# Manege not menage



## cptrayes (30 July 2009)

Menage means household. 

Manege means arena for riding horses.

If you can't manage manege, pleeeeease say arena, if only to stop the French from wetting themselves laughing at us.


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## flyingfeet (30 July 2009)

In fact its always an indoor or outdoor arena, no reason we should be using damn confusing froggie words in the first place!


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## Spudlet (30 July 2009)

I just call it a school


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## cptrayes (30 July 2009)

That'll do too


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## little_flea (30 July 2009)

Hahaha I though I was the only one who felt irritated by this mistake (obviously not being a native English speaker I would never dream of correcting anyone though)


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## Flame_ (30 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Menage means household. 

Manege means arena for riding horses.


[/ QUOTE ]
Well it does, if you're in France. We nicked it and pronounced it wrong. Now if you say manege, people think you're a nutter - language change. Just accept it. Here, rightly or wrongly, its menage if you want anyone to understand you!


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## CastleMouse (30 July 2009)

Don't search "Menage" on Google images...


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## cptrayes (30 July 2009)

But everyone understands "arena" and "school" just as well, so what's the point in having the whole of France in hysterics over the stupid Brits who can't be bothered to learn any language but English?

We didn't pronounce it wrong - we used the wrong word! We learnt menage in school and forgot it means household, and now we go around talking about riding in a household. If you want everyone but under-educated Brits to continue to laugh at you, carry on.

I wonder what a menage-a-trois is in Britain? A pas de deux and a half maybe?


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## CorvusCorax (30 July 2009)

After many embarrassing pronunciations, I vote for 'arena' or 'sand school'.

Although I was always taught to say 'manege'

But don't try to correct on spelling and punctuation too much, people get arsey.....


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## Spudlet (30 July 2009)

Of course you could go all Mediterranean and refer to it as a maneggio...


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## MissGem (30 July 2009)

oooo this has been one of my pet hates for sooooo long!!! Drives me mad!  Estate agents always getting it wrong! Glad others are irritated by this too!


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## woolyjumper (30 July 2009)

who cares?!!


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## Ali2 (30 July 2009)

Agree, who cares?!


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## Box_Of_Frogs (31 July 2009)

Fraid you're all wrong. "Menage" is Franch for riding arena x


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## letrec_fan (31 July 2009)

No its not Box_of_Frogs, thats what we were saying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manege


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## Chico Mio (31 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Fraid you're all wrong. "Menage" is Franch for riding arena x 

[/ QUOTE ]


LOL, 
	
	
		
		
	


	





It is one that drives me mad though, to the point of biting the furniture!!!

So a menage a trois is:

a) Three people in a riding arena
b) Three riding arenas
c) Three people indulging in an interesting relationship?

You can't just change the meaning of words because you can't remember the correct one.


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## Box_Of_Frogs (31 July 2009)

Oh dear PTP - you obviously didn't follow the humungus thread a couple of months ago about buying horses from France that would otherwise go to the meat market. The OP couldn't spell her way out of a wet paper bag and constantly referred to France as Franch. This hilarious howler then spawned a zillion posts as Forum members had a little fun, maybe to forget for a while the reality of the problem. Of course it's MANEGE! Lighten up hun and if you want a laugh, look up the original thread x


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## Rowreach (31 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Fraid you're all wrong. "Menage" is Franch for riding arena x 

[/ QUOTE ]


LOL, 
	
	
		
		
	


	





It is one that drives me mad though, to the point of biting the furniture!!!

So a menage a trois is:

a) Three people in a riding arena
b) Three riding arenas
c) Three people indulging in an interesting relationship?

You can't just change the meaning of words because you can't remember the correct one. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you, you both made me lol on a wet and windy day 
	
	
		
		
	


	





Just don't get my mother started on "jodhpurs" - she grew up there and gets very upset with the English pronunciation


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## cptrayes (31 July 2009)

What's the Indian pronunciation? Can you spell it phonetically for us?


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## Rowreach (31 July 2009)

Well it's something like "jode paw" said with an Asian accent (not a posh English one like my Mother's 
	
	
		
		
	


	




) 
	
	
		
		
	


	





She used to embarrass me so much as a child by insisting I said jodepaw when everyone else said jodper 
	
	
		
		
	


	





I now call them breeches (pron. britches  
	
	
		
		
	


	








) just to be safe


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## Pedantic (31 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Menage means household. 

Manege means arena for riding horses.

If you can't manage manege, pleeeeease say arena, if only to stop the French from wetting themselves laughing at us. 
	
	
		
		
	


	





[/ QUOTE ]

Laffing at us, thats a joke.


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## NewHeights_SJ (31 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
who cares?!! 
	
	
		
		
	


	





[/ QUOTE ]

EXACTLY!!


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## Archangel (31 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Of course you could go all Mediterranean and refer to it as a maneggio... 
	
