Idiot of The Day

[Sundae]

A woman yesterday was blethering on about all the places she'd visited, including Blenheim Palace. Which she called Blenn-hime.

Now I have nothing against people not getting place names right on reading them. English-English is generally tricky, thanks to its mongrel history, and never more so than in place names. But she said she had been there. At what point did she not pick up on the fact that it's pronounced Blennim?

So she was either a lying idiot, or an idiot who doesn't bother listening to anything but her own yap.
Having suffered enough of it, I vote both.

[Gravdigr]

Regular old spelling/pronunciation rules would have had me, along with the vast majority of the non-British world, pronouncing it blen-hime. That's what it looks like, and as you say, if I haven't been there, how am I to know people have been eliding it into blennum for a thousand years...

But, then, you have George Carlin talking about the way things are spelled vs. the way a group/person wishes them to be pronounced:

You can spell your name S-M-I-T-H, and pronounce it Jonofski if you want to.

What's your last name?

Jonofski.

Spell it.

S-M-I-T-H.

What?

Nevermind. They're all silent.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

how am I to know people have been eliding it into blennum for a thousand years...

Eliding! I was trying to think of that word (elided, rather than eliding)a few weeks ago and couldn't. I'd forgotten about it til I read your post.

Thankyou!

[Gravdigr]

Glad to be of service.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Sundae

A woman yesterday was blethering on about all the places she'd visited, including Blenheim Palace. Which she called Blenn-hime.

Now why would a woman of obvious breeding and culture wish to lower herself to the guttural pronunciations of the local riffraff? Would you wish her to wallow in pronounsorial gutter of the Welsh also?