I was telling Husband that one British English-ism I’ve found it hard to drop (and I’m not sure I’ve even tried, to be honest), is the way we pronounce the ‘Saint’ in names. 5-yo overheard our conversation.
“What’s that? What do you mean? What are you saying? What are you talking about?”
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be an easy one to explain to a 5 year old, but I thought I’d have a go.
“Well, when churches or streets are called St James’ or St John’s, in England we don’t say Saynt James’ or Saynt John’s, we say Ssnt James’ or Ssnt John’s, but here in America, they do say Saynt James’ or Saynt John’s. They say the word Saint like Saynt, whereas we say the word Saint like Ssnt.”
Crystal clear. I say that with confidence, because she totally got the point.
“You mean like we say St Derella?”
.
OK, I had to say that out loud, then I got it! Nice one, 5 yo.
ReplyDeleteYou'll be giving online lessons in RP next... (could that be the gap in the market?)
ReplyDeleteHa, v funny! I remember years ago seeing some Masterpiece Theatre thing, and thinking, "What's with this guy named Sinjin? Sounds like a pirate, perhaps his brother is Sinbad?" Took me ages to figure it out...
ReplyDeleteLike Fran, I had to say that out loud. Very funny.
ReplyDeleteThat's lovely. I need light-hearted right now.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet. I love it. What a star she is.
ReplyDeleteClassic.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget as well that St John is pronounced 'Sinjun' when used as a name - that'll confuse her.
I've been compromising on this one by saying something that sounds sort of like "San" as in "San Juan", when American's say "Saynt" it's more often "Sayn" in my experience and I'm just relaxing the vowel a bit.
ReplyDeleteVery good. You obviously explained it very clearly indeed. Now send said child up to the north east of England and if you're lucky, it'll be "Seeyant".
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh, that was so cute. St-derella.
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