Two Years late but this Numb3rs promo is adorable

[janedavitt]

It's Don and Charlie doing a Numb3rs take-off of the Pac/MC ads, in character.

I know. Everyone's seen it already :-)

http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/04/numb3rs-cbs-tv-show-pc-vs-mac.html

And I found another pronounciation difference; in the UK, we say long-ee-tude, not lon-gee-tude.

Comments

[dodificus]

I *hadn't* see that actually, so thanks for posting the link:)

[janedavitt]

You're very welcome! I assumed it'd gone around the fandom at the time because aww....

[archersangel]

i've never seen that. very nice

[janedavitt]

Isn't it cute?

[green_grrl]

Hee! As a Justin Long fan, I had to check it out. Very cute!

Also, stop saying stuff wrong! :D

[scrollgirl]

And I found another pronounciation difference; in the UK, we say long-ee-tude, not lon-gee-tude.

Americans say "lon-gee-tude"?? I never noticed! Though, now that you mention it, I recall hearing that now. But I think my instinct is still what I learned in elementary school, which is "long-ee-tude". Well, it's more of a "long-eh-tude", a short E, not a long E sound.

[green_grrl]

The vowel in the middle is sort of a mix between an "eh" an "ih" and an "uh," to me, BUT THE "G" IS TOTALLY THERE! Lon-jeh-tude

I grew up in Southern California, so I'm guessing the Numb3rs boys talk like me. ;-)

[scrollgirl]

Oops, I meant to reply directly to Jane! Ah, no matter.

The vowel in the middle is sort of a mix between an "eh" an "ih" and an "uh," to me

Yes, to me too! But there is no "j" sound at all! Why would there be? That's what I don't get.

From Middle English, from Latin longitūdō (“‘length, a measured length’”), from longus (“‘long’”).

[janedavitt]

Yes; there's a long right there; why not use it? ::puzzled::

[green_grrl]

BUT, my Oxford American says ˈlänjiˌt(y)oōd and my Websters says ˈlän-jə-t(y)üd -- both with the "j." Things do change pronunciation in different words all the time, e.g., "grace" (with the "s" sound) to "gracious" (with the "sh" sound).

It seems like British English and American English often differ over whether those changes in pronunciation get made, one way or the other. For example, Brits took the French word "massage" and Anglicized the pronunciation to MASS-age, while Americans use the French-style mass-AGE. (I'm guessing that had to do with who took which side around 1776. ;-)

[janedavitt]

You don't say MASS age? Gosh, no wonder the lady in the Chicago hotel couldn't understand a word I was saying! Seriously; David had to translate for me. ::g::

[green_grrl]

Same thing with GAR-age versus gar-AGE. :D

Whenever I watch Brit movies/TV, I run up against all those little differences that pop out to my ear, just like you watching Numb3rs. It's fun!

[janedavitt]

The garage one defines if you're posh or not in England; we say it both ways. I do it the not-posh way 'garridge' :-) AND I say 'skowns' and my husband says skons which always causes problems, heh.

And yes, as a writer I find is fascinating to think that the words I write will sound differently in people'sheads as they read; it's fascinating.

[scrollgirl]

Actually I don't think the French pronounce it "mass-AGE" the way Americans do. The verb masser has the emphasis on the first syllable, MASSer. And while the French noun massage has a more "meh" sound instead of a "mah" sound, the emphasis is still on the first syllable, not the second syllable: "MEH-sage". Listen to the right column, first word.

That said, in some ways Canadians follow American pronunciation, because I too say "mass-AGE". *g*

[green_grrl]

Huh! It's not as strong as the British, but there. My brother-in-law is French. He's lived in the US for over 30 years, but you would think he stepped off the plane yesterday--his accent is so strong it's nearly indecipherable. Figures that the one word he would pronounce American is "massage"--he's a massage therapist!

[janedavitt]

I guess they do! :-))

[janedavitt]

The way Charlie says it in this sounds so difficult. I can't wrap my togue around it.

[janedavitt]

It is cute! And heh.