19 Nov
2020
19 Nov
'20
8:13 a.m.
On Wed, 18 Nov 2020 at 21:20, Fred Cisin via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
And the machines that Calcomp made (570, etc.) were called "plodders"
I am well-used to that one; I think all Brits are, from TV and cinema.
(Aside: it is amusing to me, at least, that some British actors
succeeded in Hollywood or TV analogues thereof, playing Americans, in
what to other Brits sound like unconvincing accents: Hugh Laurie
("House"), Bob Hoskins ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit?").)
Nobody around here will use Worcestershire sauce,
because they are
afraid to even try to pronounce it.
It took me decades to realise, but P G Wodehouse's famed fictional
character Bertie Wooster has the same name. "Wooster" is just a
phonetic rendering of "Worcester". Any placename with "chester" or
variant thereof is ~2000 years old, because it derives from the Latin
"castrum" used by the Romans. Castra were Roman fortified bases.
Sounds drift a lot over two millennia.
Gloucester ? "Gloster"
Leicester ? "Lester"
Worcester ? "Wooster"
My personal favourite is Woolfardisworthy. It's a pretty little
village, but its name sounds so different, they put the phonetic
version on signposts too, so outsiders can actually find it: Woolsery.
For a while, I lived near "Bawlmer"
(Baltimore)
Huh. I did not know Baltimore was not pronounced boll-tea-more.
I've watched this many times but never clocked on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfIWX5vGTEk ? sweary but highly amusing
(The most significant landmark is the B R O M O S E L
T Z E R clock - what
time is it when both hands are on 'O's?)
*Googles it* Coo...
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