@mgorny@social.treehouse.systems2026-01-11 05:51:15
Question to #English speakers. I've heard a weird pronunciation of the Polish "PKP" initialiasm in the English passenger information on some PKP InterCity trains, and I'm wondering if anyone could explain it to me.
The Polish pronunciation is roughly "peh-kah-peh" /pɛ ka pɛ/. I imagined the English would pronounce it as "pee-kay-pee" /piː keɪ piː/. However, it is pronounced as "peh-kah-pey" /pɛ ka pɛɪ/. Any clue why the ending was changed like that?
[EDIT: it was immediately followed by "Intercity", so perhaps it made combining both easier.]
@h2g2bob@mastodon.dbatley.com2025-12-14 11:16:31
@… many years ago I was pronouncing x.org as "zorg"
I am still disappointed that it's not the correct pronunciation.
@aardrian@toot.cafe2025-12-31 13:34:05
I just noticed Deque changed its logo from the combined ‘D’ and ‘Q’ letterform (visually representing the pronunciation) to the ‘AI’ anus (or “AInus”) of the big LLM purveyors.
I bet this was for Deque’s 100% WCAG ‘AI’ coverage, which must be getting released today to honor its March promise.
@fanf@mendeddrum.org2025-12-31 11:17:47
TIL new (?) aussie slang “cunce”
not in wiktionary or Green’s but urban dictionary knows it
does that kind of variant spelling count as bowdlerization, if it doesn’t (much) affect the pronunciation?
@shriramk@mastodon.social2026-01-25 16:25:45
RE: https://mastodon.social/@shriramk/115956634402331444
It's also a great illustration of the ambiguity of English pronunciation, e.g., "e" in "earth" vs "heart" and even more so "gh" in "ought" vs &q…
@nemobis@mamot.fr2025-12-22 17:35:30
The other day I had a funny conversation. A Finnish person was making excuses for my laziness at learning Finnish. Then she asked «is Italian hard to learn?». I never know how to answer the question so I said «I don't know: at least pronunciation is not too bad for Finns, they may sound funny but they're understandable; they mostly have trouble because they have no concept of separate p and b, and so on». She said «you mean strong p and soft p»? Not how I would have phrased it, but y…
@mlippert@vmst.io2025-11-25 15:54:20
fient
Had to look that one up since I didn't intend to use it.
Fient is a Scottish word for fiend or devil, often used in curses. Learn its origin, pronunciation, and related words from Merriam-Webster dictionary.
@kazys@mastodon.social2025-11-18 18:19:05
As Gemini drops, make sure you pronounce it correctly. It’s like the spacecraft not the astrological sign.
"Gem-in-ee" (rhyming with knee or see), rather than the astrological pronunciation "Gem-in-eye."