guitargoddess
|
There are two men both named Jonathan (spelled like that right there) who work in groups in my department that my group has to liaise with often (one is the head of our technical team, my team is functional support) and the other is the financial offer who performs the pay fucntions in our systems. So it's really not unusual for me to have to send e-mails to either of them. And the point of my story is that Microsoft Outlook autocorrects 'Jonathan' to 'JonathOn' (not a capital O, that's just my emphasis). I hate that because it never fails that I don't notice it until after I've hit Send, and I feel like it reflects poorly on me that it looks like I can't get their names right.
I personally hate it when someone can't get my name right in an e-mail. I'm not too bothered about having my name pronounced correctly outloud - I don't correct people who pronounce my surname incorrectly (frankly, different members of the family each pronounce it differently, so who's to say what's 'correct') and one of my colleagues continuously calls me Alexandria (instead of Alexandra) but I know that's just what comes out of her mouth, she does KNOW my name, but there's really no excuse when replying to an e-mail from me. My name is RIGHT there, in print. Yet I always get messages that start with 'Hi Alexander' or 'Hi Alexandre' and even occasionally some like 'Hi Andrea' - truly has happened at least twice that I can think of where the person wrote Andrea. That's not even close!
Reply #1961. Nov 21 10, 1:04 PM
|
| C30
|
Lochalsh..........both the feminine "Lesley" and masculine "Leslie" are pronounced the same...."LeZley".
"Tin Can" is a USN term that has migrated across the pond, but not in common usage here. The USN tended to name their smaller ships (Destroyers and below) after people, wheras the RN named them after almost anything!
My surname is "Dowsett".......you'd not believe the number of wrongly spelt and wrongly pronounced versions of that I get! Lol
Reply #1962. Nov 21 10, 2:50 PM
|
| C30
|
Further to my above.......what ship did your ex-husband serve in? I was serving onboard "HMS AJAX in the Far East whilst Vietnam War was ongoing, and we often met up with the USN either during SEATO exercises, or in various ports like Subic Bay and Hong Kong.
Reply #1963. Nov 21 10, 2:54 PM
|
| C30
|
I really should make sure I have finished burbling before I post replies.........
For the record, excluding shore establishments, the ships I served in during my RN time, were:-
"Ceylon", "Keppel", "Surprise", "Ajax" and "Chichester".
Back to gibbering in corner!
Reply #1964. Nov 21 10, 2:57 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
Ray, is that "s as in sing" sound for Lesley standard in the UK? Here in the U.S., both Lesley and Leslie can be pronounced with either sound I described earlier (though not too well).
Ex-hub's ship accompanied an aircraft carrier, perhaps the Ranger or the Enterprise. I know he went to Subic Bay (which somehow I associate with San Miguel, and I don't mean the saint), Penang, and the Mekong Delta.That was in the late 60s, and I was a brand-new bride when he suddenly deployed, so my mind was on more sentimental than practical things.
Reply #1965. Nov 21 10, 3:53 PM
|
| C30
|
That is "Les".........as in "leisure".......both derivatives pronounced the same. Unless Lesley knows otherwise of course!
USS RANGER was definitely out there we exercised with her (not sure if ENTERPRISE was though). Seem to have a passing memory of San Mig's myself! Lol
Reply #1966. Nov 21 10, 4:10 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
"San Mig"? Sounds like you and Mike were great buddies, Ray. :)
Reply #1967. Nov 21 10, 4:31 PM
|
Rowena8482 
|
Leslie and Lesley here (UK) tend to be with a Z sound, so Lezz-ly. (I tried about 4 ways for the -ly there lol, it's a short lih sound, not leee, more Lee! if that makes sense) I love these conversations where people are trying to describe how they pronounce words :-D I've had some wonderful ones over the years with people from all over the world.
Reply #1968. Nov 21 10, 5:12 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
I've used the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to teach foreign language, but I have to admit it's more fun to try to come up with one's own analogies.
Here's the American English version of the IPA, just by the way:
 http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/grammar/main_files/definitionsn-z.htm
So Lesley is "Less-li" (long i)? Guess the only way to find out really is to have her make a conference call. :)
Reply #1969. Nov 21 10, 5:49 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
(Scroll down to mid-page on that link.)
Reply #1970. Nov 21 10, 5:50 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
Oops, got it wrong: Lesley is pronounced with a zee sound?
