Things you were shockingly old when you learned

Lol xp

I don't think French really has lexical stress in the same way that English does? I would raise pitch a bit on the second syllable of café but I would try not to pronounce either syllable more strongly. There are native French speakers here who could probably explain better than I could.

talking of uk cafés, i only recently realised that the coffee chain was called caffè nero and not café nero

(it will always be café nerd to me in my heart)

Ah, yeah – that sounds right. xpost

my indian coworker pronounces Café as “caff” and I kept wondering if that was a british thing or a unique indian take on british english. there are a half dozen words I regularly hear from india-born coworkers that make me ask for them to add context and it makes me more curious every time

they’re always willing to do the needful and offer an explanation, though

I don't think that one is Indian English but I could be wrong. Does your co-worker take their tiffin in the cafe?

It's a British thing.

Pastel is one yeah just the stress, Americans put the stress on EL

Wait, I would say "caf" as short for "cafeteria".

This girl I knew ordered a half caf

Sounded pretentious tbh and was a scene

ahhh maybe it’s caf for cafeteria, that lines up

What other words do UKers pronounce less Frenchly than USers?

Renaissance

(xp) No, it's caff for cafe,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHGJy2WXDUo

UKers say lingerie more Frenchy.

Americans say lieutenant more Frenchy (marginally)

UKers say lingerie more Frenchy.

And brassiere.

Well in BrE it’s “lefftenant” which is outrageous

Only if you're posh or actually in the army.

No-one ever called Lieutenant Pigeon Leftenant Pigeon.

UKers say lingerie more Frenchy.

Another one, "depot"?

Another one for the UK, "premiere". But one for the US possibly, "debut"?

No-one ever called Lieutenant Pigeon Leftenant Pigeon.

Citation needed. Really? I have never heard a British person say lootenant instead of leftenant.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say leftenant irl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPK425wLuQ

^ Now that's untranslatable

what in blazes

You mean to say it wasn't a hit in the US.........

two peoples, separated by a common language indeed

A spin-off from an experimental music band Stavely Makepeace,[1] the group was fronted by Rob Woodward and managed by him and drummer Nigel Fletcher. Other members included bassist Stephen Johnson.[2] The group's sound was dominated by a heavy honky-tonk-style piano played by Woodward's mother, Hilda.

Their 2001 release "Opus 400" is a 35-minute single composed of separate sections.

I say leftenant, ha.

louis-tenent

I say leftenant but Lt Pigeon are lootenant, you're right.

Me too, and I can't really explain this. I wonder if it's because I didn't realise they were English until quite recently.

Based on the above video, what else could they possibly be?

I know. But I never saw what they looked like until recent TOTP repeats. I just heard the tune on the radio as a child and I think I subconsciously thought they were from the Caribbean!

I've accidentally brought this thread back on topic.

I saw the band, and judging from previous thread history immediately thought “oh, a contemporary act of Slade”

I definitely have learned a lot about enigmatic English novelty (?) bands from this thread.

Have never thought of them as not being Leftenant Pigeon

my dad was a flight lieutenant in the RAF, and we've always said leftenant. definitely leftenant pigeon for me

I’ve always pronounced it lieutenant cause not having any interest in the military growing up I’d have only seen it written down or heard in American films I think. The standard Brit way of saying it is still the most bonkers pronunciation/spelling mismatch to me

http://www.thecholmondeleys.org/cholmondeleys.gif

Yeah there are a few proper names like that (st John & Magdalene are milder examples) but I’m racking my brains trying to think of another word that’s analogous to lieutenant conjuring up an f out of nowhere; usually when English does the “I’m gonna just say a different word to what’s written here thanks” thing it’s more like weskit, blaggard where letters are elided, not added in

There's no R in colonel.

True! I guess because many Brits (the ones who don’t say the r on the end of a word) say it “cuh-nel” I was counting it as one of the missing-letters-out set

that even people from the British government used to refer to Australia as New Holland right up to the mid 19th century.

wait until you hear about this new South Wales I found

just learned in last year that there are finger plastic things that help you flip through paper super fast and these are now essential with magazine reading for ease of use

rotgutt blew my mind re open sesame, never knew that

I'm pretty sure you still don't

xxxp sic

Can't we deport the Manic Street Preachers there pls? I was just surprised the British government was still referring to it as New Holland in official correspondences almost a century after they had claimed the continent.