When my wife moved from southern California to rural Virginia, the speech teacher at her elementary school recommended her for speech therapy because she couldn't pronounce "skwarl."
For those wondering: (Almost) all Japanese syllables go consonant-vowel, which means someone with a strong Japanese accent will add a lot of extra vowels to English words. And they don't have an R or an L, but something sort of in between (but a little closer to R), so to a native English speaker it sounds like they're switching them.
Phonetically, most of these words would give a Japanese person headaches because of the incompatible syllables and pronounciation. Katakana is decent at shaping foreign words into Japanese, but it's not perfect by any means. When I was studying the language, three different inatructors had three different ways of saying mcdonalds.
I play the same game with my wife. Then our kids will pay her out when she can't say words properly. Then she attacks when we try to say words in her language. It's a fun game for the whole family
Squirrel is hard for many languages, including German. But then they get revenge with "löffeln", "Streichholzschächtelchen," and Eichhörnchen." Of "Chuchichäschtli" (Schwyzerdütsch) we do not speak.
sskwirell (say sskwerall) is not hard in german at all. you got equal sounds in maske and aquarell. but there is also another word for squirrel in german, oachkatzl. i think it comes from german word eiche or better english word oak and german katze or english of course cat, so its an oakcat which describes it pretty well.
Ah I thought they were separate. I have heard chipmunks referred to as striped squirrels, but we have neither here so when you talk about ardillas it’s usually always about the regular squirrels. Chipmunks are sooo adorable though you’re right
Chipmunks are cuties. We often see them scurrying around the yard. We have grey squirrels too. But they each have their own niche and don't bother each other
Since I speak both French and English, I didn't struggle too badly learning German compared to my English-only classmates, but yeah, "ich" is an exception. The phoneme for it doesn't exist in either English or French and it's hard to learn it in adulthood. Also, German is a lot more complex than English. Like seriously, there are 3 genders for nouns, and multiple ways to pluralize words, and in both cases it's arbitrary which is correct. You just need to know.
Is that because it sounds vaguely like Goofy saying "I cornchen” (ike-hoorn-chen), which would be understood more plainly as "I'm crunching" because, you know, he's crunching his bones down the stairs? Or am I, too, now falling down the stairs with my pronunciation?
No, it's the double H. The ch is at the front of your mouth but the hö is at the back and there's a diphthong, and then you have to get it back up to the front for the "chen." It's the worst
That makes sense, but I think the R sound is softer so like “Wuust-ur-shur”. The word is English in origin and Americans tend to have really hard sounding R’s
theres an old joke (i cant remember from 20 years ago precisely how its worded, but here's the gist) about a kitchen servant seeing a pot of sauce and asks what it is, but because he is illiterate or whatever, he says it like "whats dis here sauce?" and the "dis here" kind of slurs together more like "dish-ear" and so "thats how the sauce got its name. 'whatsdishere sauce'."
Every time I think I know how that cursed word is pronounced, I stumble on some comment like this one and get confused all over again. I thought it was "wooster sheer" (where "wooster" rhymes with "rooster"), but now I'm not sure anymore.
You are correct, but "shire" gets reduced to more like "shur", but it's close enough. People overthink it horribly and love to make jokes. Personally, I'm way over the jokes. But whatever makes people happy.
Worcester becomes "woo-ster" or "woo-steh" with RP (most English accents). And "shire" gets shortened to "shr" or perhaps "shur". So it's most accurately "woo-steh-shur" but if you want to pronounced the r's like a USian, it could be "wor-ster-shur". It's not hard, but people like to pretend it's harder, and it does sound a bit muddy, but it's fine. I call it "L&P" since I only use Lea & Perrins. :)
I tend to assume the American pronunciation of English things is more true to form considering the way accents have evolved when you look at their history. But also because of stuff like the English changing Aluminum to aluminium just so it sounds like other metals, proving all words are made up so it doesn't matter in the end anyway, call it Work-ester-shy-er for all I care, it's just English fish sauce at the end of the day.
