We all know it's to-MAY-toe here and to-MAH-toe to our cousins across the pond. But not everyone knows it's EAR-rock, not EYE-rack. So, how about al-Qaeda? It is an Arabic word meaning "the base" and is pronounced alka-EYE-da. According to Nail Al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C., there is an extra vowel after the Qa that doesn't exist in English. In a pinch you could say al-KY-da, but not al-KAY-da.
Now that I've cleared that up, are there people out there who irritate you by pronouncing certain words incorrectly? You know, like our beloved Presi- dent's nu-KU-ler instead of nu-KLEE-er.
I know Al Kayda I used to play golf with him. He always said there would be nukuler war that would blow up all the towmaytoes in Calefornia using alumineom warheads. He said this with an accent while choking on a pretzel.
You can tell alot about a person by the way in which they speak....It's not about whether it is right or wrong, but it is interesting and sometimes fun to guess where they must be from and a little about their life by the acent and way they speak. For me as long as I get what you mean, I'm fine with it. There is room in the world for all of us.
We all know it's to-MAY-toe here and to-MAH-toe to our cousins across the pond. But not everyone knows it's EAR-rock, not EYE-rack. So, how about al-Qaeda? It is an Arabic word meaning "the base" and is pronounced alka-EYE-da. According to Nail Al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C., there is an extra vowel after the Qa that doesn't exist in English. In a pinch you could say al-KY-da, but not al-KAY-da.
Now that I've cleared that up, are there people out there who irritate you by pronouncing certain words incorrectly? You know, like our beloved Presi- dent's nu-KU-ler instead of nu-KLEE-er.