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Pasty Happyness

English pronunciation is not exact. How many of us have been caught out by pilates?

One of the words I've learned to pronounce since coming to England is pasty. Either PASTEy: resembling paste in color or PAH-stee: a kind of meat and potato turnover.

During our weekend trip to Bath, TIRMa and I were discussing these pronunciations and related spellings. TIRMa insisted that "pastie" is an incorrect spelling which led to analysis of the correct "y" to "ie" conversion for plurals (eg. "pasties"). And I agreed with her.

And then she said "But the Americans do it wrong with 'happiness'." "What?" I said, confused. "Don't you spell it with a 'y', like in 'The Pursuit of Happyness'?" Me, appalled, "No! That's the whole point. Will Smith has a go at the nursery school woman because it's spelled wrong!" TIRMa, nonchalant, "Oh. We just think it's another example of Americans not being able to spell."

How do you pronounce 'forbearance'?
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