Reply #1971. Nov 21 10, 5:51 PM
|
| lesley153
|
Alexandra - not Alexandria :) - that's exactly what I meant. It's not the free sex changes I've had over the years - well it is, a bit - it's the number of times it's copied wrongly. It's right under their nose, or it's online and all they have to do is copy and paste - and they *still* get it wrong. Grrr.
David and Ray are right about the gender convention, ruined only, as far as I can remember, by Leslie Caron.
Ray and Rowena are right about the pronunciation, and Lochalsh ("zee") is tantalisingly close: the "Les" bit is pronounced with a "zed" sound. (Anyone spot my inner pedant there?)
As the emphasis is on the first syllable, the "ley" bit is pronounced "lee" but a little shorter, and I don't think there's anything in the American IPA to match it.
Many years ago, I had a colleague who was trying to make a name for himself as an English Eccentric, by speaking or behaving strangely. Every so often, he would look at me and say "Lezzzzzzzzzzbe friends." No, it wasn't even funny the first hundred times.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Must see if I can find out which ship or ships my H sailed on. I can't remember, but there are photographs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I've been home for just over an hour. Travelling on a Sunday is always dire, and today was appalling. I was aiming for a fast train, Bedford to St Pancras, stopping only at Luton, got to Bedford to find that there weren't any trains stopping at Bedford. Instead there was a bus service from Bedford to Flitwick. Flitwick is the next stop, ten minutes on the train, forty minutes on the road on a Sunday. And all the trains through Flitwick are slow.
Some of the tubes were patchy today, or not running at all. Thank goodness the one I wanted was OK, so my journey "only" took an hour longer than it should have.
It's the first time I've made it all the way in by myself for longer than I can remember, so I'm pleased, but less pleased about the time it took.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The concert was lovely.
- Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
- Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite no. 3
- Giazotto: Adagio in G minor "Albinoni's Adagio"
There was an interval, long enough for a drink (red or white wine, apple or orange juice) and a mingle. There was a fresher in the orchestra, and his parents and grandfather were in the audience. I talked to the group for a few minutes, mostly the grandfather, and also had a word with the musician. Grandfather told me how well Jonathan had played and he bought him a drink. "Orange juice, please."
They ended up having a long chat. The man was president of the Royal College of Surgeons, is now retired, did the Queen's hip replacements, and knows just about every orthopaedic surgeon in the country - including the one who fixed Jonathan's back. Is Jonathan starstruck? Just a bit, I think.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Return journey - back to St Pancras by bus, for a change. That took nearly an hour. Then I got on a train - the fast trains that normally stopped at Bedford were just going straight through. Would have been nice if they'd stopped at Bedford.
The journey was tedious but OK. I left South Kensington at nine o'clock, and got to Bedford station at half past eleven. There's a big coach parked in the station, and only three or four cars in the whole car park, and one guess whose car was blocked in? A wall six inches behind me, a tree to one side, and a coach two feet from my front bumper. And, of course, no lights and nobody in it, and no clues where to find the cretin who'd left it there. So I thought sod it, got in the car, went back and forth six or seven times and got out. If I'd realised that I would have been able to do the whole thing and nobody from the bus company would have appeared, I wouldn't have worked so hard not to hit it. Grrr.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Home at last. Food. Four baby viennas in a half ciabatta with fried onions, tomato ketchup and English mustard. Comfort food.
And a good day. I can now go up steps and walk for miles, and live. |
Reply #1972. Nov 21 10, 7:43 PM
|
| lesley153
|
| I don't remember mention of the Queen having hip replacements, just the Queen Mother. So I had a little wander through the internet, and can only find the Queen Mother mentioned in the context of hip replacement surgery. And, as I suspected, the surgeon wasn't named. Protocol or lazy journalism? |
Reply #1973. Nov 21 10, 8:03 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
and Lochalsh ("zee") is tantalisingly close: the "Les" bit is pronounced with a "zed" sound. (Anyone spot my inner pedant there?)
_____
If it were pronounced as 'zed,' it would be "Lezed-ley." The 'zed' is just a marker for a phoneme that begins with a 'z' sound and ends in an 'e' sound. There's no fricative or alveolar in your name, now is there?
Wear your pedantry boldly, girl. Externalize it, as I have mine.
Oh, and I've taught (Spanish) phonetics many times, and I still get all giggly when I say "fricative."
