Speaking of the way things are pronounced, what is this thing about "ma'am like ham"? Where did that phrase come from? This American doesn't understand.
Speaking of the way things are pronounced, what is this thing about "ma'am like ham"? Where did that phrase come from? This American doesn't understand.
I'm still a work in progress.
Currently working on: World Domination
Apart from it should be pronounced "marm"?
When addressing female members of the royal family it's always "ma'am" - because a "madam" runs a brothel.
The long and short A is a difficult one and often denotes regional speech patterns, the short A being more of a Northern thing.
It's supposed to be "marm"? Why? Where does the 'r' come from?
Over here, "ma'am" rhymes with ham. So my students will call me "ma'am". It's pretty normal address here for a woman over the age of 30. No one uses "madam" here. So I always wonder why you all have fights about it.
I'm still a work in progress.
Currently working on: World Domination
I know I can talk because I've been known to get uptight about trivial stuff in the past that don't really matter in the grand scheme of things (a common Autie trait), but for people to fall out over the pronunciation of certain letters, words, etc, and of course hoity-toity school teachers in the past being offended by innocuous use of a slang term for our currency by pupils in the playground of all places, they seriously need to get a life!
God help Miss Leyton (the hoity-toity teacher offended by the word 'quid') if she was still alive by the time txtspk was all the rage, she probably would have jumped under a passing train in horror!
Throwback to RP. You pronounce it as though there's an "R" after it and again, it can be seen as a shibboleth.
See also: bath, castle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronun...the_new_long_A
This is pure brilliance, but must come with a very big NSFW warning for rudeness!!! As pronunciations are being talked about............
https://youtu.be/5LQYMil8D04
Last edited by BikerMatt; 17-01-21 at 18:40.
'It was a wedding ring, destined to be found in a cheap hotel, lost in a kitchen sink, or thrown in a wishing well' - Marillion, Clutching at Straws, 1987
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