	
		
		
	


	









[/ QUOTE ]

From this day forth I am going to refer to it as a maneggio


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## MrsMozart (31 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Menage means household. 

Manege means arena for riding horses.

If you can't manage manege, pleeeeease say arena, if only to stop the French from wetting themselves laughing at us. 
	
	
		
		
	


	





[/ QUOTE ]

But it's funny seeing the French running round in circles. Ou wee wee.

Parlez vous Anglais


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## cptrayes (31 July 2009)

I sort of get it. I've heard people call them jodfers and seen it spelt "ph". Mothers can be so embarassing, can't they? At least she didn't spit on her hanky and wash your face at the same time. Or maybe she did!


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## cptrayes (31 July 2009)

To all of you who say "who cares" about using the wrong French word for a riding arena, that it is a typically British attitude not to be prepared to learn how to speak anyone else's language. It shames us around the world.

And about that, I care, because you tar me with your brush.


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## Chestnuttymare (31 July 2009)

I always call it a school or arena. I never really understood why people used a franch word for it, worse still, the wrong franch word.


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## Spudlet (31 July 2009)

Hey you, sono inglese e parlo italiano 
	
	
		
		
	


	












 Et je parle un peu de francais but I can't spell it and to be honest it tends to morph into Italian halfway through a sentence anyway
	
	
		
		
	


	





So there


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## LuckyRed (24 May 2011)

In Northern Ireland I was completely confused when my instructor told me we would be riding in the paddock - and we went into the school/arena/manege!


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## HHO admin (29 October 2015)

If you enjoyed this discussion, then you might also like '7 horsey terms you&#8217;ve probably been getting wrong for years': http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/equestrian-terms-515190


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## EQUIDAE (29 October 2015)

What happened to the OP? Why are they greyed out?


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## applecart14 (29 October 2015)

cptrayes said:



			Menage means household. 

Manege means arena for riding horses.

If you can't manage manege, pleeeeease say arena, if only to stop the French from wetting themselves laughing at us. 
	
	
		
		
	


	




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Sorry guilty.  Also guilty of saying shed instead of sked for schedule.


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## Notimetoride (29 October 2015)

This is the funniest thread I've seen in a long time.   Tho I put a post on here yonks ago asking why Northerners call it a sand paddock (especially when it's not sand) and not one person knew what I was in about.  I looked a right plonker.  But I know they are called sand paddocks up t'North as I'm a northerner from sunny lancs, now living in wilts.  No one here ever calls them sand paddocks.


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## milliepops (29 October 2015)

good heavens, admin has dragged up a thread that mentions Franch. I thought that was a forbidden word these days


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## EQUIDAE (29 October 2015)

Notimetoride said:



			This is the funniest thread I've seen in a long time.   Tho I put a post on here yonks ago asking why Northerners call it a sand paddock (especially when it's not sand) and not one person knew what I was in about.  I looked a right plonker.  But I know they are called sand paddocks up t'North as I'm a northerner from sunny lancs, now living in wilts.  No one here ever calls them sand paddocks.
		
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When the ground is particularly clay-ee (what is the correct term?) some land owners put a thick layer of sand on top and then seed it with grass. It drains brilliantly and turns useless ground into great grazing. It's expensive but stops the ground getting too boggy when it is wet.

Hence the term - sand paddock.


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## ester (29 October 2015)

milliepops said:



			good heavens, admin has dragged up a thread that mentions Franch. I thought that was a forbidden word these days 

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We've got enough confusion round here without admin dragging up 4 year old threads from users no longer here!


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## Annagain (29 October 2015)

I think the Franch thread coincided with a time when work was busy and I couldn't come on here. I've seen references to it and knew what it was about, but never the actual thread. I never realised Franch was a spelling mistake, I thought it was some odd name for the 'charity'  Every day's a school day


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## Tiddlypom (29 October 2015)

Franch must have been before my time on HHO. I clearly missed an epic thread, as it keeps on being mentioned in despatches .


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## AmieeT (29 October 2015)

As its nit picking, isn't there an accent above one of the vowels?


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## Tiddlypom (29 October 2015)

AmieeT said:



			As its nit picking, isn't there an accent above one of the vowels?
		
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I believe that the first 'e' should have a grave accent, so it's manège.

It's a helluva lot easier to call it a school or an arena!


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## D66 (29 October 2015)

does the resurrection of this thread mean that CP can come back?


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## Annagain (29 October 2015)

Tiddlypom said:



			I believe that the first 'e' should have a grave accent, so it's manège.

It'a a helluva lot easier to call it a school or an arena!
		
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Yes - although I wasn't sure what "l'accent grave" was in English, I only knew the term in French and Welsh. I've had a strange education which means I struggle with certain terms in English - grammatical, mathematical and scientific ones in particular!

I do a lot of term avoiding as a result so agree that school or arena is much easier.


