Comments on: Edinburgh 1

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:57:09 +0000

Sorry, I’m not sure what you are asking. But “leftenant” is how the British Army (and Commonwealth armies) pronounces “lieutenant”. I’ve heard that the Royal Navy (and presumably Commonwealth navies) say it something more like the American way, but couldn’t say for sure.

By: matia

matia — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:25:45 +0000

Is their a British term during WW II of ‘Leftenant’?

thank you.
MK

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:02:50 +0000

Sure, no problem, I don’t mind use in not-for-profit publications.

By: Claire

Claire — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:18:05 +0000

Hi Brett,
Could we have your permission to reproduce the image of the Stone of Remembrance in Edinburgh in our autumn edition of the Army Families Journal (a free quarterly magazine for the families of British soldiers). If so, could you send it to me in high resolution please? And would we credit it to ‘Brett Holman’?
Thanks!

By: Airminded · Edinburgh 2

Airminded · Edinburgh 2 — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:39:21 +0000

[...] are a bit dull. But as I spent most of the time indoors, this didn’t matter too much. (Above, Edinburgh Castle from the Princes Street Gardens.) I first walked to the late-18th century New Town, which has a [...]

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:41:15 +0000

Thanks, Ian — I did actually go to the Royal Museum, and saw the Weir autogyro among other things. (There’ll be a photo in Edinburgh 2.) I’ll put the Museum of Flight on the list for next time!

By: Ian Evans

Ian Evans — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:00:41 +0000

“game of glorified Rounders” – I didn’t realise Glenn McGrath played baseball!
While on strange variants of the English tongue, how about Aberdeen, where “wh” becomes “f”, as in “Fit like, ma loon” (Tr. “How’s it going, old chap”)
Only really boring people say “You went to abc and didn’t see xyz!”, so may I recommend the Royal Museum of Scotland and the Museum of Flight at East Fortune for your next visit. The former has several galeries devoted to technology and a wonderful Victorian cast iron with glass entrance hall. East Fortune was the starting point for R34’s return crossing of the Atlantic; there’s a memorial, and a few bits of airship, plus lots of other aeronautica.

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:35:24 +0000

Ha, yes, Mauchline is the other one to go with Tarrinzean (family connection) though I foolishly supposed it would be straightforward. It’s all so confusing — it’s easier just to bulldoze through unashamedly in my Australian accent, I think, perhaps exaggerated for effect.

And why the scare quotes around ‘greatest living Scotsman’? Surely there can be none other! He’s been in at least three films involving airships, after all.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:58:01 +0000

Mmm…you’ve got me on that one. How do you pronounce ‘Tarrinzean’? I know ‘Mauchline’ is ‘Moch-lin’ (like loch, again).

I completely agree that ‘leftenant’ is an important (and correct) one, but the irony is that it has now come to be rather lumped-in with ‘Raif’ et al. However, high Tory Scottish aristos do use a pronunciation register which genuinely differs from the majority of Scots, and always has done – see ‘Hume’ for ‘Home’. Hence their pronunciations of some names may genuinely be the correct ones, not ‘affectations’.

It is all socio-linguistics, of course. Perceptions change over time. Ming Campbell’s greatest achievement may prove to be that he brought the ancient ‘z=ng’ pronunciation back into everyday use. Because he is generally well-liked north of the border, everyone dropped their fear of seeming ‘pretentious’. Even the English learned a new phonetic sound! Some slogans and headlines praising Ming while criticizing ‘Flash Gordon’ (Brown) also helped. (Although I don’t think even Brown’s biggest fans would call him ‘Flash’ these days…)

I’m sure Mel Gibson wrestled with all of this when he rekindled our desire for ‘freedom’. Perhaps Shir Shean Connery, the ‘greatest living Scotsman’, gave him some vocal coaching. But if McGrath ever brought the derided Imperial game of glorified Rounders to Scotland the crowds would simply adapt. They would, doubtless, chant ‘ooth, aath, Glenn McGrath’!

By: Chris Williams

Chris Williams — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:22:25 +0000

You Scots are well confusing. OTOH, I grew up in a part of Hertford (pr: ‘artford) called Bengeo (pr Ben-jee-oh) and now I live in Leicester (pr Lester) so who are we English to take the piss?