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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
As a Bucks lad myself I can confirm Rhubarbcommando's observations. I still pronounce the past of eat as et. I thought everyone did.
I actually come from Beaconsfield, which is pronounced Beckonsfield. I was told recently that there is a Beaconsfield Avenue in San Francisco. How's it pronounced there?
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Sep 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
>I actually come from Beaconsfield, which is pronounced Beckonsfield. I was told recently that there is a Beaconsfield Avenue in San Francisco. How's it pronounced there?
Can't help there, Bingley, but the town of Beaconsfield near Melbourne, Australia is pronounced Beekonsfield.
And I've heard a few people here, exclusively "older generation" I think, pronounced "ate" as "et".
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>the "et" pronunciation was current in my home, "when I were a lass."
I et too.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
"How much of that pie did you eat?"
"I et all"
[Proud of herself for finally coming up with one after I lost the Julius Caesar race to TEd emoticon]
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Joined: Dec 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 393 |
[et] was the normal past tense of 'eat'; it was spelt either 'eat' or 'ate'. I don't know when the pronunciation [eit] ("ayt") came in for 'ate', but I'd guess very recently, later nineteenth century, and from the middle class in London, since [et] hasn't been fully displaced in either upper or lower class speech.
I don't know what the age/class distribution is in US or Aus/NZ: I _think_ I've heard [et] in Australia by older people but can't remember. Did they ever say [et] in old US films?
An edition of Spenser from around 1900 or a tad earlier actually glossed 'ate': it said simply 'did eat'. So the very spelling might be recent (in non-dialectal).
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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The only person in NZ I can remember who used "et" was my grandmother, and she was brought up in Manchester ... I don't think it's been normal usage in NZ for many years, if it ever was.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
normal usage in NZ Make up your mind, Cap - normal or NZ? 
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Make up your mind, Cap - normal or NZ?Down, boy! 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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