have a part time helper.?ÿ this is his third stint with me over the years, started when he was 17 and i always told him he needed to explore life and have fun.?ÿ so he's left twice and come back twice.?ÿ in other words, he's not new.?ÿ good kid, works his butt off, can handle most things by himself if it were required.
but i swear, the next time i hear "back of curve" come out of his mouth, well...?ÿ
i guess i'm looking for suggestions for an entertaining antidote for this.?ÿ i've already shamed him more than once...
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Give him a brake (pun intended).?ÿ My mother spoke English very well, except for certain words.?ÿ Yogurt came out as yohgrit.?ÿ And a tall metal structure that might have telephone transmission gear mounted on the very top was pronounced the same way as the black,rubber thingies with air in them that keep your rims from rolling on the road surface while driving your vehicle.
BTW, does the word "color" rhyme with cruller or collar?
@holy-cow but it's not a cognitive thing.?ÿ believe me, i have an exceptional amount of compassion for what you're describing.?ÿ he just needs some good embarrassing is all- i'm fishing for ideas.?ÿ flagging his car came to mind, but i don't think that would bother him one bit.
Don't know what his name is, but can you come up with a twisted variation thereof and start using it? Even when you introduce him to people?
I once worked for a high level manager who said "Pacific" every time he meant to say "specific." It wasn't a speech impediment because I closely listened to how he pronounced other "sp..." words. We didn't get along well anyway, so in an all division meeting (I reported directly to him) of about 250 people, he said something like "...and those are the pacific actions we are going to take to make the repairs." I raised my hand, then said "and if those don't work, we can try the Atlantic actions." I got a mix of laughter and groans, and one nasty stare. I left the agency shortly thereafter.
but I swear, the next time I hear "back of curve"
Doesn't sound to terrible...
But i guess i wasn't they're, two
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I was at my Grandsons soccer game, several years ago, and my Granddaughter was admiring the cows in the pasture, next to the field. We turned around, and watched the game for a while; and when turned back around, the cows were gone. My Granddaughter says; Them cows pissed-a-peered! That was probably 12-13 years ago and we still use that phrase.
LOL
Two stories come to mind
First, a fellow I know very well has a problem with "L".?ÿ If he wanted to say something about plowing a field it would come out "prowing" a field.?ÿ Many years ago he was attending a meeting where they needed to find someone to fill a vacant spot on the board.?ÿ He suggested they needed to have an "erection".
The very formal grandmother of a former co-worker of mine embarrassed herself horribly one day, probably in the 1930's or 1940's, in a little Ohio town near the Pennsylvania border.?ÿ The story goes that she had grudgingly accompanied her husband to the hardware store where he wanted to go shopping but really wanted to go down the street to the grocery store known as the A&P which was short for Atlantic and Pacific.?ÿ Being the formal type she always referred to it by it's correct name.?ÿ At the hardware store she grew impatient and decided she would head on down to the grocery store.?ÿ She walked up to her husband and several of his cronies and announced, "Russell, I'm going to walk down to the Atlantic and P."
I had an older friend (she passed a year or so ago) from Pawhuska, OK that was really creative about word pronunciation.?ÿ Her son bought a new pickup; a Tundra. She never could pronounce the name.?ÿ The best I could relate it would be Tununder.?ÿEvery once in a while she would add an 'a' on the end for Tunundera.
Perhaps if you taught him that the english spelling is kerb the issue would resolve itself.
But, good god man, talk about a non-issue.?ÿ
I was a touch blushed when I learned that the saying is "intents and purposes" as I had been using the incorrect "intensive purposes" for years, maybe decades.
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Prospective vs perspective is another common situation.
Many years ago the ex-wife worked for a weekly newspaper.?ÿ People would drop by and ask her to renew their prescription, usually pronounced as purrscription, while meaning subscription.
