Yes ....and I can name names.....in fact me .....I prefer playing the soprano to the concert ...and the concert is as big as I will go.....therefore I must be a ukelele snob of sorts .....I just don't care from which end of the market they come from or what there made of....
PS Tenor and Bari Players don't give up on me...I enjoy listening to them.:shaka:
Have you ever heard anyone outside the uke community pronounce it "ookoolaylay"? The general population pronounces it like it is spelled starting with a U.......ukulele. So yea it is kinda snobby to be all ookoolaylay high brow when it is a fun instrument that puts a smile on peoples faces. The exact opposite of snobby.
Someone corrected my pronunciation at our You-ka-lay-lee meetup. They simply everyone on the island says oook-koo-lay-lay. I told him that they probably also say Ha-vi-ee, but I say Ha-why-ee. I think it sounds odd and maybe snobby to insist that's the right pronunciation for non-native speakers. And by the way I also say baloney not Bologna
Someone corrected my pronunciation at our You-ka-lay-lee meetup. They simply everyone on the island says oook-koo-lay-lay. I told him that they probably also say Ha-vi-ee, but I say Ha-why-ee. I think it sounds odd and maybe snobby to insist that's the right pronunciation for non-native speakers. And by the way I also say baloney not Bologna
You know I am sure that everyone in Germany calls Brunswick, Braunschweig as well........but I am not that affected...(affected with an accent on the a....pretentious ?..Moi?)
I think it's an American thang. Why do we say Germany instead of Deutschland? Or Rome instead of Roma? Or Norway instead of Norge? Or Switzerland instead of Suisse? It's the old to-may-to/to-mah-to" thang. I like 'ook-oo-lay-lay better but never say it. I'm usta the other way. Every time I see "an ukulele", it woggles my mind.
I think it's an American thang. Why do we say Germany instead of Deutschland? Or Rome instead of Roma? Or Norway instead of Norge? Or Switzerland instead of Suisse? It's the old to-may-to/to-mah-to" thang. I like 'ook-oo-lay-lay better but never say it. I'm usta the other way. *Every time I see "an ukulele", it woggles my mind.
I think it's an American thang. Why do we say Germany instead of Deutschland? Or Rome instead of Roma? Or Norway instead of Norge? Or Switzerland instead of Suisse? It's the old to-may-to/to-mah-to" thang. I like 'ook-oo-lay-lay better but never say it. I'm usta the other way. Every time I see "an ukulele", it woggles my mind.
It's not just a USA thing. Every language and regional dialect pronounces words differently. I used to work for a company based in Die Schweiz/Suisse/Switzerland/Svitzra where, as an American-English native speaker, I had to learn German. While I thought my German pronunciation was okay, I was often told by native Swiss that I speak German like a Frenchman.
I don't claim any fluency in the Hawaiian language and accept the fact that my pronunciation of other-language words will be Anglicized to some degree. The question is not one of "pure" pronunciation, but whether one's meaning is understood. As someone born and raised in the capital city of Massachusetts, the city's proper pronunciation is "Bah-Stin," and I would never consider correcting anyone who pronounced it "Baw-Ston" "Bars-ton" or any other linguistic twist.
It's not just a USA thing. Every language and regional dialect pronounces words differently. I used to work for a company based in Die Schweiz/Suisse/Switzerland/Svitzra where, as an American-English native speaker, I had to learn German. While I thought my German pronunciation was okay, I was often told by native Swiss that I speak German like a Frenchman.
I don't claim any fluency in the Hawaiian language and accept the fact that my pronunciation of other-language words will be Anglicized to some degree. The question is not one of "pure" pronunciation, but whether one's meaning is understood. As someone born and raised in the capital city of Massachusetts, the city's proper pronunciation is "Bah-Stin," and I would never consider correcting anyone who pronounced it "Baw-Ston" "Bars-ton" or any other linguistic twist.
I've met a few at festivals, and while they talk funny, they seem to be nice people.
I am not a native Spanish speaker, but I do speak Spanish. Many of the native Spanish speakers that I am around, and that is a lot of them during the winter months, make fun of non-native speakers who make it a point to use the "th" pronunciation for "c". Like "thico", while they do it themselves all the time. My neighbor was particularly making fun of a young girl from the states one day who was speaking Spanish and couldn't get enough of the "th" in place of the "c" and the "b" in place of the "v", and I sort of jumped him over it. He said that it sounded stupid with a gringo accent. So that is just an interesting story about pronunciation. I'm guessing that with the right accent, ookoolayly sounds good. For the record, I have been told that I have a pronounced anglicized accent when I speak Spanish, and I'm good with that. I have another gringo accent story if anyone is interested.
That is the pre-revolution pronunciation and I acknowledge the historical link. I think all of this linguistic stuff is giving me a migraine ("my-grain" "mee-grain" "$&@# my head hurts!). Time to get one of the ukes a-workin....
That is the pre-revolution pronunciation and I acknowledge the historical link. I think all of this linguistic stuff is giving me a migraine ("my-grain" "mee-grain" "$&@# my head hurts!)*. Time to get one of the ukes a-workin....