Coup de grâce

[sagehen]

>Heard on NPR, 12 May:  the phrase *coup de grâce* pronounced [ku duh gra].  It
>made me wonder how widespread it was to hear French phrases that have been
>imported into English pronounced without their legitimate final consonants.  I
>speculate that it's on the model of things like *grand prix* /grã pri/, where
>the final consonant is legitimately not pronounced, which give people a
>feeling
>that final consonants should not be pronounced in any word which they are
>conscious is French.  Does anyone have any further examples or thoughts on
>this?
>
>Damien Hall
>University of Pennsylvania
~~~~~~~~~
Same thing happens with verdigris, possibly because the /gris/ is thought
to be gray rather than Greece.
A. Murie