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## fburton (29 October 2015)

applecart14 said:



			Sorry guilty.  Also guilty of saying shed instead of sked for schedule.
		
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But it _is_ pronounced 'shed' in British English. 'Sked' is USan.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/schedule


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## Casey76 (29 October 2015)

And just to confuse things further a manège is a covered or indoor school, while a "carrière" is an outdoor school


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## jirist (29 October 2015)

Casey76 said:



			And just to confuse things further a manège is a covered or indoor school, while a "carrière" is an outdoor school 

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Yes, it is right ! 
"Manège", in France it is an indoor school.
For an outdoor school, we use "Carrière" usually.

And for people who say "who cares", if you are not able to use properly french words, just don't use it.
French people, usually, try to do a massive effort to speak a proper english with you. (Personaly, i ask british people to correct me if i say or spell something wrong).
So if you know that a word is wrong in an other language but you keep using it as you want ..... Just sounds like you don't care about anything else than yourself .... Which is really a pity.

Anyway, ...! I live in the Midlands and, I use "Arena"!


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## Nicnac (29 October 2015)

Digger66 said:



			does the resurrection of this thread mean that CP can come back?
		
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I bl00dy hope so - this place is like death not even warmed up so a bit of Franch, a soupcon of menage a trois coupled with wanton morags and tupping wouldn't go amiss.  

Really Fatty?  Bringing up a 6 year old thread started by a banned user just to promote some silly article on H&H?  Poor; very poor.


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## MotherOfChickens (29 October 2015)

Digger66 said:



			does the resurrection of this thread mean that CP can come back?
		
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do you think that they are not here?


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## case895 (29 October 2015)

I always think of a threesome (menage a trois).


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## EQUIDAE (29 October 2015)

Was it CP that gave updates of her dating escapades? Fit farrier and the like? How come she got banned?


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## katherine1975 (29 October 2015)

I saw an advert the other day for a Menarge lol


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## Sugar_and_Spice (29 October 2015)

EQUIDAE said:



			Was it CP that gave updates of her dating escapades? Fit farrier and the like? How come she got banned?
		
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that was starzaan and she's not banned AFAIK


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## malaprop (1 December 2015)

cptrayes. I wondered how long I'd have to wait to find someone like you who knows the difference. The worst offenders are the Estate Agents  especially on Internet.   Had a great urge to contact one and inquire if the Menage had room enough for three adults who required at least a separate annexe for me and my  hubby now retd and my daughter and our grand children.Not for trois but for sept. and a manege for horses too  if possible.  Wonder what the replies would be? .Even decades ago when I worked in our Council's  Land Charges Dept. doing searches for solicitors etc when property was sold I would see descriptions for planning applications for Menages!!The mind boggled.Thats when I looked up a French dictionary to make certain.  The French do despair as I asked one what the correct way to say 'Decor'!! was. I knew it was neither Deecor nor Daycor. but Deckor!! as I like to watch 'Escape to the Country on the Beeb. Wonder if all those Lexographers? will now inform us that the meaning of Menage has changed in English Dictionaries  as the word 'Gay' has. Heard a true story about a man whose surname was the latter. His Boss announced. " Is there a Gay here? to which came the reply, " I'm Gay", with ensuing hearty laughter much to his embarrassment.


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## popsdosh (1 December 2015)

Nicnac said:



			I bl00dy hope so - this place is like death not even warmed up so a bit of Franch, a soupcon of menage a trois coupled with wanton morags and tupping wouldn't go amiss.  

Really Fatty?  Bringing up a 6 year old thread started by a banned user just to promote some silly article on H&H?  Poor; very poor.
		
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Too true could do with several exes back as this forum is as dull as ditch water  nowadays . Maybe like several of us she may not want too. I have recently returned after several months sabbatical ( not enforced but close to) and it has got worse . I try my best but im not really into matchy matchy and all that.

By the way Equidae anybody who gets involved with a farrier deserves everything that comes to them  ,They will always be bottom of the shoeing list also.


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## Princess16 (1 December 2015)

CastleMouse said:



			Don't search "Menage" on Google images... 
	
	
		
		
	


	




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Hahahahaha!

Course I had to do it


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## Dry Rot (1 December 2015)

Oh, for goodness sake!

We are British and speak English which is a living language.

Call it a MANAGE and be done with it! Haven't we enough foreign stuff to put up with, what with the EU and the USA?

How many foreign words have been anglesised (note: no American 'z')? And how much of our language has been corrupted, by Americanisation for another? Even the spell checkers do it, even when we specifically request European English!

Time to get our own back, I'd say. So the French don't like it. Tough!


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## eggs (1 December 2015)

Or just call it a school !!


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## fburton (1 December 2015)

Dry Rot said:



			Americanisation
		
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Discusting! :frown3:


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## sarcasm_queen (1 December 2015)

Manège. End of.


