[vaz]/[ves]

[A. Maberry]

They're all [vesez] to me--there's cheap ones and there's expensive ones.

Allen
maberry at u.washington [Warshinton].edu

On Tue, 27 Apr 1999, A. Vine wrote:

> Peter Richardson wrote:
> >
> > > American innovation.  Was it French influence (or French by way of British)
> > > that fostered the snobbish distinction in the U.S.?
> > I suspect so, yes--but I hope I'm not falling into the Twainian pit of
> > blaming so much on the French.
>
> But they're such an easy target (I am jesting.)
>
> >
> > Speaking of affectations, has this list ever discussed the insistence of
> > theater programs in this country on spelling theater as if it were
> > theatre? I once sent a memo to a friend in our theater department with the
> > last two letters of each word reversed; he was amused, but I doubt all
> > would be.
>
> I always assumed this was Anglo snobbery, just as posh invitations will use
> "colour" and "harbour", and even a character on 'Ally McBeal' last night cursed
> with the word "bugger".
>
> I said /ves/ until I lived in Connecticut and was bullied into using /vaz/.
> Ditto for "aunt" (and folks are _really_ confused when I say /vaz/ referring to
> my Aunt Eileen...)
>
> Andrea
> --
> Andrea Vine
> Sun Internet Mail Server i18n architect
> avine at eng.sun.com
> Remember: stressed is desserts spelled backwards.
>