Very correct on accents. Of course, then one has to argue about what authenticity really is. :) I loved every bit of your comment and feel quite similar. Thank you for a delightfully pleasant reply <3
A Texan went to a small family run steakhouse and they brought out a house made sauce without a label. After taking his first bite he called the waitress over and asked, in his thick redneck accent, “I say! What’s ‘is here sauce?” And she said, yes!
Wait, seriously? I am American, but I didn’t know that. (In my defense, I have lived in Florida my entire life, and failed Geography the one time I took that class. Also? I received an American education. Lol.)
Damn, no offense, but I feel like that could be a solid defense for failing at ANYTHING. If it makes you feel any better, I've never lived anywhere but Ohio, which is dry Florida
Lots of way to pronounce 'R's depending on your local version of your particular first language. Have someone from Maine, and Tennessee, Boston, and Worcestershire pronounce the word 'harp', and compare.
Nope I'm from California. Never even been to New England. But I did grow up constantly visiting with my parents to their adult friends who we called our aunt and uncle despite not being related and the husband of the couple was from Boston.
If I enunciated it, it could be War Sister Sure Sauce, and then I'd just call it Valkyrie Sauce, and then I'd want her sauce all over me and in me and that would lead to too much sodium intake and I die of hypernatremia, being denied a warrior's death and never getting into Valhalla. Wrt-chst-er is the way to glory
Don't let their poison take any more away from you. And the more you accomplish that the less you'll see that very real pain of yours coming out in unintended ways in your life. Best wishes to you. 2/
You're projecting your own experience onto everyone else without any care for context. For example I love my puns and dad jokes, and I love to annoy my friends with them. In this context it's a fun annoyance for all involved, and they love getting me to groan after a particularly bad pun as well.
I'm guessing the pain with your family runs much deeper than just them enjoying irritating you, and for what it's worth I hope you find your peace. I come from a shitty family too, I get it. 1/
rubypilgrim
The three hardest things for people to say: I was wrong, I need help, and Woostersher...Werchestersher...Werstersauce...
CorgisButtsDriveMeNuts
I also choose this guy's wife
Jaqdakloun
Had to watch it again, first time I was distracted by how criminally gorgeous this woman is
NoIdeaWhatToUseHere
What’s-this-here sauce. That’s what my mom and I called it so must be true.
dieselpoweer
Imagine we all have our flag hovering above our heads 🤣
BestofUwU
Totally asking for some Manchester United sauce the next time I go out.
RuBisCO1
Is this be because Japanese has neither r or l sound but a sound between thr two?
nothingunused
I too choose this guy's Japanese wife.
VidaVita
I think they are pronounced
southflhitnrun
I, too, choose this guy's Japanese wife.
Also, giving her a word that most English speakers can't say is just plain mean. lol
raynorraider
i also choose the man's wife
Grendels2dCousinOnceRemoved
When my wife moved from southern California to rural Virginia, the speech teacher at her elementary school recommended her for speech therapy because she couldn't pronounce "skwarl."
ohhhmyyyGLOB
Yup, I moved from Denver to rural North Carolina when I was little. Took me a long time to understand anyone!
stonebreaker6
I wouldn’t care if she could pronounce any English at all.
ToSisPoS
Wooster shaster shister sauce.
clwnkar01
To be fair I can only barely pronounce worcestershire
LuveBunny
I'll be 100% honest, I don't care how she pronounces any of those words
CarInAVet
For those wondering: (Almost) all Japanese syllables go consonant-vowel, which means someone with a strong Japanese accent will add a lot of extra vowels to English words. And they don't have an R or an L, but something sort of in between (but a little closer to R), so to a native English speaker it sounds like they're switching them.
kenjiwillimas69
こんにちは、はじめまして。私はここに来たばかりです。お名前は何ですか？
cheeriossuckbecause7
Phonetically, most of these words would give a Japanese person headaches because of the incompatible syllables and pronounciation. Katakana is decent at shaping foreign words into Japanese, but it's not perfect by any means. When I was studying the language, three different inatructors had three different ways of saying mcdonalds.
