tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post7587687707197237640..comments2024-02-19T07:51:46.118-05:00Comments on Throw Grammar from the Train: Shirr madness on the runwayJanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173219179480606941noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-90847034422933982022013-03-05T16:35:07.855-05:002013-03-05T16:35:07.855-05:00My Southern Ontario speech and hearing approve of ...My Southern Ontario speech and hearing approve of pour=pore. When I say shirr, it doesn't rhyme with shear, but when my mother or her older relatives said shirr, it did rhyme with shear at least some of the time. <br />Barbara Collishawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07472139766192901830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-72753885321719023132013-02-28T19:58:10.442-05:002013-02-28T19:58:10.442-05:00I speak with a mostly British accent now modified...I speak with a mostly British accent now modified a little by 35 years in Canada . <br />My daughter gets quite upset if I should mention a "Pawn shop" She always hears it as "porn" <br /> <br />June SSAMARAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00877820305288210609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-49960401318209656352013-02-28T18:59:31.880-05:002013-02-28T18:59:31.880-05:00I remember that my late father (grew up near Chica...I remember that my late father (grew up near Chicago) said that for him "pour" sounded like "pore", not "poor".<br /><br />What if anything is the connection between "shirred" as in in coats and "shirred" as in eggs? Neither is in my vocabulary, exactly, but I've heard of the latter.emptyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04513102801380602436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-88175727234023140752013-02-28T15:42:09.565-05:002013-02-28T15:42:09.565-05:00For me mirror is two syllables when I'm speaki...For me <i>mirror</i> is two syllables when I'm speaking lento, but at allegro speeds the second syllable becomes just a prolonged /r/, so "mirrrr, mirrr, on the wall". In any case, however, the "i" is /ɪ/, like Stan's.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-78496085192067704252013-02-28T12:06:06.266-05:002013-02-28T12:06:06.266-05:00Stan, my Northern Ohio dialect had the one-syllabl...Stan, my Northern Ohio dialect had the one-syllable "meer" for "mirror" -- it took me years of living in Boston (and being kidded by my husband) to acquire that additional syllable. But I have no memory of a shear/shirr merger -- of course, "shirring" is not a common topic of conversation. <br /><br />VP, the vowels in my "sure" and "shirr" probably aren't exactly the same, but my shirr/sure/stir/pure are close enough to rhyme nicely in a poem -- and very distinct from shear/sheer/fear/mere etc.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03173219179480606941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-13475727919362492032013-02-28T04:29:29.543-05:002013-02-28T04:29:29.543-05:00My "sure" rhymes with "tour", ...My "sure" rhymes with "tour", my "shirr" with "stir" (west Irish English speaker).<br /><br />I notice that some US English speakers, and perhaps elsewhere, pronounce "mirror" almost like "meer" — for me it's /mɪrɘr/ — so merging "shirred" and "sheared" doesn't seem a stretch.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03386875624025404452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-18604794140246213842013-02-28T01:33:35.841-05:002013-02-28T01:33:35.841-05:00Well, there's the black dialect that pronounce...Well, there's the black dialect that pronounces "all up in here" like "all up in hurr", but I doubt that's what's going in here.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04323568112711824064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-2585141283622309152013-02-28T00:51:26.456-05:002013-02-28T00:51:26.456-05:00shirr sounds like "sure," not "shee...<i> shirr sounds like "sure," not "sheer." </i><br /><br />Not helpful! "sure" is pronounced in at least three different ways:<br /><br />* rhyming with "tour"<br />* rhyming with "tore"<br />* rhyming with "stir".<br /><br />I'm guessing that your "sure" rhymes with "stir" :)vphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647609487352038948noreply@blogger.com