Sunday, March 31, 2019

Thames

The Thames River in Connecticut, named by Puritans from England, is pronounced Thaymes, as it is spelled, not Temms, as it is pronounced in London, for their river. If this seems wrong to you, recall that we do not say Pa-ree, but 'Pariss," and no one in Russia says Moss - cow.  It's fun to think they are ignorant in Kentucky for saying Ver-sayles instead of Ver-sigh, but these things are accidents.  Sometimes we say them as they do in the old country, usually not.


3 comments:

Sam L. said...

Can't be a 'local' if you don't pronounce the names like the locals do. (Dang carpetbaggers!)

Texan99 said...

A nearby town "Refugio" is Reh-FYUR-ee-oh. Palacios is Pah-LASH-uss. San Jacinto all over Texas is San Jah-SINN-toh. Tivoli is TYE-voh-lee.

And every Texas lawyer I've ever met pronounced voir dire as voyer dyre.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

@ T99 - mispronunciation often comes from having read a word before having heard it in conversation. During our courtship, my wife would use an obscure word, and I would correct her pronunciation. Then, after a pause, I would ask her what it meant, because I usually only had the feeling, not the precision of it.