DefundIsraelTheGenocidalNation
OMG, she is so cute
NaughtButOne
eigo jouzu
Castorriver
I could listen to her talk all day
Clayman8
Bro hit the jackpot, she is gorgeous
trumpypumpyinyourrumpy
I play the same game with my wife. Then our kids will pay her out when she can't say words properly. Then she attacks when we try to say words in her language. It's a fun game for the whole family
StarscreamAndHutch
needsleepbad
ig: niceadult
Oatmealman1
Oh hey, there was sound?
MeatPopsicleMultiPass
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1d3QzenZ4bWw4eXBjcGwwMmxwYWUzeHplczN6cDZwbW9uMDlhd3JvaSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/vWku8YNwyy5vq/200w.webp
MoralRectifier
Mexico is a fun one, too. "Mek-ee-shee-ko"
FiftyShadesOfArugula
Because X is really two consonants in a trenchcoat, K + S. The Spanish pronunciation would be a lot easier to japanize. めひこ comes reasonably close
FaecalJacksonPollock
stayingalive4life
Team Ronald be watching this like
MRnBW
You laugh, but this is totally an upcoming Yakuza side quest.
n0n53n53
Corunnu Sandoru
chewmaca2
Wendy would still be Wendy
stayingalive4life
Ween-de-su
stayingalive4life
kenjiwillimas69
こんにちは、はじめまして。私はここに来たばかりです。お名前は何ですか？
AllTheKitties
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1bDVzZm5xc2QwbWZ6NXp5dWN0dmh6anc5eXdhMG5jdjEwZDBjY29uZCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/ME3lgwOeIsQQrMAjp3/200w.webp
stayingalive4life
stayingalive4life
EmptyHouseBurglar
https://youtu.be/Z6oeAdemFZw?si=ahX6zJIeL7I5DPHm Steve Martin did it first
ChareAndFlaff
This guy is great. I have one where a lady is teaching "coke" and she pronounces it "cock" every time. I can't find it unfortunately.
firlefranz
This one?
ChareAndFlaff
That's the one. Thanks.
sakm
Squirrel!
pipatron
Maybe this guy shouldn't throw stones when living in a glass house.
ReverseSyzygy
Don't take showers in a glass house.
unless you're an exhibitionist
mak10z
Larktonguesinadicecup
It's totally fine to throw stones while living in a glass house. Just do it outside. Same as while living in a wooden house.
WoodORama
Who went to market now?
mak10z
Risu
Veh1
Kuri.
LauchMan
That squirrel has rizz/ris.
Kotarisu
リスは可愛い ♥
mak10z
確かに (google translate'ed still attempting to learn Kanji and Nihongo in general)
pullingsixty
If the second part of your screen name is squirrel, what's the first part translate to?
kenjiwillimas69
こんにちは、はじめまして。私はここに来たばかりです。お名前は何ですか？
mak10z
こんにちは、マクと申します。お会いできて光栄です。🐿️
kenjiwillimas69
わあ、この素敵な名前 >? 私の漢字はウィリアムズ藤原
kenjiwillimas69
もしよろしければ、あなたはどこの出身ですか？ここでお会いできるのを楽しみにしています。
mak10z
私はアメリカのフロリダに住んでいます。日本語の勉強を始めたばかりですので、これは機械翻訳です。私の住んでいる地域には日本語を教えている学校がないため、独学で日本語を学ぼうとしています。主にアニメやYouTubeの動画を活用しています。進歩はゆっくりですが、字幕がなくても会話の内容が少しずつ理解できるようになってきました。
AyatollahBahloni
Squirrel is hard for many languages, including German. But then they get revenge with "löffeln", "Streichholzschächtelchen," and Eichhörnchen." Of "Chuchichäschtli" (Schwyzerdütsch) we do not speak.
