aeon
Bhumibol Adulyadej
cereal
djibouti
eye
Felindre
gnarled
hermes
iacocca (as in iacocca foundation)
jarlsberg
knife
llanfairpwllgwyngyll
mnemonic
Ngaliema Mountain
oedipal
pseudonym
quesadillas
Rzeszow
shilling
tsetse
urn
voortrekker
writer
xylophone
ytterbium
zwitterion
36 comments:
balderdash
jejune
quixotic
vivacious
You mispelled 't'.
Unhelpfully yours,
timt
Djibouti.
Jarlsberg.
Who.
Tsetse.
Whom - a word I got from the profile on the sidebar!
Phlogiston.
Urn.
Writer.
Von and Van are words that slips into our language sometimes from German where the 'V' would be pronounced 'F', though most english speakers would insist on pronouncing it 'V'. (Similar to 'Jarlsberg', which is - and I have Macquarie to back me up - actually pronounced 'Yarlsberg'.)
i was disappointed with 'urn.' i was hoping for 'unitard.'
But unitard sounds like it starts with a 'u'.
Mnemonic.
Hermes. It's a brand, and it's in French, but so what.
karen: Hermes is also a Greek god, so in it goes.
Timt: very helpful thankyou
There will be no new posts until this alphabet is complete. This has been a public service announcement authorised by Dale Slamma, Sydney.
Ytterbium, or Yttrium, both elements in the periodic table. Apparently.
Iambic...
Don't you pronounce the "i" in iambic?
We-e-ell, Macquaria Dictionary says:
(say uy'ambik)
I thought, off the top of my head, it would have been 'e-ambic'
There's also 'Iacocca' and 'Iemma' probably a few other words that treat the 'I' as a 'Y'.
zwitterion
The 'z' is pronounced in zwitterion, at least the dictionary said so so I'm afraid that one gets ruled out but it was an excellent and esoteric word.
I think there is a case for zwitterion to be included. Macquarie (we have a password at work), which is probably the most widely-used dictionary for Australian English, says:
(say 'tsvituhruyuhn)
noun an ion carrying both a positive and a negative charge. [German Zwitter half-breed + ION]
Even Dictionary.com, which is American, says more or less the same thing.
As you'll probably know, the pronounciation is due to it's Germanic root, where 'z' is commonly pronounced 'ts', and 'W' is commonly pronounced 'v'. Because it seems to be a recent formation, the original pronounciation probably applies.
Ngaliema Mountain. (Pronounced something like Engaliema.)
llanfairpwllgwyngyll. Apparently the 'Ll' at the beginning of this word is pronounced 'Hl'. (Again, this is according to Macquarie.)
Voortrekker, pronounced 'Foortrekker'
Yet again, Macquarie gives the name of a Siamese King:
Bhumibol Adulyadej
The 'b' is pronounced 'p'.
Where did you get the idea for this list in the first place, anyway? Has it been keeping you up at nights? It certainly distracted me at work today.
I am as empty as a camera.
How about FAQ for 'F'. Not really a word, more an acronym.
And hear, Dale, my sweet:
http://ecupcake.blogspot.com/
The phoneme /sh/ is different from /s/, so any word beginning with /sh/ (say, "shilling") should do for Cap'n S.
OK, I'm a dumbass. I completely missed the point.
TimT: Your contributions have been extraordinary.
Creamboy:FAQ sounds like it starts with F so I cannot use it but the cupcakes! The cupcakes! I think I am in love.
Alexis: Brilliant.
NWJR: No, not a dumbass. I did not actually explain what I was doing.
No no, F-A-Q, as in 'effayqueue'- it sounds like it starts with an E, surely?
In that case every time you say the letter f it does not sound like itself. I suspect this is cheating but I will use it if I need to.
The Dog Ate My Serial, new bit out now and don't forget to vote.
http://www.timsinclair.org/TheDogAteMySerial.htm
You can now subscribe to this serial. Woo hoo! This would ordinarily be a post but due to alphabetical restraints it is a comment.
I would also like to point out that vegans can not eat bread with omega 3 in it as the bread contains (gasp) fish gelatin!
To tired to think of anything else now. I've been having a good time exploring through my copy of the Macquarie Dictionary, anyway. I'll turn over the question of the 'R' word and the 'F' word in my head during the night.
I always say, "when in doubt finding a strange word, go to Poland.
Rzeszow, is a town in Poland that is pronounced with a "Zse".
As for F, well I'm F'ed if I know
In Welsh, the single 'f' is pronounced like a 'v'.
So!
Felindre! It's part of Bridgend County Borough. You can probably find some more by clicking through the links here, although a lot of the words that begin with 'F' started out as the Welsh spelling 'Ff', which is pronounced like the normal English 'f'. If that makes sense. Whatever.
YOU HAVE YOUR ALPHABET! HUZZAH!
Dale,
I hope you are ready to be a Wroving Writer at the Sydney Underground Film Festival, I am imagining a Hunter S style get up, notpad and cigarette holder - I am looking forward to your write-ups!
xox Rups
Fangks for all the excellent words everyone. I sure appreciate it.
TimT: I declare you fabulous.
Rups: Have you been spying again? I was thinking last night should I take my vintage cigarette holder that folds into a nifty capsule or the one that has a long slim clicky case that goes in your handbag.
Bravo, I can't believe the list is complete.
And yes, as special little bravo to Timmy, for using his working days in such a constructive and creative manner.
I'm impressed with everyone, truly I am.
me too. though....i wonder if you could do it using only actual English words? e.g. "quesadilla" being Spanish, and so on. (how about "queue" instead? obviously a bit more pedestrian but English and it sounds like "K" rather than the "KW" as Q should)
I had initially intended to stick with English words but I quickly became very stuck and thought to hell with it. Open slather.
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