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## Casey76 (1 December 2015)

How extremely close minded Dry Rot.

btw, the use of "-ize" is not an Americanisation, and is correct English in some forms. i.e. if the root word is from Greek or Latin, then the -ize is correct; if the root word is French then -ise is correct.


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## Casey76 (1 December 2015)

fburton said:



			Discusting! :frown3:
		
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I hope that is sarcasm fburton... "discusting" is not a word


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## tallyho! (1 December 2015)

fburton said:



			Discusting! :frown3:
		
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Uphauling spelling fburton.


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## Dry Rot (1 December 2015)

Casey76 said:



			How extremely close minded Dry Rot.
		
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Not at all. I've edited several 16th century books into modern English because the wisdom they contained was incomprehensible to the modern reader. Our language is constantly changing. No need to give up now and accept foreign words for British things when we can quite easily make a new one to suit our own purposes. Pot calling the ketle black, springs to mind! Of course, if your menage is in France, use the French word.


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## Casey76 (1 December 2015)

If you can't use the correct term, use an English one - call it a school, arena, whatever.  No need to ignorantly use the wrong French term.  A good portion of the English language has French roots, but I don't think they have arisen from the transposition of two letters.

We would generally use manège for an indoor school and carrière for an outdoor.


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## Dry Rot (1 December 2015)

Casey76 said:



			If you can't use the correct term, use an English one - call it a school, arena, whatever.  No need to ignorantly use the wrong French term.  A good portion of the English language has French roots, but I don't think they have arisen from the transposition of two letters.

We would generally use manège for an indoor school and carrière for an outdoor.
		
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Who is "we" and when do "we" go back to "Olde Englische" for the sake of correctness?

So long as the meaning is clear, it really isn't that important. The important this is to communicate. Has nobody on here read teenagers' text speak? Whether we like it or not, that is probably the shape of things to come!


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## Abi90 (1 December 2015)

Dry Rot said:



			Who is "we" and when do "we" go back to "Olde Englische" for the sake of correctness?

So long as the meaning is clear, it really isn't that important. The important this is to communicate. Has nobody on here read teenagers' text speak? Whether we like it or not, that is probably the shape of things to come!

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Completely agree. The Welsh and French languages (and probably many more) take English words that they have no equivalent to and adjust them so they more "fit" their own languages. Why can't we do the same?

There are plenty of words in English that came from other languages that have been anglicised.

Or things go the other way. We say Connoisseur which is actually archaic French and they now say Conoitteur as the verb "to know" changed to Connaître. The circumflex accent acknowledging the missing "s" that came before the "T" in old French. 

If we start listing how many French words we're saying wrong we'd be here forever!


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## planete (1 December 2015)

Connoisseur?  Connais pas.  Connaisseur perhaps?

Personally I do not give a hoot how the Brits want to speak.  Freedom of speech, non?


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## kez81 (1 December 2015)

cptrayes said:



			Menage means household. 

Manege means arena for riding horses.

If you can't manage manege, pleeeeease say arena, if only to stop the French from wetting themselves laughing at us. 
	
	
		
		
	


	




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Lol, I have been known to take a red pen and correct the spelling when viewing property brochures with a friend. The estate agent raised an eyebrow and I had to red-facedly explain that as a teacher, I just couldn't stand not to correct it.


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## Leo Walker (1 December 2015)

Notimetoride said:



			This is the funniest thread I've seen in a long time.   Tho I put a post on here yonks ago asking why Northerners call it a sand paddock (especially when it's not sand) and not one person knew what I was in about.  I looked a right plonker.  But I know they are called sand paddocks up t'North as I'm a northerner from sunny lancs, now living in wilts.  No one here ever calls them sand paddocks.
		
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I'm from the North East and have honestly never heard the term sand paddock?!



eggs said:



			Or just call it a school !!
		
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Its always been a school to me, or occasionally the arena, never an arena though for some reason?!


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## Pedantic (1 December 2015)

Don't know if I can manage a menage or manage menege, or is it mangege a menage.....I normally say Menaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggge in a very posh tone, failing that I'm going in't School, which my pony views as the torture paddock, or is it paddeck, depends on how posh I pronounce it......


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## malaprop (2 December 2015)

Dry Rot: Bonjour!!. English as we know  it  today does contains MANY Norman French and French words: BISCUIT, bouquet(,not Bucket) Souffle, repartee, coup,crepe etc etc.All good French words  used frequently by us ENGLISH.  Whereas 'Cookies' are usually those things we are told we may get whilst googling, the Americans EAT them it seems!! We normally do not,but eat Biscuits instead!! The French take us for idiots for the liberties we  take with their lingo and try their best to speak as we do, politely asking. "How do you say in English"? So lets be a little more amenable and call a spade a spade and a special 'yard' for training one's horse. A Manege which it is., and a menage a domestic/household?)arrangement of whatever sort. Horses do not live or exercise in one's domestic  quarters!! Both those words Manege and Menage are French as all those above I have mentioned, It  is not only the French who do not like it but all of us English who know what a Menage is and have done even if we did not study Francais!!We are British and contacting each other in English I know but notice those words above ?They are used commonly  by us all , is this not so? Comprenez vous ? Merci Beaucoup .


