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newbie
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(This may have been covered previously B.K.)
I know that I have been mispronouncing "iron, irony, ironing, etc.". My wife has been correcting me for years. I have been saying "I-ron" instead of "I-ern". I pointed out to her that it is peculiar that we don't pronounce "Ironic" the same as we do "Irony". Though I'm not a linguist, I'm sure it has something to do with there being a vowel after the "N". But what about "Ironist", or "Ironing", they have the "ern" sound.
As an aside, Alanis Morissette's Ironic is really a series of unforntunate incidents. Poor gal!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yep; if you Search on any of those terms, you should find lots of hits.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Really, I've never hear irony pronounce i-ern-y, only as i-ron-y. Are you sure Kelly?
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stranger
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stranger
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Yes, I've only ever heard irony pronounced as i-ron-y, like i-ron-ic.
It's staring you in the face.
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Carpal Tunnel
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AHD lists both. It's metathesis, the same linguistic process that gave us third for thrid and bird for brid.
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newbie
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newbie
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Quote:
Are you sure Kelly?
Are you questioning my wife?
Seriously, when I play the pronunciation icon, it does sound like i-ron-y, but how is iron pronounced? I will have to research this further.
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how is iron pronounced? I-ern. Or, if you're far enough south: arn.
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if you're far enough south: arn.
As in "shootin' ahrn."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yup, I pronounce iron I-ern. Ah, the wishy-washyness of the English language, eh?! 
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stranger
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stranger
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Hm I pronounce irony as i-ron-y and iron i-ern. never heard it otherwise.
but of course all you people are from a different country from me so it may be a national thing...
Last edited by phantasma; 03/26/2006 9:16 AM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'm with phantasma (welcome!). the only time I pronounce iron otherwise is in the carol "In the Bleak Midwinter", when the melody expects i-ron:
"earth stood hard as i-ron, water like a stone."
formerly known as etaoin...
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Quote:
… "In the Bleak Midwinter", when the melody expects i-ron:
"earth stood hard as i-ron, water like a stone."
I think this is probably more de Cormier's expectation than the melody's. I don't hear any difference in stress or rhythm between i-ern and i-ron in this context. When I run the tune in my head I can't get past "In the bleak midwinter" at which point my version digresses to "pocket full of rye," but I'm sure if we had sung it i-ron I would remember our director making a big point about the pronunciation.
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hehe. actually, I learned it that way long before, so perhaps it was just my director's predilection for the i-ron pronunciation. > pocket full of rye you too, huh? 
formerly known as etaoin...
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No matter how hard you try, you can never empty all the rye out, which leaves behind bits of rye in your pocket!
After washing and drying comes ryeorning.
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I guess I earned that one...
formerly known as etaoin...
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eta: groooooaaaaaaaannnnnn!
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