Sounds

I grew up in Maryland and have family in Jersey and can definitely confirm that the shortening of words like "the youzh" is pretty common in the mid-atlantic.

Also common are "shug" as a shortened form of sugar. "Shug" is never used for the actual substance, mind you, but as a girls' nickname. Also I know many people who use "sosh" as a shortened term for "social security number" or SSN.

i'd been using biz cas for business casual and vag for vagina. you just have to use context clues to figure it out.

@ashbird

In my part of the world, eastern England, February is pronounced FEB-you-ree.

@R.L.G.

My Father, born 1912, used to say "syoot" for "suit" (I say "sooot"); he castigated the use of "sekkertry" for "secretary" (he pronounced all the letters).

I suggest that that there is a centuries-old trend with each generation simplifying the pronunciation of their elders (who decry the lax habits on the young), which is particularly evident in French, e.g. Marseilles, approximately pronounced "mah-say". Those silent letters must have been pronounced at some earlier age.

These pronunciation trends are among the best reasons for opposing spelling reform in English (and probably in other languages as well.) With the standardised traditional spelling, you just need to learn the current pronunciation for your area. Yes, there are some real oddities, Wednesday, pronounced "wenzdi", Mrs pronounced "missiz", but what would we gain from solidifying today's pronunciation into new spelling? Just another debate in a later generation suggesting another spelling reform because the then current pronunciation will have changed.

@ ashbird - It's something called /r/-dissimilation in Linguistics. In words with two "r"s, you want to delete one so you don't have identical sounds too close to each other. The fact that "b" is produced at the front (labial constant)and "r" is produced further back (rhotic) also comes into play; the distance isn't conducive to a pronunciation that matches the spelling.(Also happens with other words like "library", you get something like "libry" or "libery") :)

Maybe I've been living in Germany too long but here the "e" at the end is always pronounced, so my first impression is "u-sha" and I couldn't get it even after reading the quotation. As for Tuesday, we should rename it Tiw's Day after its proper god! (and the following days to Woden's, Thor's and Frig's Day).

My first pass on "ushe" was "ush" as in usher, but that was without context. I might also pronounce it "yoush," once I knew the context. Another common pronunciation of Tuesday, at least in New Jersey, is "Toozdee."

@Rob Biesenbach you're not the only one who struggles with the verbalized shortening of the word casual! My friends and I have often discussed this. Cazh? Caj? Not writing it at all? But it's so fun to say!

A microphone is often referred to as a "mike". However, many newspapers, etc spell this "mic". To me, this does not read as "mike", but "mik".
I prefer the spelling "mike" to retain the pronuciation, rather than just truncating the word and obscuring the pronunciation. It's the same principle as "vadge".

On a similar note, I've long wondered how to spell the shortened version of "casual." Cazh? Cashe? As in, "Don't worry, the party's cazh" or "Leave the suit at home, the conference is business cazh." Or "biz cazh" if you really want to push it.

(I also recognize it's possible that this term is used only among a very small circle of my acquaintances.)

@RrhVnPxruB

Genius. Pure genius. I will adopt vadge badge immediately. I wonder--might it be cognate of tramp stamp? Or perhaps: "Mother Approved. Vadge Badge."

In a global economy, it will be pronounced Toothday - buy your tooth paste, visit dentist etc.

Mother's Day will be celebrated every Momday... Wendysday, Thirstday, Friesday... use your imagination.

This is but a taste of what is to come when the language/spelling of text-messaging dominates all aspects of written communication.

@Hydriotaphia:

I'm a fan of "vadge", which is the variant I've seen most often. Although it mangles the original spelling a bit, it's consistent with words such as "badge", "midge", "pudge", etc.

Plus it allows for "vadge badge", which is a phrase that has yet to catch on, sadly. I'm not sure what meaning it will have when it does, but the appeal is pretty undeniable.

There is a Sigmund Samuel Library Building at the University of Toronto. It used to house a library but no longer. The entrance foyer or lobby of the library was a favourite rendezvous point.
It was, and may still be, common to offer, orally or in writing, to meet someone in the "Sig Sam Lib Lob".

Just want to note that this problem rears its ugly head with another word that is commonly shortened--vagina. How to do it? Vag? Vaj? Vajj? Vajayjay? Very difficult when you're trying to sound hip on AIM (or whatever passes for it these days).

Just for the record, the phenomenon is called Palatalization in linguistics, because /y/ and /ʒ/ (the "ezh sound"), and /ʃ/ (the "esh sound") are all palatal consonants, pronounced in the same place in the mouth. This is also the source of the ʒ and the ʃ in /dɪdʒuwitʃɛt/ ("Did you eat yet?" said rapidly).

Really enjoyed this post and the learning opportunity it gave me. No thanks.

I still haven't figured out the correct "correct" pronunciation of FEBRUARY. The "r" in it is quite mute for some speakers (that is to say, native speakers), the "u" is something like that this post describes, and "ar" is of varying emphasis. Can someone please help? :)

There's also

"mission" originally pronounced "miss-yon" (as in French)

"sugar" originally pronounced "syoo-gar" (hence the weird spelling)

"sure" originally pronounced "syoo-er" (ditto)

and many others.

I think that shortening words such as 'usual' should be strictly limited to verbal usage, and anyone that tries to write it should be banned from writing henceforth.