Complex Numbers

Pronouncements

As I'm someone who gets information more from reading than from listening, sometimes I'm prone to pronunciation errors. I'm okay with this; I consider them more literate than spelling errors. So, from Lifehacker, some actual decent information:

    How to Actually Pronounce 'Worcestershire,' 'Açaí,' and Other Commonly Mispronounced Words  

My worst was "quinoa." How the ever-living fuck was I supposed to know it didn't rhyme with Genoa? So much for "never eat anything with ingredients you can't pronounce." (Which is a dumb rule anyway that only encourages ignorance.)

I’m no prescriptivist—words are yours to do with as you will, so pronounce ‘em however you like.

The obvious problem with this philosophy, when taken to its logical endpoint, is everything ends up being pronounced "Bob." Bob, bob bob bob Bob bob bob; bob bob bob bob.

Gyro

I saved this article because of this word alone.

“Gyro” is either a shortened form of “gyroscope” or the name of a Greek lamb sandwich.

It's not a sandwich. It's a taco.

In the unlikely event that you’re talking about gyroscopes enough to need to shorten the word, it’s pronounced “jeye-roh.” The greek sandwich, according to Websters, is called a “yee-roh” or a “zhir-roh.” It’s rhymes with “hero.”

I'm going to mock that site for misusing "It's" in a completely new improper way. Which, by Waltz's Second Law of the Internet, means I've probably got an error in my own writing here somewhere.

As an aside, those things that are maybe-sandwiches that most of the US calls a "sub" or maybe a "grinder?" In New York, the traditional name for them was "hero." For years, I assumed (shut up) that this was an Anglicization of "gyro" (the food that is not actually a sandwich). Because, you know, both involve filling bread with stuff. That turns out to probably not   be the case. The etymology of "hero" for the food isn't really clear, though.

Interestingly, the Greek word for “to turn” is the root of the word for both the sandwich and the machine, but the terms came into the language at different times, so we don’t say them the say way.

I can't confirm or deny that, but I was able to determine that it doesn't have to be made with lamb meat.

Açaí

The berries from the Açaí palm tree that grows in South America have become popular enough that you may be called upon to say their name at brunch. If so, it’s pronounced aa-saa-ee.

Fair enough. Another one I'd only seen printed, never pronounced.

Nguyen

“Nguyen” is a common last name in Vietnam, and Vietnamese is a little tricky for English speakers.

To call it a common last name in Vietnam is to master the art of the understatement. About a third   of the population has that name.

I met a blackjack dealer in Vegas once whose name was Tu Nguyen. I was just drunk enough to assert that, well, that's what I'm here for: to win. She was too sober to appreciate it. No, actually, probably every drunk cracker who's ever visited Vegas made the same "joke." Sorry, Tu. I promise I'm never a mean drunk, but I am a stupid one sometimes.

Oh, and it's important to remember that "Nguyen" is a transliteration from a pictographic language. Why they couldn't create a more approachable spelling is beyond me.

Gif

I don't care what the article or the format's inventor says. It's a hard g. I have spoken. Hell, I wouldn't change my mind if the clouds parted and Jod themself pronounced [pun intended] that it was "jif." (It's graphic interchange format, not giraffe interchange format.)

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a county in England where they invented a delicious condiment in the 1830s.

And that word was Kid Me's introduction to how England can't pronounce English.

Phở

This Vietnamese noodle soup is pronounced “fuuh,” according to Websters, but “foe” seems to be catching on fast, at least if you’re an English speaker.

Thus leading to my second favorite restaurant name of all time: Phở King. It's phở king glorious. If you get sick there, well, phở cough. Want it to go? Phở cup.

My favorite restaurant name of all time? Same cuisine: Viet Noms. There are probably dozens of them by now, but the first one I saw was in central California. (Great food, incidentally.)

There are more in the article, all English... but many derived from French, so it's no wonder we phở kit up.