expresso and other Itaglish

[Dennis R. Preston]

Hmmmm. I thought caffe espresso meant just what it said. A quick coffee. I
never thought about expressin' no steam through no grounds.

dInIs

>"Dennis R. Preston" wrote:
>>
>> Well Beth, I reckon it ain't and looks like some folk hate you for thinking
>> it is!
>>
>> dInIs (who thought a skinny latte was a thin member of an ethnic group he
>> hadn't encountered before)
>>
>> >It's not "expresso"?
>> >
>> >
>> >beth simon
>> >
>> >
>> >> >You know what I hate? People who mispronounce words, like ...'expresso'
>> >> instead of 'espresso.'
>
>Oh boy!  A vent for my Itaglish beefs!
>
>"Espresso" is short for "caffe espresso", "caffe" meaning "coffee" and
>"espresso" referring to the method of making the coffee, the steam being
>expressed through the grounds - I think.
>
>Anyway, my beefs are the spelling of Italian words:
>
>cappuccino
>caffe latte
>macchiato
>parmigiano
>prosciutto (this one really bugs me when it's written "proscuitto" which would
>sound like "proskweeto")
>fettuccini
>mozzarella
>vermicelli
>pepperoncini - is plural! As are most Italian words ending in "i", with a few
>notable exceptions, e.g. days of the week.
>
>"x" is used in foreign spellings, and /ks/ is a foreign pronunciation, as is
>the
>French "j" usually transliterated as "zh".
>
>Whew!  I feel better now.
>Andrea
>--
>Andrea Vine
>Sun-Netscape Alliance messaging i18n architect
>avine at eng.sun.com
>I always wanted to be an architect. }sigh{  Of course, I _am_ an architect.

Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736