Envelope or onvelope...

monkeypants · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:28

Mr Nice said:
SIOBHAN, yep, you guessed it SI-O-BAN

Hahaha, this makes me think of that 118 118 advert during LOST episodes where the guy was trying to read it.

Sinizterguy · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:31

Mr Nice said:
The english language is indeed a fickle mistress.

An ex colleague of mine had terrible trouble with pronunciation, two classics immediately spring to mind

BICESTER, yes he did say BYE-CEST-ER

SIOBHAN, yep, you guessed it SI-O-BAN

He was a simpleton.

If its pronounced Bister - why the bleeding **** is it not spelt that way?

dirtydog · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:32

EN...

ONvelope sounds very pretentious to me.

Raumarik · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:33

dirtydog said:
EN...

ONvelope sounds very pretentious to me.

Yarr!! I agree land lubber! arr!

Fensta · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:38

To say 'On'velope could come from the way of saying En Suite. (Prnd. 'On Sweet'). But for Envelope, its clearly 'En' (Prnd. 'N') and people should really learn the difference before I wee on them!

EDIT: Thought Bicester was Bi Chester, not Bister.....

Pebbles · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:44

Try pronouncing Belvoir then

[DOD]Asprilla · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:46

Pebbles said:
Try pronouncing Belvoir then

Or Cambois.

Killerkebab · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:51

I say it 'envelope'. When I say it in French, it doesn't quite come out like that and ressembles 'onvelope' far more. However I assume that since I am north of the channel, my (and everyone else's, almost) way is still correct.

Emphasis goes on the 'heath' of 'heathrow'. Anyone caught doing it any other way needs a tongue slicing.

Augmented · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:53

OED says both. One dictionary to rule them and in the lexicon bind them, and all that.
The French style of pronounciation is simply less popular, and going out of common usage.

And from the answers.com link above:

The word envelope was borrowed into English from French during the early 18th century, and the first syllable acquired the pronunciation (ŏn) as an approximation to the nasalized French pronunciation. Gradually the word has become anglicized further and is now most commonly pronounced (ĕn'və-lōp'). The earlier pronunciation is still considered acceptable, however. A recent survey reveals that the (ŏn'-) pronunciation for the word envelope is used by 30 percent of the Usage Panel and is recognized as an acceptable variant by about 20 percent of those Panelists who normally use the (ĕn'-) pronunciation. Other similar words borrowed from French in the modern period include envoy (17th century), encore, ennui, ensemble, entree (18th century), entourage, and entrepreneur (19th century). Most retain their pseudo-French pronunciations, with the exception of envoy, which, like envelope, is mainly pronounced with (ĕn) now.

Wikipedia even lists it on the List of words of disputed pronunciation.

R.O.S.S.I · 5 Sep 2006 at 11:57

onvelope here.

Fensta · 5 Sep 2006 at 12:01

CDj-Rossi said:
onvelope here.

Ponce

Lord_Kokain · 5 Sep 2006 at 12:35

En...wasnt even aware up to now that there might be another way of spelling it.

Augmented · 5 Sep 2006 at 12:40

Lord_Kokain said:
En...wasnt even aware up to now that there might be another way of spelling it.

There isn't

. Different way of pronouncing it.

Chunky · 5 Sep 2006 at 12:46

onvelope and heathrow for me, can't say I've ever heard anyone call it HEATHrow or heathROW tbh

leaskovski · 5 Sep 2006 at 12:52

Sinizterguy said:
If its pronounced Bister - why the bleeding **** is it not spelt that way?

Yes it is pronounced bister. Although, mark and lard would probably call it the other for comical value.

LeftfieldTilt · 5 Sep 2006 at 13:06

Envelope - Onvelope makes you sound like a posh wannabe unless you are currently sitting in your own edwardian estates in the country

Belvoir - round here is beaver

Amp34 · 5 Sep 2006 at 13:20

LeftfieldTilt said:
Envelope - Onvelope makes you sound like a posh wannabe unless you are currently sitting in your own edwardian estates in the country

Belvoir - round here is beaver

Or you take your time to speak properly to get a good impression. Its quite well known people with better pronounciation get further and higher in jobs.

From the wiki article how do people pronounce these then?

entourage, entrepreneur and encore

I pronounce them with on but in theory people who say envelope should say i with an en.

kitten_caboodle · 5 Sep 2006 at 13:28

Amp34 said:
Or you take your time to speak properly to get a good impression. Its quite well known people with better pronounciation get further and higher in jobs.

From the wiki article how do people pronounce these then?

entourage, entrepreneur and encore

I pronounce them with on but in theory people who say envelope should say i with an en.

I agree with thee.

Scuzi · 5 Sep 2006 at 13:34

Lopéz said:
On a similar note, is it HEATHrow or heathROW. Which syllable does one emphasise?

The Heathrow controllers at work all say "heathROW", making sure that they roll the 'R'. They all think they're gods gift though

I say "HEATHrow" as do all the pilots (apart from some of the old British Airways 747 jockeys).

AS far as envelope is concerned, I say "thon jab ye stick yer letters in". I wonder if the rest of the Norn Iron crew say it like that too?

Lopéz · 5 Sep 2006 at 22:55

Scuzi said:
The Heathrow controllers at work all say "heathROW", making sure that they roll the 'R'. They all think they're gods gift though I say "HEATHrow" as do all the pilots (apart from some of the old British Airways 747 jockeys).

AS far as envelope is concerned, I say "thon jab ye stick yer letters in". I wonder if the rest of the Norn Iron crew say it like that too?

Glad some people understand my Heathrow dilemma.