Assume v. Presume

[gomezz]

The OED is a record of usage not a proscription.

 

[Black Hole]

proscription

One letter wrong.

 

[EEPhil]

There is only one 'correct' way to pronounce Queen's English words, and that's by learning the hieroglyphs in the OED.
Anyone who pronounces them any other way is pronouncing them incorrectly.

In that case I'll use the Cummings Defence and say my instinct is to pronounce things using common sense. There is no "r" in mask, so I won't pronounce it like the OED says. It's a short "a", as in cat.

 

[Black Hole]

There's no r sound in mask even with the long a.

 

[Trev]

There is no "r" in mask, so I won't pronounce it like the OED says. It's a short "a", as in cat.

It's only a short 'a' for those of you who come from north of the A27. (Us Southerners call them Northerners).

 

[RobH1]

'a' is always short in Spanish, so you always know where you are with pronunciation. Southerners always butcher the pronunciation of 'mañana', using short, long and short 'a'.
I recall seeing a sign,'rabbish' near holiday houses in Greece. The owners must have had many cockneys' staying there.

 

[Black Hole]

'a' is always short in Spanish, so you always know where you are with pronunciation.

Maybe, if you attend to the accents and the differences in what individual symbols mean, and acquire a lithp. Spanish pronunciation is heavily influenced by a monarch having a lisp and everyone else having to adopt the same. It is also the reason x was adopted as the symbol for the unknown value in maths.

 

[RobH1]

Maybe, if you attend to the accents and the differences in what individual symbols mean, and acquire a lithp. Spanish pronunciation is heavily influenced by a monarch having a lisp and everyone else having to adopt the same. It is also the reason x was adopted as the symbol for the unknown value in maths.

The 'a' is always short as I mentioned, regardless of accents which only stresses the syllable. The lithp is not used in all parts of Spain, cannot recall whether it is Castillian or Andalucian which use it. Must check it out.

 

[EEPhil]

There's no r sound in mask even with the long a.

There is if you're presenting the ITV breakfast programme! (Morgan, Reed, Hawkins, Dr Mark Porter, Dr Hilary Jones)
(Also: Concise OED - mask / ma:sk/ ... a: arm)

 

[EEPhil]

It's only a short 'a' for those of you who come from north of the A27. (Us Southerners call them Northerners).

That's most of the UK including London.

 

[Trev]

Yep. That's just about the size of it.
Do you pronounce the 'r' in arm? I pronounce it aam as in the correct pronunciation of Ma'am.
Pronouncing the 'r' as a separate letter makes it sound stupid and cumbersome and almost impossible.

 

[EEPhil]

Do you pronounce the 'r' in arm? I pronounce it aam as in the correct pronunciation of Ma'am.

Probably not. I don't pronounce the first "d" in wednesday either. Seems a bit clumsy to me.

 

[Trev]

Or the middle 'e'

 

[EEPhil]

Damn! I missed that one. You're correct.

 

[Trev]

Jeez, that makes a change.

 

[Black Hole]

Twiggy: "the premise of the idea..."

 

[EEPhil]

That sounds like something that belongs in the Commentatorballs (formerly Colemanballs) column of Private Eye.
eg. Ken Bruce: "It's not a name you're likely to guess unless you know it."

 

[Black Hole]

Springwatch: "three dimensional plane". Okay.....

 

[Trev]

So now are you supporting the factoid that a plane does not have three dimensions?
All of these do

 

[EEPhil]

I would guess that the gripe is about geometrical planes

In mathematics, a plane is a flat, two-dimensional surface that extends infinitely far.