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Perils of Americans saying my name.

Posted: Oct 18, 2008 Sat 09:12 am     Views: 419    Interacts: 2

I like the sound of my nickname (though not so much the military associations of the word) but always feel a moment of hesitation when an American asks me what it is. In this country and, I think, most of the world, the word 'khaki' - which has been imported into all the major languages, somtimes with minor variations in spelling and, possibly, into a lot more less-spoken languages too from its Persian/Urdu/Hindi origins - is almost uniformly pronounced with a longish 'A' sound. In England the sound is absolutely identical to the words 'car key'. However Americans almost uniquely say it with a short 'A' identical to the vowel sound in the word 'cat'. I don't know how widely it's known beyond British shores but in colloquial English the word 'cack' means excrement. So when I hear an American calling me by name I have to do a double-take and tell myself that they aren't (I hope) telling me that I'm full of shit! (Don't laugh. It ain't my fault.)


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Latest comments
Posted by khakiflash on Thursday November 6, 2008 07:07 am
Thanks for comment, pinku. Well, as long as they don't spell my name 'Cacky' I don't mind. Anyway, variety is the spice of life .....or so I'm told.
Posted by pinku on Wednesday November 5, 2008 09:57 pm
hmm came here just checking your ilogs.. good humour:-).... we have to feel sorry when they pronounce our words wrongly and also when we pronounce their words wrongly?

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