Phrases customarily mispronounced - "want to" etc.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the mispronunciation of English phrases and words, including common phrases like "want to" and "going to," as well as specific terms such as "cruller." Participants explore how these mispronunciations may arise from dialects, cultural influences, and the evolution of language in casual contexts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that phrases like "want to" and "going to" are often pronounced as single words, leading to spellings like "wanna" and "gonna" among non-native speakers.
  • Others share humorous examples of mispronunciations from popular culture, such as "Worst case Ontario" and "I toadaso," highlighting regional dialects and idiosyncrasies.
  • One participant mentions the pronunciation of "moot" as "mute," indicating a common mispronunciation among their peers.
  • Another participant discusses the pronunciation of "cruller," noting discrepancies between their own pronunciation and that of coffee shop attendants, suggesting regional variations.
  • Some participants express uncertainty about the correct pronunciation of "cruller," referencing its Dutch origin and the influence of French pronunciation.
  • There are mentions of other mispronounced words and phrases, such as "expresso" and "mispronounciation," reflecting a broader concern about language evolution and entropy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on the topic, with no clear consensus on the correct pronunciations or the reasons behind them. Multiple competing views remain regarding the influence of dialects and cultural contexts on pronunciation.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions highlight the influence of regional accents and cultural references on pronunciation, with participants noting that certain pronunciations may be specific to particular areas or communities.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in linguistics, language evolution, regional dialects, and cultural influences on language may find this discussion relevant.

  • #61
jsgruszynski said:
Two different words divergently evolving with only 70 years of separation.
I don't think it's just 70 years of separation. The main language dialect on Taiwan is Taiwanese Hokkien, which is different from Mandarin.

I lived with a family long ago where the wife was of Chinese origin (she was born here in the US). Her parents and grandparents spoke a dialect called Toisan, which I believe is a dialect of Cantonese. In that dialect, chopsticks were called "fai jee" but in Mandarin, they're called "kwaitse" - at least to my ear.
 
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  • #62
jsgruszynski said:
In Mandarin, the word for donut is different in Taiwan vs. China.

甜甜圈 - Taiwan - tián tián quān - sweet-sweet ring (or very sweet ring)

圈饼 - China - quān bǐng - ring cake

Two different words divergently evolving with only 70 years of separation. That's how fast languages can diverge!
They're two different categories of pastries ##-## the second term refers to traditional wedding or courtship cakes. Also, Taiwan has a strong heritage from the Guangdong (Canton) region, which has for a time much longer than 70 years been culturally and linguistically more or less divergent from other parts of China. The Cantonese wedding cakes tradition dates back at least as far as the Three Kingdoms period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marry_girl_cake
 
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  • #63
About the time I was 30 years old, it suddenly struck me that my mother's side of the family would say things like, "Take the chicken out of the freezer to dethaw it." If they wanted something thawed, they and I would say we want it dethawed. I had heard it my entire life and for the first time it struck me that to dethaw something would logically mean to freeze it!

I happened to be talking with another moderator here back around 2003, Monique, who mentioned that this sounds like be-thaw, which would mean "to thaw" as a logical extension of German. And my mother was German and came from a town settled by German people. So it makes sense that the original be-thaw, loosely translated from German, evolved into dethaw, and stuck.
 
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