Pet Peeves

[sgt.null]

my world - my rules.

illinois is illinoy
kangamangus is just how it looks.
winnepesaukee is just how it looks

[Auleliel]

illinois is illinoy

Agreed. I hate it when people pronounce it illinoise! Or worse, Ellinoy.

[Mortice Root]

It's Wisconsin, not Wesconsin or Wiscansin or Wescansin.

[Auleliel]

It's Wisconsin, not Wesconsin or Wiscansin or Wescansin.

I agree on that one too. Why can't people pronounce states' names properly?

[Wyldewode]

my world - my rules.

No. My world, MY rules!

[Cheval]

I cannot seem to find the right way to pronounce New Orleans.
Is it "New Or-leans",
"New Ah-lee-ins",
or (as the Cajun say), "Naw-lins"?

[aliantha]

It's Wisconsin, not Wesconsin or Wiscansin or Wescansin.

I agree on that one too. Why can't people pronounce states' names properly?

I have a bunch of cousins who grew up on a farm south of Madison. It tickled me when they would pronounce Wisconsin "Wis-GAHN-sin".

I agree on Illinoy.

And Mortice Root: The natives say Nawlins, so that's how I say it. Same with Louisville, KY: my high school band teacher was from there, and he pronounced it LOO-vull, so that's how I always say it. Ditto Norfolk, VA: The natives call it NAW-f'ck. (One guy I used to work with claimed that the city's high school cheerleaders used to shout: "We don't drink! We don't smoke! Norfolk! Norfolk! Norfolk!" )

[Wyldewode]

I say go with the locals. See above post.

[balon!]

I hate it when people grab a hundred paper napkins and then only use one. It's one of the worst things when cleaning a theater. ARGH.

[MsMary]

Same with Louisville, KY: my high school band teacher was from there, and he pronounced it LOO-vull, so that's how I always say it.

I've heard LOO-uh-vull.

Ditto Norfolk, VA: The natives call it NAW-f'ck. (One guy I used to work with claimed that the city's high school cheerleaders used to shout: "We don't drink! We don't smoke! Norfolk! Norfolk! Norfolk!" )

My cousins grew up in Norfolk. I never heard the expression as a cheer, but my cousin quoted that Norfolk girls "don't drink, naw smoke, naw f*k."

[Cagliostro]

No. . . I live here and it is pronounced mi-zoor-ee. My grandfather, who lived in Indiana, always loved to say "misery."

I call it Misery as a tribute to the majority of the times I have been there. I've had a couple good times there, but for the handfull of times I've been there, I've had a car accident around Xmas and car broken into to show for it. The car accident was with a car insurance claims agent who pulled up behind me while I was backing EXTREMELY slowly out of a space right next to a monster truck that I couldn't see around. I was mainly watching on that side as well as the occasional glance backward. I know she saw an opportunity and went for it. I saw her a second too late, slammed on the brakes (I swear I couldn't have been going more than 1 mile per hour) and somehow left a little piddly scratch that she decided to claim. Really pissed me off. The second I heard she worked for car insurance, I knew I was screwed. And sure enough, I was, for she knew that if you were hit by someone backing out, you are an instant winner.

[Wyldewode]

That sucks, Caggie. No wonder Mo isn't at the top of your favorite state list.

[CovenantJr]

people who bitch about the police because they got stopped for doing something illegal.

I'm with you on that. If I'm speeding (or whatever) and I get pulled over, I'm hardly going to be happy about it, but I can't blame the police. I used to try and explain this to people when I worked in parking enforcement*. I heard such delights as "Please cancel my parking ticket. I didn't know traffic wardens worked at night." The fact is, if you knew you shouldn't be parking there but you did it anyway, you decided to take your chances and you've only got yourself to blame if you get caught. I don't expect you to like it, but please have enough dignity and self-respect to take it on the chin.

I hated that job, for many reasons.






*For the record, I was behind the scenes, not on the street - and yes, around 50% of traffic wardens are, as one of my colleagues put it, "bent as a two pound note"

[emotional leper]

Pet Peeve? People who assume that something is immoral because it is illegal.

HUGER pet peeve: People who think their morals and ethics are absolutes, and that there is no society in which behaviour they consider improper or wrong could be considered proper or correct.

HUGER pet peeve: People who do not have a firm grasp of basic logic or reason or rhetoric, and cannot understand such a simple concept as cultural relativism.

HUGER pet peeve: Not being allowed to cut up someone else's mink despite the fact that they butcher it so horribly I can't even see a superficial muscle like the biceps femoris.

[CovenantJr]

Ditto Norfolk, VA: The natives call it NAW-f'ck.

That's how the original Norfolk (i.e. the county on the east coast of England) is pronounced, so I'd go with that.

HUGER pet peeve: People who do not have a firm grasp of basic logic or reason or rhetoric, and cannot understand such a simple concept as cultural relativism.

I've had some arguments about this. I'm pretty much a total relativist, and I've had people come to me with 'any form of relativism is unsupportable'. They mostly cite the Bible as evidence - you know, 'how can you say it's relative when the absolute standard is set down right here?' When that happens, I usually amuse myself by answering that the validity of Biblical tenets is also relative.

[aliantha]

Ditto Norfolk, VA: The natives call it NAW-f'ck.

That's how the original Norfolk (i.e. the county on the east coast of England) is pronounced, so I'd go with that.

HUGER pet peeve: People who do not have a firm grasp of basic logic or reason or rhetoric, and cannot understand such a simple concept as cultural relativism.

I've had some arguments about this. I'm pretty much a total relativist, and I've had people come to me with 'any form of relativism is unsupportable'. They mostly cite the Bible as evidence - you know, 'how can you say it's relative when the absolute standard is set down right here?' When that happens, I usually amuse myself by answering that the validity of Biblical tenets is also relative.

That's probably exactly where the original pronunciation of Norfolk, VA, comes from, CovJr. I understand that some linguists believe that the accent among folks who lived on Virginia's Eastern Shore is very close to what Elizabethan English sounded like. Particularly with those folks who lived on the barrier islands, who didn't have much contact with the rest of the world -- until, y'know, radio and TV. Thanks to that, you don't hear the Eastern Shore accent much at all anymore, only from the older folks.

I think there's a similar theory about the Appalachian accent -- that it's a throwback to that of the original English settlers.

And MsMary, I wouldn't put it past my former co-worker to have embroidered the bit about the cheerleaders. He was an entertaining guy.

Hmm, wait, I had a pet peeve to share. Oh yeah! People who turn up their iPods on the Metro so loud that you can sing along from 10 feet away....

[Auleliel]

People who turn up their iPods on the Metro so loud that you can sing along from 10 feet away....

Or people who do so in any place from which you can't escape, especially if it's an annoying song.

[MsMary]

Agreed.

[CovenantJr]

People who eat my entire box of iced lollies and then deny all knowledge.

[JazFusion]

I cannot seem to find the right way to pronounce New Orleans.
Is it "New Or-leans",
"New Ah-lee-ins",
or (as the Cajun say), "Naw-lins"?

It's only Nawlins if you're Cajun. If you're not, don't say it that way unless you can fake a Cajun accent. Instead, say it "New Or-lens".

Used to live near New Orleans a few years ago. My mom lives there.