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| Topic Started: Jan 27 2010, 01:10:49 AM (3,168 Views) | |
| Steph | Jan 27 2010, 01:10:49 AM Post #1 |
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Hey there! I was just curious: Do most of you transplanted Yanks still spell things the "American" way or have you adjusted to the Australian spellings? I spell most things the Australian way now. I switched almost immediately after moving here and I was surprised how quickly it became "natural" for me to spell this way. I find my American friends back home think I'm quite funny when I email them using words like "colour" and "organise", but frankly they look funny the "old" way to me now! Which leads me to pronunciation of words. This is an area that I have found harder to change. I know I don't have to change the way I speak to live here, I just do it mainly for my kids sake (they were born here, I don't want to confuse them by saying "tomayto" while everyone else is saying "tomahto"), and also so my husband would stop teasing me lol. Although, when I go to Subway and they ask me if I want "tomahtoes" I always say "no, but I'd like tomaytoes" lol. Anyhow, some words, like tomato and pyjamas, have been fairly easy for me to change. Others, like bath, have not (I just think it sounds ridiculous for me to say "bahth" with my American accent!). And then there are those pesky things which have a totally different name here than back home. Nappies, prams, dummies (can you tell I have young kids?), capsicum, trolley, petrol, etc. I'm getting a lot better at using the correct word these days, and when I talk to my family back home I feel like I'm editing my conversation by trying to say the American words (diaper, pacifier, gas, cart....) that just don't come naturally to me any more. But some old habits will never die. I refuse to call a cracker a dry biscuit, so neither do my kids. Oddly I don't have a problem calling a cookie a biscuit though. Ok, clearly I'm bored but I was just interested in others' thoughts on these matters  Cheers! Steph |
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| natasha_alena | Jan 27 2010, 07:49:57 AM Post #2 |
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True Blue Mate
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With spelling, purely to avoid getting made fun of, I change depending on my audience. After three years here, I would much rather have to consciously think about spelling harbor etc two different ways than put up with being mocked! Makes life much easier. |
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| Deleted User | Jan 27 2010, 10:42:18 AM Post #3 |
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Here's my 2 cents. When I got here from Texas, I realized that I was adding a 'd' to water. Wadur?? Now, after much loving teasing by my boyfriend I pronouce it correctly. Now he giggles when I say things the Aussie way. Also, when I was back in the States in December, I found myself going back and forth between American and Australian pronunciations. Trying to say tomayto not tomahto! Notably, saying oregano the Australian way and my friend saying "what?" What can one expect from a Texan raised in California living in Australia but a crazy mixture of accents and words?!?!? |
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| KimInMellie | Jan 27 2010, 11:56:21 AM Post #4 |
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My made-up rule for the American pronunciation of the letter T: If it's at the beginning or the end of a word (and isn't meant to be silent), it's generally pronounced as a hard T. If it's in the middle of the word, it's pronounced D. I can't bring myself to enunciate my Ts in the Aussie way yet -- I feel like I sound pretentious!  I have finally gotten to the point where Herb with a Haitch sounds more normal than herb with an Aitch IYKWIM.As for spelling, I spell most things the Aussie way, though I'll sometimes do the American edit for emails to family. Still can't get used to 'tyre' or 'kerb' though. |
 Go that way really, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn. -- Charles De Mar | |
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| sunshine | Jan 27 2010, 12:37:32 PM Post #5 |
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It's early days for me, but I've been saying "herb" with an audible H just so I don't get mocked, and I asked for a "skawn" (scone) at Hudsons the other day to minimize confusion. It's obvious I'm not Australian though, changing everything I say is not going to hide that. |
| Steph | |
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| blarg | Jan 27 2010, 06:32:56 PM Post #6 |
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I changed to spelling the aussie way quickly. I write software for a living, and asking people for their license details via email instead of their licence details led to much mockery. |
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| Bindie | Jan 27 2010, 07:12:00 PM Post #7 |
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I've changed over, too. When in Rome, I say. I've started pronouncing things differently. I reFUSE to use Oreeeegano, however. I say tomahto and herb and full stop and meant and far out (I love far out) and all the rest. But Oreeegano is just wrong. Last week I teased for saying Cumin (coo-min) instead of Comin'. I was like WTH? |
 The future is no place/to place your better days, DMB Canberra, ACT since 2004 | |
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| Dev | Jan 27 2010, 10:19:58 PM Post #8 |
"No day but today."
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I changed to the Australian spellings, but I haven't changed too many pronunciations as yet. I had to change the spellings of things, as I work as an administrator and can't very well keep up the ways from the old country.
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Devon ----------------------- "What a shame that bitter irony has no nutritional value."
