7 Comments

When you compared Madison SQUARE Garden to Madison Square GARDEN, I couldn’t help think of the slightly related DEE-troit Lions vs Detroit Lions. You could say you live in “Detroit” and you love the “DEE-troit Lions.”

Expand full comment

and then there's pack up all your care and woe, there you go, bye - bye, blackbird.........used to sing it to y daughter as a lullaby...she'd go to sleep because the singing was so bad.....and life goes on........

Expand full comment

Hahahaa .. Nicki! You are anticipating me. I used to sing the old songs to my children as lullabies, too. The one you mention may be making an appearance soon. :)

Expand full comment

When I was traveling in the UK in the 1970s, I made the mistake of telling a woman I met on a train that I admired her accent. She accepted the compliment but politely informed me that I was the one with the accent. She added that even the way I said "accent" proved it. I pronounced it ACK-cent when it should be ack-CENT. I had to admit privately that the British way sounded it bit more smooth.

Expand full comment

Yes, Mark, I admit that I enjoy a secret "hobby" of watching British real estate shows, and I've been learning Britishisms such as "putting the cat in with the pigeons" and an old one which has gone out of usage in the US but was common use among my mother and her siblings, "get a wiggle on." I've begun to be able to distinguish regional UK accents, now. But I find all of them utterly charming!

Expand full comment

Wow. I never paid attention to how saying compound words as one word or two words conveys different meanings. Thank you! I love to notice things like this. It makes life so much richer.

Expand full comment

Father, imagine our poor children growing up with two English professors as parents. And we home-schooled them, too. Our daughter studied linguistics in college, and when her professor asked questions about English usage, she'd often preface them with, "Not you, Jessica!" She knew that Jessica knew the answers. Haha.

Expand full comment