Here’s another one: roster
Published:
December 11, 2011 at 12:55pm
This rooster has been roasted, but it was never on a roster.
Somebody suggested that in this series of pronunciation guides for politicians and other public speakers, I should tackle ‘roster’.
I agree that the situation is now most worrying, given that I heard even the prime minister pronounce it as ‘roaster’ the other evening on television, so here goes.
At least the prime minister did not give us a rolling R at the end, like our union leaders do. Roast-eRRRRRR.
It’s ross-teH, not roast-eh and certainly not roast-eRRR.
Ross. Teh.
NOT
Row. Sterrrr.
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How’s this for a free holiday treat for the family?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111210/local/marsa-incinerator-open-for-public-viewing.397699
Hi Daphne
I love your work, I honestly do. However I do feel that when you post childish articles like this one you are shooting yourself in the foot (I know other people do this all the time, but I hope you don’t follow suit!).
I hope you can take this constructive criticism from my end because I believe that you have an important role in our society.
[Daphne – In what way is this a ‘childish article’? Very few children know what a roster is.]
Childish?
First off – lighten up! Although in fact, this is definitely not a subject that should be taken lightly. It is a big problem, especially when you consider to what levels that the rampant misuse, misspelling, and mispronunciation of English words and phrases has escalated.
Tiny examples:
You don’t advice me, you advise me.
You’re not younger then me, you’re younger than me.
Horribly surprising are the dreadfully low standards to which the Times of Malta has dropped in recent months, through sheer laziness on the part of their editorial staff and roving reporters. Their daily gaffes are too numerous to mention here, only for want of a quick proof-read or simple spell-check. Terminology used is also quite often appalling. I was amazed to read a court report, some time ago now on ToM, whereby the (Maltese) defendant was trying to justify whatever actions he was accused of, due to his being ‘totally knackered’ at the time!
An example from today’s Sunday Times – the piece about Pietru Pawl Busuttil talking about the murder of Raymond Caruana, and his subsequent arrest. According to the Times, Busuttil was not ‘framed for the murder of…’, but instead he was ‘framed up with the murder of….’ which is terrible, but stems from the term, ‘frame-up’ which was a buzzword back in the time of that particular episode. The two words ‘frame’ and ‘up’ become inseparable in this context.
We no longer catch the bus, we catch the Arriva!
It gets quite exhausting once you get started!
Ang, there are few things more humiliating than having to suffer through an interminable presentation by yet another visiting politico or political appointee telling your Anglophone colleagues and clients, in a curious and indecipherable mix of Globish and Minglish, that they should do business in Malta because it is an English-speaking country.
It is both sad and laughable.
If Malta wants to sell itself to the world in English, then dash it all, speak English!
What about bowl and bow?
When I say ‘ross-ter’ or sort of comment when it’s pronounced roaster, everyone looks at me in a really funny way, no doubt thinking ‘Uh…what?’
Silencer (stress on first syllable) not ‘sil E ncer’
Large city in North West England, famous for two major football teams and Oasis. You may have heard of it:
Men-CHISS-terrr
Do you remember “vumper” and “winskree”?
“mutgart” and well… since I’m back, “pitlor” and “dee_zin”.
Apart from ‘talk’, ‘walk’ and ‘half”, nobody (well almost) seems to know that there are several other ‘silent Ls’: calm, palm, psalm, salmon, almond, Holmes, Stockholm, folk, Colonel.
So how do you pronounce ‘roll’, as in bowl or as in hall?
[Daphne – Role, to rhyme with bowl. It’s the same with ‘toll’ and ‘poll’, which are pronounced ‘tole’ and ‘pole’. Similarly, the ‘all’ sound never varies: call, ball, hall, small, tall – they’re all the same.]
And what about petrol boat instead of patrol boat.
U ejja – did Gonzi really say roaster?
So right! I’ve been explaining the difference between ROSTER and ROASTER “on air” for many years.
And what about IMHABBA (love) used instead of MINHABBA (because)?
And PETLOR , ROVERVER , GZEJJER MALTIN U GHAWDXIN?
“Dawlaqt” instead of “Dalwaqt”? See them all on a popular comments board near you.
Se jkunu ‘safe’ ghan-negozju, irrapportaw l-Orizzont.
I thought they actually meant what they said, for once:
Se jkunu sejf ghan-negozju.
Ummm – I think you will find that the version that rhymes with ‘roaster’ is, in fact, as acceptable and correct in the English-speaking world as is the one that rhymes with ‘Gloucester’. This is not to say, of course, that the people whom you describe have even the faintest notion of these variations