Re: English Names of Italian Towns

On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:53:07 +0200, J. J. Lodder posted:

Oleg Lego <rat@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:16:33 GMT, Murray Arnow posted:

Mike M wrote:
J. J. Lodder wrote:


Frenchmen (when in England)
may try to pronounce the placenames the English way.

Englishmen doing that while in France must be rare indeed.
Usually they pronounce things the English way
(ignoring for example all differences between =E9 e and =E8)
even while asking for the way.


Not this Englishman.

Of course not. And you probably don't wear a bowler and carry an umbrella,
either. Notice you are replying to an opinion based on a malformed-general
belief about the English by someone who will somehow find a way to speak
unkindly of your countrymen at any given opportunity.

I may get it wrong, but I do try.


Good chap.

Although I seem to remember being told that the locals don't pronounce
"Rheims" they way you might expect. Damned if I can remember exactly
what it was, though... anyone?

Mike M

Well, what can you expect from them froggies. I told this story before, but
it's worth a repeat. I knew a young woman who was born and raised in
Paris. She moved to the States for an extended stay, just long enough to
lose her Parisian accent. She returned home and found upon arrival the
locals treated her less politely, like a furriner, until she regained her
accent.

There you go. You might as well pronounce their place names in the way
you're most familiar with them, because you'll be sneered in either
case.

Not really. The French appreciate it
when you try to speak their language,
even when you can't do so very well.

Just starting with 'Bonjour' already helps,

It's been my experience, both in Quebec and France, that the French
are likely to be rude to people who are obviously not fluent in
French. They seem to take a great deal of pleasure in sneering at
every opportunity.

.

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