YouRadicalizedMe
I call them Sqwillers
Tengenstein
And the Americans. Damn Skwerl.
xxandl
Oachkatzlschwoaf
SMarkt
sskwirell (say sskwerall) is not hard in german at all. you got equal sounds in maske and aquarell. but there is also another word for squirrel in german, oachkatzl. i think it comes from german word eiche or better english word oak and german katze or english of course cat, so its an oakcat which describes it pretty well.
Evenmoreuselessname
https://www.livescience.com/18932-germans-squirrel.html
n0n53n53
can you say square
TKpotato
In spain spanish, chipmunk and squirrel are the same, ardilla.
spinbutton3
Chipmunks are a type of ground squirrel, family of Sciuridae so I get it. Still...they are so much cuter than squirrels. Maybe ardilla lindo?
TKpotato
Ah I thought they were separate. I have heard chipmunks referred to as striped squirrels, but we have neither here so when you talk about ardillas it’s usually always about the regular squirrels. Chipmunks are sooo adorable though you’re right
spinbutton3
Chipmunks are cuties. We often see them scurrying around the yard. We have grey squirrels too. But they each have their own niche and don't bother each other
ButtblasterMcAssmaster
Those are rare cases, but the incredibly basic word "Rechts" is already a substantial challenge for English speakers.
chaotropicagent
Even the English
sirwolfyy
According to my German teacher I didn’t even say “Ich” right half the time so I can only imagine how I’d butcher those words.
ServerMonkeyKing
I am bread
LeMegachonk
Since I speak both French and English, I didn't struggle too badly learning German compared to my English-only classmates, but yeah, "ich" is an exception. The phoneme for it doesn't exist in either English or French and it's hard to learn it in adulthood. Also, German is a lot more complex than English. Like seriously, there are 3 genders for nouns, and multiple ways to pluralize words, and in both cases it's arbitrary which is correct. You just need to know.
Beefkins
I gave up on learning German after seeing their declension. I am officially too dumb for German.
kaboomdeactivated
As an American who lived in Germany, pronouncing Eichhörnchen feels like falling down a flight of stairs
SMarkt
eyesh - hurn - chen may do it. not exactly, but ok
firlefranz
Oh my God, that's
doppelfisch
Is that because it sounds vaguely like Goofy saying "I cornchen” (ike-hoorn-chen), which would be understood more plainly as "I'm crunching" because, you know, he's crunching his bones down the stairs? Or am I, too, now falling down the stairs with my pronunciation?
kaboomdeactivated
No, it's the double H. The ch is at the front of your mouth but the hö is at the back and there's a diphthong, and then you have to get it back up to the front for the "chen." It's the worst
doppelfisch
Oh my god, that's a nightmare 😂.
foreverinchains
To pronounce worcestershire, take out all the vowels.
Wr-str-shr.
datphone777365
Wooter?
RonnieSoak
Ecclefechan, Auchterarder, Auchtermuchty, and Milngavie called. Have fun
RandomDude74575
n3ckr0mantic
Woo sta sher. Apparently.
whereismymind86
Wor shest er shire
ineedausernamerightmeow
I refuse! It's Whore Chester Shire in my home!
chencking
Same except we use a sss sound instead of a ch sound
Beardedgeek72
Bless you
PorneliusHubertII
Washyoursister sauce
Nephytis
ughhh Worst'deshire.
MeeseOnABeam
pronounce greenwich, i dare you, i double-dog dare you
foreverinchains
Grenech.
BoobJiggle
Or Gren'itch, same thing lol
MeeseOnABeam
grn'tch
Veh1
Worst of sure.
Kablimey
That makes sense, but I think the R sound is softer so like “Wuust-ur-shur”. The word is English in origin and Americans tend to have really hard sounding R’s
4Astaroth
Worchester.