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## tallyho! (2 December 2015)

malaprop said:



			Dry Rot: Bonjour!!. English as we know  it  today does contains MANY Norman French and French words: BISCUIT, bouquet(,not Bucket) Souffle, repartee, coup,crepe etc etc.All good French words  used frequently by us ENGLISH.  Whereas 'Cookies' are usually those things we are told we may get whilst googling, the Americans EAT them it seems!! We normally do not,but eat Biscuits instead!! The French take us for idiots for the liberties we  take with their lingo and try their best to speak as we do, politely asking. "How do you say in English"? So lets be a little more amenable and call a spade a spade and a special 'yard' for training one's horse. A Manege which it is., and a menage a domestic/household?)arrangement of whatever sort. Horses do not live or exercise in one's domestic  quarters!! Both those words Manege and Menage are French as all those above I have mentioned, It  is not only the French who do not like it but all of us English who know what a Menage is and have done even if we did not study Francais!!We are British and contacting each other in English I know but notice those words above ?They are used commonly  by us all , is this not so? Comprenez vous ? Merci Beaucoup .
		
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Ooh I tink i eez likeeng dis post....


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## Buddy'sMum (2 December 2015)

kez81 said:



			Lol, I have been known to take a red pen and correct the spelling when viewing property brochures with a friend. The estate agent raised an eyebrow and I had to red-facedly explain that as a teacher, I just couldn't stand not to correct it.
		
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 I've been known to take my red pen to restaurant menus ("pizza's" makes me go a bit Hulk).


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## mungasmum (2 December 2015)

If the Franch are really that bothered by our mispronunciations of Franch words that have entered into the English vernacular then perhaps they should have stayed at home in 1066...!


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## criso (2 December 2015)

I don't think it's relevant whether the word is french or how it's pronounced, there are two words (manege and menage) which mean entirely different things and some people use the wrong one - it's like affect and effect, except and accept, infer and imply, uninterested and disinterested etc

If people are worried about french words in english then use school or arena.


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## Mike007 (2 December 2015)

Pedantic said:



			Don't know if I can manage a menage or manage menege, or is it mangege a menage.....I normally say Menaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggge in a very posh tone, failing that I'm going in't School, which my pony views as the torture paddock, or is it paddeck, depends on how posh I pronounce it......
		
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You say tomato and I say tomato lets call the whole thing off.Errr, it doesnt work if you spell it correctly .


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## Dry Rot (2 December 2015)

The French chopped off the two most useful fingers of our English archers to render them harmless. I have my two fingers and intend to display them. It's a sodding MANAGE here, so there!


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## planete (3 December 2015)

Lol, Dryrot, if it means so much to you, I vote you keep your manage!  (I am french by the way!)


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## fburton (3 December 2015)

mungasmum said:



			If the Franch are really that bothered by our mispronunciations of Franch words that have entered into the English vernacular then perhaps they should have stayed at home in 1066...!
		
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Miaou! :wink3:


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## Annagain (3 December 2015)

Abi90 said:



			Completely agree. The Welsh and French languages (and probably many more) take English words that they have no equivalent to and adjust them so they more "fit" their own languages. Why can't we do the same?

There are plenty of words in English that came from other languages that have been anglicised.

Or things go the other way. We say Connoisseur which is actually archaic French and they now say Conoitteur as the verb "to know" changed to Connaître. The circumflex accent acknowledging the missing "s" that came before the "T" in old French. 

If we start listing how many French words we're saying wrong we'd be here forever!
		
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This reminds me of a holiday I went on to France with some friends. I have a French degree and for a whole week they thought it was hilarious to ask me what the French words for things were at every opportunity, especially words like restaurant, baguette, croissant, au pair, chauffeur etc. I wasn't anywhere near as amused by it as they were!


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## fburton (3 December 2015)

Apparently the French don't have a word for entrepreneur! :confused3:


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## Dry Rot (3 December 2015)

planete said:



			Lol, Dryrot, if it means so much to you, I vote you keep your manage!  (I am french by the way!)
		
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Not allowed one, actually, as the ponies are purely agricultural and bred for meat and deer extraction. A manage would make them amenity.

For some unknown reasons, the idiots still try to ride them!


