I pronounce it the second way...but I speak Australian English...

The pronounciation is really just a difference of accents, as you said. I use the latter more often, though.

It is...English gets more confusing when different terms as used to refer to the same thing depending on where you are from.

And I realised not that long ago that the word 'leave' is a very interesting one that is almost it's own antonym. Because you can leave something at a place because you need to leave for a different destination.

So what does it mean when someone tells you to simply "leave it"?

Haha English can be so confusing. XD

I use the first pronunciation because that's how my mom says it and I think that's how most people I know back when I was in the states says it...so maybe it's a Texan thing? I was watching TV earlier and the British guy uses the latter version so maybe it's an American/British thing...Americans use toe-may-toe and British people use toe-maa-toe or something...>.>;

'Either' and 'neither' also threw me for a loop at first because I didn't know whether to use tie 'i' or 'ee' version. >__>;;

@Ling:
The difference to me would probably be if I was holding something the other person wants or not.
Fascinating observation, though! Asking to clarify something is not uncommon with all the potential misunderstandings language difference could bring, probably why we do it so much.

Now "lie", that's an interesting word to think about.

@Antagonist:
Yeah, I grew up learning the British English syllabus in school, so while my pronounciations may sometimes switch and mix because of wide exposure to American media, my written spellings are the only thing constant about my English education.

lol! Yeah, at least most English words are spelled the same no matter if it's American or British. (Though then again I've heard that Americans use 'color' and British use 'colour'? And something about 'grey' and 'gray'...)

I used to have an American English mental voice. Now it's a blend because I've been watching too many British shows of late. My English speaking voice is still all American (with a heavy Chinese-accent) though, I can't change my pronunciation/accent anymore.

I try to use the American spellings, because it's where I live, but I still mess up sometimes...

And pronunciation, don't talk to me about pronunciation!

"Skedule" or "shedule"? How could I know?


<_<;

lol I pronounce it as 'skeh-jewel'

Originally Posted by VeraDark

I try to use the American spellings, because it's where I live, but I still mess up sometimes...

And pronunciation, don't talk to me about pronunciation!

"Skedule" or "shedule"? How could I know?


<_<;

I've never heard anyone pronounce it "shedule" before :o

I pronounce it as 'shedule', if I'm speaking English. And skejool if I'm mixing it with Japanese.


---------- Post added 07-05-2014 at 06:50 PM ----------

I think it's a British or American English thingie! This page has an audio version

...Wow, it's actually 'sheh-jool' in British! O_O; It sounds so weird! xDDDD (no offense to any of the British :P)

I'm pretty pleased that I've been pronouncing it right!
Skejool always sounded weirder to me

:O This is so weird to me! It sounds pretty cool though.

It's the first time I've ever heard it pronounced as sheh-jool! Or maybe I've heard it on TV before but wasn't paying attention...

Language is amazing!

And complex @ [email protected]

Speaking about weird inconsistencies in languages:

奶油 pronounced nai3 you2 in pinyin with the numbers representing the tones is a weird term in Chinese which the two individual characters separately mean "milk fat"

But together it becomes a term that can mean either butter, cream or custard depending on which Chinese speaking area you're at...

I see a hilarious problem with this...because you could either get something completely unexpected when choosing it from a menu if the menu only has text...but worse....cooking something that requires either of those three ingredients from a recipe...because neither of them are good substitutes for each other....

lol This reminds me of all the horrible Chinese - English translations I've seen. Like the 'cellphone baker' (烘手機)

Engrish.....you should look up Engrish fails....the Chinese ones are doubly funny for those who can read Chinese because you can read the Chinese and see how the crap English translation came to be in relation to the Chinese.

I knooow, it's horrible. I think they just ran the words into Google translator and then used the results without bothering to check if it was correct.

I think it's because most Chinese words are compound words (I don't know if this makes sense but that's how I think of it ), so things get pretty wacky when translating.

Yeah, I think that's a big reason why we have so many translations gone wrong.

A pain the butt
This is how our people speak 'Chinese': chin chon chou chi

I have an American friend who always think Chinese is all like "ching chang chong, ding dang dong". He even made a song out of it that's kind of ridiculous but funny.

That's what we think too! Well that's how they sound like, especially when you don't understand a single word they're saying. And the moment somebody spots a Japanese/Filipina (which are always mistaken for Chinese people here) they all go 'ching Chang chon'