Friday Riddle

nudgie
nudgie Member Posts: 1,478 Member
Remember NO googling or searching the internet allowed and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


RIDDLE: Name a common English word that changes its pronunciation when given a capital letter?

Comments

  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    Ummmmmmm
    Could it be polish/Polish?

    Tina (who is 100% Polish)
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    geotina said:

    Ummmmmmm
    Could it be polish/Polish?

    Tina (who is 100% Polish)

    I've taken a shine to you,
    I've taken a shine to you, Tina!
  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg Member Posts: 731
    August?
    Small letter "august" is an adjective with stress on the second syllable (but it's not a very common word). Capitalized "August" meaning the month has stress on the first syllable.

    --Greg
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    PGLGreg said:

    August?
    Small letter "august" is an adjective with stress on the second syllable (but it's not a very common word). Capitalized "August" meaning the month has stress on the first syllable.

    --Greg

    Different pronunciation for August, as First name too?
    Greg!
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    pepebcn said:

    Different pronunciation for August, as First name too?
    Greg!

    No
    First name is pronounced like the month.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    geotina said:

    Ummmmmmm
    Could it be polish/Polish?

    Tina (who is 100% Polish)

    Sounds good to me Tina!

    Sounds good to me Tina!
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    abrub said:

    No
    First name is pronounced like the month.

    So both Tina and Greg sounds right to me isn't ?
    But I'm just a low level English speaker!
  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg Member Posts: 731
    death
    When capitalized, "death" is a British personal name "Death", which rhymes with "teeth". It's one of the middle names of Dorothy Sayers' character Lord Peter Wimsey, and it's a name he uses to conceal his identity in the mystery novel Murder Must Advertise (as best I recall).

    --Greg
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    PGLGreg said:

    death
    When capitalized, "death" is a British personal name "Death", which rhymes with "teeth". It's one of the middle names of Dorothy Sayers' character Lord Peter Wimsey, and it's a name he uses to conceal his identity in the mystery novel Murder Must Advertise (as best I recall).

    --Greg

    Im with Geotina.......polish/Polish...although Im not Polish...
    and I am certainly not polished either.........lol...........buzz
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    Found another!
    nestles and Nestles (as in "N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best Choooooclate")

    This is my kind of word game, and I've been straining my brain looking for others. My husband is working on this, too!
  • Buzzard
    Buzzard Member Posts: 3,043 Member
    abrub said:

    Found another!
    nestles and Nestles (as in "N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best Choooooclate")

    This is my kind of word game, and I've been straining my brain looking for others. My husband is working on this, too!

    I called Nestles and they said that they pronounce it like......
    the other word nestle as in to snuggle.....They said that it was the other 1.6 billion people that are pronouncing it wrong...........so polish/Polish is still the only one.....

























    doesn't my white lie just make ya CRAZY !!!!.......Good Sunday to you and yours......buzz
  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg Member Posts: 731
    abrub said:

    Found another!
    nestles and Nestles (as in "N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestles makes the very best Choooooclate")

    This is my kind of word game, and I've been straining my brain looking for others. My husband is working on this, too!

    nestles
    I think this works. Note that "Nestles" is not the name of the company, which is "Nestlé", and its not the possessive of this, either. The name of the company may be pronounced like "nestle" sometimes, and maybe "Nestlé's" would then be pronounced like "nestles", but that's a different matter. This word is "Nestles", with capital and no apostrophe.

    --Greg
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    A friend came up with another one...
    Reading (as in the place name, pronounced "Redding") and reading. I asked this of my FB friends, as I know a bunch of linguistics geeks (myself included)!