Im deutschen auch Wurstsauce genannt von manchen. (some Germans call it sausage sauce because of the phonetic)
REOJackwagon
"Would you like some sausage sauce"
Bregpop
theres an old joke (i cant remember from 20 years ago precisely how its worded, but here's the gist) about a kitchen servant seeing a pot of sauce and asks what it is, but because he is illiterate or whatever, he says it like "whats dis here sauce?" and the "dis here" kind of slurs together more like "dish-ear" and so "thats how the sauce got its name. 'whatsdishere sauce'."
thricebakedxyz
“What’s this here sauce” - but pronounce it with a lisp.
WoeToHice
Every time I think I know how that cursed word is pronounced, I stumble on some comment like this one and get confused all over again. I thought it was "wooster sheer" (where "wooster" rhymes with "rooster"), but now I'm not sure anymore.
Antinumeric
I'd've gone more for wuss-ter-sher.
daychilde
You are correct, but "shire" gets reduced to more like "shur", but it's close enough. People overthink it horribly and love to make jokes. Personally, I'm way over the jokes. But whatever makes people happy.
REOJackwagon
That's the pronunciation I've heard, "woostasheer"
AtmaDarkwolf
U just call it 'the sauce!' since it is the one word nearly nobody can say properly if they try to read it as they say it :D
DanTheDroneMan
wus-ter-sher, in my Manc opinion
Slewth87
Swap out that first r for a u, and drop the second one.
Wus-t-shr
knottheusual
Qaetan
I just call it the Worst Shire sauce.
johnblood616
Everyone knows it is "wor-chester-shy-ree" https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NGdjZmx6YmhzcXJvamMyMDJpa3JxdTkybmxheG1vcTk3MGpmbGN2MCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/KEf7gXqvQ8B3SWnUid/200w.webp
vampirelibrarian
Wooster in our house
Stanistani
Correct. My mum was English.
CarInAVet
whasthishere sauce
daychilde
Worcester becomes "woo-ster" or "woo-steh" with RP (most English accents). And "shire" gets shortened to "shr" or perhaps "shur". So it's most accurately "woo-steh-shur" but if you want to pronounced the r's like a USian, it could be "wor-ster-shur". It's not hard, but people like to pretend it's harder, and it does sound a bit muddy, but it's fine. I call it "L&P" since I only use Lea & Perrins. :)
Lycanthian
I tend to assume the American pronunciation of English things is more true to form considering the way accents have evolved when you look at their history. But also because of stuff like the English changing Aluminum to aluminium just so it sounds like other metals, proving all words are made up so it doesn't matter in the end anyway, call it Work-ester-shy-er for all I care, it's just English fish sauce at the end of the day.
daychilde
Very correct on accents. Of course, then one has to argue about what authenticity really is. :) I loved every bit of your comment and feel quite similar. Thank you for a delightfully pleasant reply <3
n0n53n53
There's a town in England named Towcester ... it's pronounced toaster
Skawomplious
Gloucester MA is pronounced "gloster". Or "glahstah" if you're a certain way.
vorodar
Pronounced like the England town Gloucester.
n0n53n53
no, it's pronounced like the cheese
TrilithonStone
Cholmondeley lives there!
BonkyMcSignFace
A Texan went to a small family run steakhouse and they brought out a house made sauce without a label. After taking his first bite he called the waitress over and asked, in his thick redneck accent, “I say! What’s ‘is here sauce?” And she said, yes!
Grendels2dCousinOnceRemoved
I bet he didn't really say "I say." He prolly said "Hey!"
BonkyMcSignFace
It’s a terrible joke and if it helps imagine it’s Foghorn Leghorn
Jiiiinker
Or wash your sister sauce.
sarabMarbleSmasher
Okay, Guy Fieri. Lol
FrenziiTheSuccubus
Hehehe I call it that too, extra points if you throw on an offensively exaggerated "redneck" accent
Escheron
fan of mr Beans i see
Anfalicious
Not even close :P
IamIntoleranceIntolerant
And the c.
