Why don’t Americans have proper buoys?

[touchingcloth]

If something buoys their spirit, do they say it boo ees their spirit?

[mothman]

I speek Eengleesh, I learn eet from a booook. Essentially, I grew up abroad, and my life since has been plagued with mispronunciations. I'm in my fifties and I'm still not sure how to pronounce "buoy".

[McChesney Duntz]

If something buoys their spirit, do they say it boo ees their spirit?

No.

[Goldentony]

be honest how often is any cunt saying buoys are you jacques cousteau

[FredNurke]

The American pronunciation is closer to the original, and it's the British one that's the innovation - irksome, but true.

[itsfredtitmus]

"Why don't American's have proper bumboys?"

[Cold Meat Platter]

The American pronunciation is closer to the original, and it's the British one that's the innovation - irksome, but true.

And has more utility: the homophone clearly leaves room for ambiguity.

[Gregory Torso]

So they can't do that brilliant joke about how to find out if an ant is male or female

[Gregory Torso]

Generally don't have a problem with Americans or that but saying 'boo-ey' is fucking stupid.

[Cold Meat Platter]

So they can't do that brilliant joke about how to find out if an ant is male or female

It's all a big joke to you, isn't it?

[JesusAndYourBush]

Baba Buoy

[chveik]

those poor americans don't have much going for them

[Video Game Fan 2000]

what a bunch of soybuoys

[Video Game Fan 2000]

i bet they have some sort of crass word for our beautiful bollards and all

[itsfredtitmus]

This thread will always be 'bumboys'

[El Unicornio, mang]

Seinfeld S03E20

ELAINE: Um, yup. Yes, yes, it just... such a miracle, um. My visit must have
buoyed (Elaine says "boyed") his spirits.

LIPPMAN:(correcting her) Boo-eed.

ELAINE: What--what did I say?

LIPPMAN:You said "boyed."

ELAINE: I did?

LIPPMAN:Yeah.

[checkoutgirl]

The American pronunciation is closer to the original

To be fair at least boo ee differentiates it from boy which is a young version of a man. English can be weird, Southwark is pronounced Sutherk for some reason. Boatswain is pronounced bosun for reasons best known to someone else. The classic American singer mistake, Glass Ton Berry (Glastonbury) is pronounced Glastonbree and even though it's a perfectly reasonable mistake for the American to make it still annoys me a bit. Maybe because the American sees it written down and makes no further enquiries as to the pronunciation, they've seen it written down and they are confident in their own interpretation.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Maybe because the American sees it written down and makes no further enquiries as to the pronunciation, they've seen it written down and they are confident in their own interpretation.

Doesn't everyone from all countries do that though? Nobody assumes that something must be pronounced differently to how they're reading it. If I didn't know already, I would assume Arkansas was pronounced Ar-kan-sas, not Ar-kan-saw. And "cockburn" pronounced "co-burn", give me a break...

[touchingcloth]

I kind of like that neither us nor the Americans pronounce the word phonetically. Personally o split the difference and call them boo-oys.

[Dex Sawash]

If you have to say something like "I went inside the red buoy and bumped hard on the bottom" it is best to camp up your pronunciation of buoy a bit for clarity.


Edit- see also; Captain Tom

[Shit Good Nose]

Also cf.:

~ize is the original latin (and still acceptable in British-English) and it's only us Brits that have changed it to ~ise in relatively recent times (~ize was still the standard spelling when we went over to kill millions of native Indians the new world);
"Soccer" originated in Oxford uni I believe;
Aluminum - extra i only added by some science bloke "cos it sounds better";
"Fall" is olde Englishe (although not as old as "autumn") popularised by the likes of some cunt called Shakespeare;
Gasoline was proper British-English until we decided to use the French "petrol"


Probs loads of others.

[The Mollusk]

Lads in the American hip hop are championing these things all the time

YEEAAHH BUUOOYYY

Not sure if it's because they spend a lot of time partying and/or recording music videos on boats or what but they do seem very invested in them

[GMTV]

Cameron Carter-Vickers trudges out of thread despondently

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Sleeping Policemen

[mothman]

I have the feeling I'm opening myself up to ridicule here, but... is "gaol" pronounced the same as "jail"?

[Johnny Foreigner]

Aye it is, and I always spell it gaol, because I'm an arrogant twat.

[mothman]

That's OK, it's certainly better than spending one's childhood thinking it's pronounced "goal". Or possibly "gah-oll".

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

*I* was saying booeey- urns.

[Replies From View]

Gasoline was proper British-English until we decided to use the French "petrol"

nobody asked me on that day