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## malaprop (3 December 2015)

Criso: I do agree.  It is really galling when I hear folk who are bilingual and whose first language is NOT English, from the former British Empire, and  all parts of the world  and in Britain, now exclaiming ,"The English/British now do not know how to write and spell their own language"!! Those of WW2 vintage including some of us were really TAUGHT our language. How to write in special ' ruled writing books', how to spell and grammar too. // If one looks at old manuscripts and Deeds one cannot but help notice that they are indeed,".Works of Art" of our Clerics of old. Those who were taught before the War, for the most part, could also write so well. I have their letters.  //Now, we often find that the English written word is illegible and seems to be in a very strange script indeed as Old English once was.. I spent and entire day while in our County EDUCATION Dept. trying to explain to a younger English colleague that: Lose & Loose had TWO different meanings.. Finally, in exasperation, I told her to consult her Dictionary, perhaps the Oxford one as we were working in that TOWN with the world famous University!!// My sister was nearly SACKED while a secretary, by her English boss for bringing to his notice that his letter could NOT be understood.// I feel so ashamed especially when I repeat what historians know, that English is a gift to the world, the language of science, technology and medicine. A lingua franca as Latin once was//To have the benefit of FREE schooling as we do while millions do not and not appreciate it seems really 'difficult to understand' especially by those from countries that do NOT have this benefit.
The Gautama Buddha taught that to remain KNOWINGLY IGNORANT is a SIN and have an icon of a little clay lamp with a wick to denote WISDOM and learning. The lamp gives us the LIGHT of knowledge as IGNORANCE can cause so much chaos. Far better to stand corrected and accept one's errors than to brag about one's ignorance. i.e "Did you loose your purse," Yes, so I have no lose change now.?? My panties are sooo lose, I may loose ithem all together.   NOTICE  at swimming pool with a tiny bridge over the water leading to a cafe. " PLEASE DO NOT JUMP OFF OF THE BRIDGE"!! Also the following  "I could OF done it" should OF, and would OF. First heard spoken and now seen so often spelled that way too on Internet. I wondered if I COULD HAVE misread it the first time but the writer repeated it more than once. "THEIR ,, THEIR! I got the gist.  It's just THERE way of being Modairne!! SOOO NOT COOL to be a clever clogs who can spell these days when even Uni. dons tell us it's fine to be able to get the gist even if the spelling is weird. Gt i ?, f  u  dnt.,   hrd   chs.   I  cn  meneg t  rd  ths . cn  u?? Better jump off of my chair and have a cuppa. WHEW!


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## Leo Walker (3 December 2015)

What am I missing here?? I thought language was organic and changed over time almost like a living entity. No one talks in the language Shakespeare wrote in. That doesn't mean language now is inferior surely?! The Oxford English Dictionary adds new word every year to reflect the way its used. And lets not forget, while the UK is a tiny country we have distinct local dialects. Oh and also // isn't commonly accepted as punctuation


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## Leo Walker (3 December 2015)

malaprop said:



			Criso: I do agree.  It is really galling when I hear folk who are bilingual and whose first language is NOT English, from the former British Empire, and  all parts of the world  and in Britain, now exclaiming ,"The English/British now do not know how to write and spell their own language"!! Those of WW2 vintage including some of us were really TAUGHT our language. How to write in special ' ruled writing books', how to spell and grammar too. // If one looks at old manuscripts and Deeds one cannot but help notice that they are indeed,".Works of Art" of our Clerics of old. Those who were taught before the War, for the most part, could also write so well. I have their letters.  //Now, we often find that the English written word is illegible and seems to be in a very strange script indeed as Old English once was.. I spent and entire day while in our County EDUCATION Dept. trying to explain to a younger English colleague that: Lose & Loose had TWO different meanings.. Finally, in exasperation, I told her to consult her Dictionary, perhaps the Oxford one as we were working in that TOWN with the world famous University!!// My sister was nearly SACKED while a secretary, by her English boss for bringing to his notice that his letter could NOT be understood.// I feel so ashamed especially when I repeat what historians know, that English is a gift to the world, the language of science, technology and medicine. A lingua franca as Latin once was//To have the benefit of FREE schooling as we do while millions do not and not appreciate it seems really 'difficult to understand' especially by those from countries that do NOT have this benefit.
The Gautama Buddha taught that to remain KNOWINGLY IGNORANT is a SIN and have an icon of a little clay lamp with a wick to denote WISDOM and learning. The lamp gives us the LIGHT of knowledge as IGNORANCE can cause so much chaos. Far better to stand corrected and accept one's errors than to brag about one's ignorance. i.e "Did you loose your purse," Yes, so I have no lose change now.?? My panties are sooo lose, I may loose ithem all together.   NOTICE  at swimming pool with a tiny bridge over the water leading to a cafe. " PLEASE DO NOT JUMP OFF OF THE BRIDGE"!! Also the following  "I could OF done it" should OF, and would OF. First heard spoken and now seen so often spelled that way too on Internet. I wondered if I COULD HAVE misread it the first time but the writer repeated it more than once. "THEIR ,, THEIR! I got the gist.  It's just THERE way of being Modairne!! SOOO NOT COOL to be a clever clogs who can spell these days when even Uni. dons tell us it's fine to be able to get the gist even if the spelling is weird. Gt i ?, f  u  dnt.,   hrd   chs.   I  cn  meneg t  rd  ths . cn  u?? Better jump off of my chair and have a cuppa. WHEW!
		
