Saturday, May 4, 2013

you say veegan, i say vaygan

Exactly why i don't link some sites that i still occasionally read....

As a native American-English speaker, i envy Spanish.  With a few exceptions, the letters are pronounced the same way all the time.  The evolution of English has been quite different, though, and from a logical point of view, our spelling is completely absurd.  It's still INTERESTING, reflecting the rich cultural history of the British Isles and the passage of time on five continents and numerous islands, but i'm sure glad i never needed to learn it from "outside."

Even WITH the confusion associated with spelling and pronunciation of what is no longer "the Queen's English," in every part of the globe, where the hell did the inspiration come from to pronounce that word VEEEGAN?  Vegetarians don't pronounce their "title" veeegetarians, nor do we pronounce their foods-of-choice veeegetables.  I'm inclined to describe those strict anti-animal-product-eaters as "veggan," with the "short e" we first heard of when learning to spell in the first place, because to me that's logical.

What's THEIR rationale?  And why do they get so unhappy when we apply reason to their pronunciation (not even mentioning their dietary choices)?

10 comments:

  1. I don't have an answer to your question, but Emily Post admonished her readers not to pronounce the "menu" as "MAY-noo."

    I normally can't stand the word "veggies," but it's a cute cheeky way to describe vegetarians or vegans.

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    1. "veggies" is a little precious, isn't it.... i think i only adopted its use when cajoling my kids to eat them.

      MENU, though -- that's another can of worms! it's derived from French, which has its own tricky pronunciation and rules. unlike Spanish, the E is less AY and more EH, and the U is closer to the last part of EWWWW and decidedly not OOOOH. ;-) my next French-derived-word peeve is "coupon" -- and i have to restrain myself when people pronounce it KEW-pon.

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  2. Tess - my ex boss was vegan, was so for 20 years, came from the British Isles. She is the one who had me saying VEEGAN as that is how she pronounced it. When the boss says VEEGAN then that's how you pronounce it lol. Good enough reason for me :P

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    1. yeah, that'll do it! ...unless one gets a charge out of yanking the boss's chain! ;-)

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  3. I am glad to hear other folks cant stand the word "veggies" sounds so condescending from the people who are smarter and know better than we do. Just eat plenty of wholesome veggies and whole grains and the common folk will be smarter.

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    1. like the people who abbreviate "cabernet" to its first syllable -- they're on such intimate terms they call it by its first name....

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  4. The English/American difference in words and pronunciation is not always easy, and even if it is our first language we can still stumble along the way. I admire the students and others who learn our language and I do think the Brits can be lazy when it comes to learning a second language. But I digress the word "veggies" to me is one for the children but you do see it more and more, veggie burgers or veggie meal why not use the full title? Oh well.

    All the best Jan

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  5. Ahem, it has always been pronounced Veegan.
    the reason is that veganism was founded by people for whom smple vegitarianism wasn't good enough. So they found a root that looked like "vege" yet actually meant (to them) something else.
    "They suggested several terms to replace non-dairy vegetarian, including dairyban, vitan, benevore, sanivore and beaumangeur. Watson decided on vegan, pronounced veegun (/ˈviːɡən/), with the stress on the first syllable. As he put it in 2004, the word consisted of the first three and last two letters of vegetarian, "the beginning and end of vegetarian.""

    My great-aunt Fay K. Henderson was the original secretary of the Vegan society, wrote the first Vegan recipe book (1946), and opened the first Vegan restaurant (Henderson's in Edinburgh).
    So I know these things!
    Apparently her first Vegan husband died young, the second (my father's uncle) was hospitalised for malnutrition and always sickly, but Fay herself was a tough old bird.
    Here is some of her writing from 1947: http://www.ivu.org/history/world-forum/1947vegan.html

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  6. Hey George, thanks for this, we live and learn more as the saying goes.
    We all eat our own choices, mine is vegetables with meat and/or fish, or perhaps occasionally just vegetables.
    Wonder what Tess is enjoying on the low carb cruise? I'm sure (I know) we will get to hear all the great news.

    All the best Jan

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  7. Thanks Jan. Maybe the expression "veggie burger" etc catches on because these things aren't always recognisably vegetables, for example soy or nut meats are more "vegetarian' than they are vegetable in the sense of vegetable salad or sidedish?

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