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| Steph | Jan 28 2010, 12:14:30 AM Post #9 |
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With some words, like oregano, I sometimes forget which is the "right" way to say them and which is the Aussie way lol. So I'll often say both and then tease myself for having no idea. One thing that really annoys me is that most Australians seem to refuse to pronouce people's names the way they are supposed to be pronounced and instead pronounce them they way they "think" they should be pronounced. Two examples: Cher, which I hear pronounced here as "Shur", and Bono of U2, who I hear pronounced as "Bonno". WT? Although, I must admit, I once worked with a Bianca. To me Bianca is pronounced "Biahnka", but here they say "Biyanka". It was really hard for me to say it that way. She kind of liked me mispronouncing it, it made it sound more sophisticated. I don't like how "Biyanka" sounds at all, its ugly to me (sorry, no offence!), but in the end I really disliked this co-worker, and the more I disliked her the less it bothered me calling her Biyanka  I still say aitch and leave the aitch silent when I say herb. But I do say full stop. And I say "I reckon" a lot. Being from California this word was never really a part of my daily vocabulary but here I say it all the time. And one of my favourite Aussie phrases is "I couldn't be bothered". It's just so much a license to do nothing. Where in America if we didn't do something we were supposed to we'd probably start rolling off excuses. I got busy. I forgot. It was too hot. I had a headache. But here.....why didn't you do what I asked you to do? Meh, I couldn't be bothered  Bindie - I love "far out" too. And along those same lines, "sugar". |
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| CynicalCountess | Jan 28 2010, 04:02:11 PM Post #10 |
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Bono IS pronounced Bonno, not boh-no. |
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| crapola | Jan 28 2010, 05:41:18 PM Post #11 |
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americans are equally as bad... my name is tanya... short a sound like in alaska, alabama. NOT an oh sound like everyone in america says. my former father-in-law never got it right, always called me tohnya which really pissed me off. step-mother-in-law, and every other family member got it right once it was pointed out to them. at work i would answer the phone with " anchorage daily news, this is tanya" and i would get in reply "oh tohnya..." |
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| Steph | Jan 28 2010, 08:00:07 PM Post #12 |
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Doh. Yeah I got that backwards with Bono. They say Bone-o here, like Sonny Bono. Maddens me! Crapola - Very true, as in my Bianca example. But my point with Bono and Cher is that these are world wide celebrities, it seems likely that people could learn that Cher is pronounced Share and then pronounce it that way, but most just don't. |
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| Bindie | Jan 28 2010, 09:03:17 PM Post #13 |
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I've never noticed Bono/Cher but I hate dayboooo. Makes me cringe every. single. time. |
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The future is no place/to place your better days, DMB Canberra, ACT since 2004 | |
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| crapola | Jan 28 2010, 10:29:17 PM Post #14 |
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me too, bindie. that started here some time between 2001-2005. i damn near died of shock the first time i heard it after coming back from the states. seriously, it was all i could do to stop myself jumping through the tv to smack the idiot sports presenter across the back of the head. i've noticed all it takes is one person on tv (especially a sports presenter, usually a former player) to mispronounce a word, and everyone copies, even newsreaders who should know better. |
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| gpierce | Jan 28 2010, 10:37:32 PM Post #15 |
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Your name is correctly pronounced Tanya here, but in the US Tohnya is also correct. Like Dayna or Donah (Dana), or Tarra/Terra (Tara) . Can't really say which one is "really" as they are both technically right depending on where you are from and where you are so it doesn't really matter. What matters is that if you want people to pronounce it Tanya then they should no matter where they or you are:) You gotta remember it's really really hard to start pronouncing something differently when you spent your whole life doing it certain way. PS. I've changed to the Australian spellings at work (CBA) as I am mostly addressing Australians (or new Australians:)). I don't pronounce anything differently, but I have adopted all the usual: Petrol, Arvo, Servo, etc, etc, etc. Edited by gpierce, Jan 28 2010, 10:51:22 PM.
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| gpierce | Jan 28 2010, 10:45:34 PM Post #16 |
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OK, so Petrol is a really bad description of the fuel you put in your car. They say we have it wrong, I say Aussies/English have it wrong. Petrol is short for Petroleum. Petroleum is another word for Crude Oil. Gasonline (among other things) is made from oil. Gas is short for Gasoline, so really Gas is a much better description of what we put in most of our cars unless its a Diesel!:) Greg Edited by gpierce, Jan 28 2010, 10:45:59 PM.
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| Judy | Jan 28 2010, 11:06:05 PM Post #17 |
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I'm puzzled. What should it be? |
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| sunshine | Jan 28 2010, 11:44:39 PM Post #18 |
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I'm used to 'debut' pronounced day-byew, too, but what really makes me cringe is hearing 'fillet' with an audible T. |
| Steph | |
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| Steph | Jan 29 2010, 01:22:44 AM Post #19 |
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Me too! The first time I visited here I ordered a chicken fillet sandwich but of course I said "fillay", and the girl was like "do you mean "fillit" and I was like...um...I guess so. It sounds so silly to me that way. I'm not saying it's wrong, as clearly it's "right" to Australians...but considering the french root of the word, fillay makes more sense. Another one I hate is when you go to Subway and they ask what "salads" you want. Huh? I guess I'm used to it now but I still cringe a little bit. Other cringe worthy words: Mazda (they say Mazzda, we say Mahzda), Nissan (they say Nissin, we say Neesan), Adidas (they say Addiduzz, we say Adeeduzz). Although, in the Aussie's defense, Adidas are named after the founder's surname, which is pronounced Addiduzz, so it seems WE have that one wrong). My relatives in the U.S. all laugh at me when I say things like I'm going to "have" a bath (as opposed to "take" a bath) or when I say How are you going instead of How are you doing. |
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| Nanook | Jan 29 2010, 05:49:49 AM Post #20 |
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Gas is what you fuel your barbie with, mate.
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