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The temptation to correct your spelling and grammatical errors is nearly overwhelming, but I wont, because I'm not perfect either


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## planete (4 December 2015)

There are quite a few very clever but dyslexic people out there who are no longer put down and held in contempt for their lack of spelling skills.  This tolerance is a measure of increased knowledge and consideration for others in some circles and a huge improvement on previous attitudes.  There are also people for whom spelling is just not important in the great scheme of things.  I am of an older generation but cannot really get worked up about how other people spell or speak.  Their goodness of heart and honesty is far more important.


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## tallyho! (4 December 2015)

Oh my god, this thread... really brings out the nerd in people don't tit??


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## Dry Rot (4 December 2015)

tallyho! said:



			Oh my god, this thread... really brings out the nerd in people don't tit??
		
Click to expand...

You clearly lack a sense of humour! I am finding it hilarious!


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## malaprop (5 December 2015)

//= Is commonly accepted by those of us who want to save space. OK?   The Bard of Avon was able to attend grammar school until his Pa ran out of funds unlike both you and I. . Prithee sire,thou understandeth not. We are privileged so we should take advantage and LEARN that our lingo does have its RULES as the French  Italians etc also do. If we did not  why do we attend schools?? 
English may evolve which I have clearly explained or so I thought but there are RULES so that our INTERNATIONAL lingo can be UNDERSTOOD. Are you trying  to infer that the VERB: TO HAVE is  no longer in USE???? I have,, you have, we have, they have = It is the same in French and Italian etc.The former has a verb meaning To have:  J'ai  tu as, il a nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. I would love to know just what you and others were taught??  Do you accept that there is a VERB called  'HAVE' in the English language which has a different meaning to 'OF' in the 21 century??  Are you also aware that many students accepted at Universities o the UK cannot either read or write their own Mother tongue accepted Internationally??They require tuition in both Maths and English so the  tutors in Oxford University have found. 
It is not the  colloquial English used in various counties, shires, Glasgow and Edinburgh or Cockney slang,   that I bring to your attention but that which is commonly used INTERNATIONALLY.and in Britain too.  "Oi 'av an 'owse in Larndon.  Av you? Oi will nip up the apples & pears to comb my barnet ,me old man will be back in a jiffy. . Fings aint wot they used to be wiv us round 'ere'.Them riders fink they are  the cat's whiskers, take up the whole bloomin road they do?. Very entertaining too.//, A Croatian I met at Madrid airport spoke wonderfully COMPREHENSIBLE English. I asked him why he spoke so well as I sometimes could not understand my compatriots?? The Spanish Pilot in charge of our plane did not, which we both found very disconcerting.  As he rattled off at 20 wps(words per second)we wondered whether he was issuing a WARNING'  expecting to make  a forced landing or not?    A very unacceptable state of  affairs//. .English is a very 'mongrel' lingo and not very phonetic either so why make it more difficult ? That Croatian wanted to know why those he worked with addressed him as 'Mate'? Had to explain as best I could but that is not what bothers me and many others too as I have tried hard to explain.//Feel free to correct any punctuation,, grammar or spelling you may find as I have past the  'Biblical three score years and ten but am learning all the time and make myself understood wherever I have had the pleasure  of  travelling too. //Moreover Any author or comedian  worth his  salt can usually be understood in PLAIN English or can 'study colloquial terms if they care to. I am NOT referring to dialects within Britain as I am well  travelled and are very aware of . Just in case anyone reading this should travel to Perthshire they may hear this re: a pet " Ooh he's 'kickin' a beastie' " That's English as she is spoke beyond Hadrian's Wall. Ten out of ten if Anyone  can explain? to us southerners. // The Oxford Dict. publishers are having a field day and filling up their coffers with all this 'Internet speak' Estuary English,  Afro Caribbean slang  now adopted by some ethnic English too. Find it very incongruous. We shall have to BUY  many of their publications which is what they are after.//Meanwhile. " I will keep trying to make my compatriots respect our wonderful language, of what  ever era but know that there is a VERB known as 'HAVE' and learn STANDARD ENGLISH too so they can be widely understood as they travel around the world.
 After all  Geoffrey Chaucer's son, Thomas is buried in our local church.// The moving  finger having writ , moves on. Fare thee well and may your God be with you (Goodbye,)


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## EQUIDAE (5 December 2015)

malaprop said:



			//= Is commonly accepted by those of us who want to save space. OK?
		
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Actually no it isn't OK. It also isn't a commonly accepted way of saving space - as it doesn't. "Sentence"..."sentence", however is.


