Talk:French words in English

(See also my talk.) I've removed 'aileron' because it is not italicised & has an obvious pronunciation; similarly with menagerie. Puisne is not italicised by my Oxford, and I didn't know the pron: it appears to be *pûnì, a bit like the French puni...? Ro Thorpe 14:22, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

Okay, what about demimondaine? And "honi soit qui mal y pense"? Although uttered by a Brit, so improbably....Hayford Peirce 14:33, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

aileron

Speak fer yourself, John Alden. I've been flying on airplanes for, oh, 58 years now, and I don't have Klue as to how it's pronounced! Hayford Peirce 14:36, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

PS -- you take out "aileron" but leave in "fusilage", a far more common word?! This don't myke sense, myte! Hayford Peirce 14:45, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

An architectural word and I've not seen it italicised, but how about filigrée?

Puisne is pronounced 'puny' (I really need to learn how to write pronunciations like you, Ro); it's just italicised all over some of my law books and originates from 'puis' and 'né', so I didn't know if that counted. Must be a British thing how the pronunciation changed.

And I am completely poaching this from a Suede song, but is the term savoir-faire used a lot in English?Louise Valmoria 14:40, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

Yes, it's used a lot. It should be included.... Hayford Peirce 14:45, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

Aileron is pronounced aileron, sez my dicshnry

Just catching up with the comments, & Hayford's running commentary in the histoire. My prons are based on typical Inglish spelling, so Messrs can be rendered as 'messers', suits any pronunciation. If you want to have a go... Ro Thorpe 16:39, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

I've been totally baffled by this word ever since I was about 12 years old and first encounted it in the very early Ellery Queen mystery novels. It was always written Mssrs., and so mentally I have always thought of it as being Messers, to rhyme with Hairdressers. Thanks for confirming my childish decision.... Hayford Peirce 16:57, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

Yeah, but is that "ale" as in "my old ailing momma likes to drink ale" or "elle" as in "Elle et Lui"? It's a mystery word to me -- so I never pronounce it outloud. Hayford Peirce 16:59, 16 March 2008 (CDT)

Glad to confirm your childish decision. Yes, there are always words like that aren't there, & aileron is one of mine, too. My Learner's Dictionary with the IPA confirms it as the sound I call â as in âil and âle. So should you ever need to pronounce it out loud (idea for a short story?), you can Be Bold. Ro Thorpe 17:11, 16 March 2008 (CDT)