Grendels2dCousinOnceRemoved
And the Rs are silent, too: Wuh-stuh-shuh
Salticido
If you have a rhotic accent, only the first (and maybe second) R is silent. You should still pronounce the final R.
Woo-stuh(r)-sher - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worcestershire
caledric
That's the city, the sauce is pronounced differently
korndogg83
Nah the city is just called Woo-stuh. The county around it, like the sauce, is Woo-stuh-shur
alcaray
Depends on where you are from.
KellyCrazyCatLadyinTraining
Wait, seriously? I am American, but I didn’t know that. (In my defense, I have lived in Florida my entire life, and failed Geography the one time I took that class. Also? I received an American education. Lol.)
soshutupBOI
Damn, no offense, but I feel like that could be a solid defense for failing at ANYTHING. If it makes you feel any better, I've never lived anywhere but Ohio, which is dry Florida
alcaray
Lots of way to pronounce 'R's depending on your local version of your particular first language. Have someone from Maine, and Tennessee, Boston, and Worcestershire pronounce the word 'harp', and compare.
vorodar
Wooster-shir
OldnFatBobba
Posh spice over here
Skawomplious
Woosty.
FaeVikingPrincess
wrong. Woostah-sure
thinkybrainpains
* Massachusetts has entered the chat
Sturdycrotch
Ah, a fellow New Englander
FaeVikingPrincess
Nope I'm from California. Never even been to New England. But I did grow up constantly visiting with my parents to their adult friends who we called our aunt and uncle despite not being related and the husband of the couple was from Boston.
TweakerTheBarbarian
I annunciate every single letter very clearly. It drives people up the wall and is hilarious.
UselessIgnacio
Same!
imredheaded
Worcestershire, where the spicy hobbits live
foreverinchains
It's spelled enunciate, friend.
Also, that sounds less like "hilarious" and more like "I enjoy being a dick", but whatever.
TweakerTheBarbarian
judyblue
Do you need a cookie?
LifeWouldBeEasyIfIWereEasyButLifeIsHardAndSoAmI
If I enunciated it, it could be War Sister Sure Sauce, and then I'd just call it Valkyrie Sauce, and then I'd want her sauce all over me and in me and that would lead to too much sodium intake and I die of hypernatremia, being denied a warrior's death and never getting into Valhalla.
Wrt-chst-er is the way to glory
perfecteye18
Whoa self burn
ih8clickb8
Volevox
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1Njd1MTFya3pnczltb3ptMDk2bmtjeWhiZ3U1bWtqbDY5b2M2Y2FjeCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/5h47LsEYbofzcgOz19/200w.webp
Qaetan
I see that you prefer to piss in your cereal instead of the toilet.
foreverinchains
Doing things specifically because you know full well that they annoy the people around you isn't "hilarious".
This kind of bullshit is a big part of why I don't speak to my family anymore.
If you think it's funny, you're a dick.
Qaetan
Don't let their poison take any more away from you. And the more you accomplish that the less you'll see that very real pain of yours coming out in unintended ways in your life. Best wishes to you. 2/
Qaetan
You're projecting your own experience onto everyone else without any care for context. For example I love my puns and dad jokes, and I love to annoy my friends with them. In this context it's a fun annoyance for all involved, and they love getting me to groan after a particularly bad pun as well.
I'm guessing the pain with your family runs much deeper than just them enjoying irritating you, and for what it's worth I hope you find your peace. I come from a shitty family too, I get it. 1/
Excludos
Wor-chester-shire-sauce!
TweakerTheBarbarian
Shaukhan12
And i say worchester-shire-sauce
PookieDog
Howjooget "chester"???
Excludos
wym how do you get "chester"? It's in the name! "Worcestershire Sauce"
PookieDog
Wor-CESTER. No 'Ch'. (Plus it's pronounced 'wooster')