Then "there is no frigate like a book." "titter"
Reply #1974. Nov 21 10, 8:21 PM
|
| Lochalsh
|
Well, there wouldn't be a fricative. I was thinking in Spanish, as I sometimes do.
(The Spanish d fricative is the d that approaches [but doesn't quite get to] a th sound: lado, hado, modo, etc.)
Now who's a pedant?
Good night, and good luck.
Reply #1975. Nov 21 10, 8:30 PM
|
| lesley153
|
If it were pronounced as 'zed,' it would be "Lezed-ley."
No it wouldn't, any more than it would be pronounced Lezee-ly with a zee!
What a lovely word fricative is. I shall sleep on it.
Night all!
Lesley (pedant) |
Reply #1976. Nov 21 10, 9:13 PM
|
| lesley153
|
I agreed with Beth #1952, and the first thing I did this morning was to contact Trading Standards. Email or phone? Let's start with a phone call. When I've rung them before, a frontline person has taken the call and a message, then they'd decide whether or not Trading Standards should be involved.
The phone number on the website offered me a few options, and I picked 3, general consumer enquiries. The voice said it was connecting me, changed to music for two seconds, and then went to the unobtainable tone. Tried again. Same thing. Gave up and rang the town hall for help.
Apparently we can no longer go straight through to Trading Standards: we have to go through Consumer Direct. The woman on the Town Hall phone put me through and I told Consumer Direct what I'd seen and the excuses I'd had from Sainsbury. They've got my name and address and email address, and it looks like they will investigate.
As far as I can make out, Consumer Direct is a call centre replacing Trading Standards receptionists - much like the new proposals for replacing doctors' receptionists with a call centre. Whoever thought this up probably has a PA to deal with their medical requirements, or never has any.
If I hear anything, so will you. |
Reply #1977. Nov 22 10, 12:53 PM
|
| lesley153
|
Dentist today. Only one I've trusted for years. About three miles to the station and a ten minute train ride. I told him about one small problem I was aware of but he hasn't found anything else.
And then he told me he was retiring in two weeks. Argh! No! Don't go - you're too young to retire! And he said he wasn't, he'd done his share, and he won't get bored. "I have lots to do, believe me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Then to Sainsburys for some shopping; post office; and home for food, drink and warmth. For tomorrow... I have no car. Please join with me in a small prayer to the gods of MOT. Thank you.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Latest communication with Sainsbury, who appear to have decided that contract law no longer applies to them:
________________
"Thanks for your reply and the further information.
"As this is not our product my colleague was simply offering a potential suggestion as to the labelling. Please contact the manufacturer directly for their explanation.
"I'm grateful for you taking the time to contact us. We look forward to seeing you in store soon."
________________
Would anyone here like to translate that, with out using "we really don't give a ... " or any rude words?
I picked my chin off my knees, and wrote back:
________________
"What's to explain? They use a sulfate while promising no sulphates. It's as simple as that.
"I'm sure your colleagues were only telling me what they have been told to tell me. Has contract law ceased to exist? I bought the product from you, so I take it up with you. You bought the product from Happy Hair Days, you take it up with them."
________________
I can't wait for their next bit of squirming. I was in there again today (well, they are on the way home from the railway station *blush*) and the products are still on the shelves and still a third off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I may have done something silly. Merv goes to the same dentist. I wonder if he knows he's retiring? Shall I shan't I tell him? I rang and left a message on his machine. He may not know, and he may want to try to see him, or send him a card.
Next thing I know, I've got a text saying "Oh bugger, where will I find another dentist of his calibre?" Yes, he has recently entered the 21st century, and has now tamed his very own mobile phone. So we swapped texts, and he said it was nice seeing me the other night and being in touch again and he'd missed the abuse. Time for a low profile, I think. |
Reply #1978. Nov 24 10, 6:35 PM
|
| veronikkamarrz
|
Well, I hope you won't be sorry, but I think you did the 'nice' thing in telling Merv about the dentist. They are SO hard to find!:)
Reply #1979. Nov 24 10, 6:57 PM
|
| lesley153
|
| I really wasn't sure, but I thought he might like to know now, not in a few weeks or months when he rings for an appointment. Finding a new one is going to be difficult but I think I am, at last, old enough to listen to my little voice inside my head, and run if I'm not happy. I've already talked to a couple of people who are very happy with theirs. All we need now is for them to be accepting new patients. |
Reply #1980. Nov 24 10, 7:01 PM
|
Legal / Conditions of Use
|
Play Now! 
: