ve never heard anyone, apart from the Queen, say aw-fen.
Try these words out for size:-
Worcestershire
Towcester
Tabernacle
Southwark
Edinburgh
Leicester
Get any of them wrong and you are likely to cause offense
Answers
Woo-sta-shur
Toaster
Tab-uuur-nahckle
Sud-ark
Edin-bra
Leh-sta
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Arlo Guthrie fans?
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Don’t forget about Yonge St. I guess it’s pronounced young? We americanos invariably call it yange, like orange
As featured in the movie “Argo”.
and they say Chinese is hard…
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Another fun english place name which confuses basically everyone
Happisburgh = “haze-bra”
Yup, people pronounce things differently… Real mind blower this thread.
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