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## Leo Walker (5 December 2015)

Malprop have you maybe had more to drink than is generally advisable for posting on a public forum? I really hope so! My only other interpretation on reading that massive amount of drivel is that you have been smoking crack! A commonly used phrase in the North East where smoking crack is reasonably common among a certain section of society and is used relatively commonly when someone says something so ridiculous its could only be attributed to Class A drugs!


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## DabDab (5 December 2015)

I believe the phrase 'to lose one's marbles' was originally a poor translation of the French phrase 'to lose one's furniture'

And then there's all the uk place names that are successive mispronounciations of French words. The small town I live in has a name that is essentially a mispronounced version of the French 'beaulieu', but if you tried to refer to it by the original now nobody would know what you were on about.

Without people, language doesn't exist - if people stop using a particular pronunciation on mass then it stops being 'correct' and becomes just a part of history.


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## EQUIDAE (6 December 2015)

It is amusing that Malaprop has taken their name from that idiotic woman


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## mungasmum (6 December 2015)

malaprop said:



			//= Is commonly accepted by those of us who want to save space. OK?   The Bard of Avon was able to attend grammar school until his Pa ran out of funds unlike both you and I. . Prithee sire,thou understandeth not. We are privileged so we should take advantage and LEARN that our lingo does have its RULES as the French  Italians etc also do. If we did not  why do we attend schools?? 
English may evolve which I have clearly explained or so I thought but there are RULES so that our INTERNATIONAL lingo can be UNDERSTOOD. Are you trying  to infer that the VERB: TO HAVE is  no longer in USE???? I have,, you have, we have, they have = It is the same in French and Italian etc.The former has a verb meaning To have:  J'ai  tu as, il a nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. I would love to know just what you and others were taught??  Do you accept that there is a VERB called  'HAVE' in the English language which has a different meaning to 'OF' in the 21 century??  Are you also aware that many students accepted at Universities o the UK cannot either read or write their own Mother tongue accepted Internationally??They require tuition in both Maths and English so the  tutors in Oxford University have found. 
It is not the  colloquial English used in various counties, shires, Glasgow and Edinburgh or Cockney slang,   that I bring to your attention but that which is commonly used INTERNATIONALLY.and in Britain too.  "Oi 'av an 'owse in Larndon.  Av you? Oi will nip up the apples & pears to comb my barnet ,me old man will be back in a jiffy. . Fings aint wot they used to be wiv us round 'ere'.Them riders fink they are  the cat's whiskers, take up the whole bloomin road they do?. Very entertaining too.//, A Croatian I met at Madrid airport spoke wonderfully COMPREHENSIBLE English. I asked him why he spoke so well as I sometimes could not understand my compatriots?? The Spanish Pilot in charge of our plane did not, which we both found very disconcerting.  As he rattled off at 20 wps(words per second)we wondered whether he was issuing a WARNING'  expecting to make  a forced landing or not?    A very unacceptable state of  affairs//. .English is a very 'mongrel' lingo and not very phonetic either so why make it more difficult ? That Croatian wanted to know why those he worked with addressed him as 'Mate'? Had to explain as best I could but that is not what bothers me and many others too as I have tried hard to explain.//Feel free to correct any punctuation,, grammar or spelling you may find as I have past the  'Biblical three score years and ten but am learning all the time and make myself understood wherever I have had the pleasure  of  travelling too. //Moreover Any author or comedian  worth his  salt can usually be understood in PLAIN English or can 'study colloquial terms if they care to. I am NOT referring to dialects within Britain as I am well  travelled and are very aware of . Just in case anyone reading this should travel to Perthshire they may hear this re: a pet " Ooh he's 'kickin' a beastie' " That's English as she is spoke beyond Hadrian's Wall. Ten out of ten if Anyone  can explain? to us southerners. // The Oxford Dict. publishers are having a field day and filling up their coffers with all this 'Internet speak' Estuary English,  Afro Caribbean slang  now adopted by some ethnic English too. Find it very incongruous. We shall have to BUY  many of their publications which is what they are after.//Meanwhile. " I will keep trying to make my compatriots respect our wonderful language, of what  ever era but know that there is a VERB known as 'HAVE' and learn STANDARD ENGLISH too so they can be widely understood as they travel around the world.
 After all  Geoffrey Chaucer's son, Thomas is buried in our local church.// The moving  finger having writ , moves on. Fare thee well and may your God be with you (Goodbye,)
		
Click to expand...

Calm down, dear!


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## Feival (6 December 2015)

Its a school, and any one saying different on the yards I've been on has be considered part of the 'ATGNI' crew &#55357;&#56836;


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## malaprop (6 December 2015)

I see you have noticed Equidae!! I  hoped someone would as I did it on purpose and found it amusing too.  Perhaps some will have noted that others too have noticed that particular malapropism.   I was referred to this site by Googling.!  Another commentator I spotted on this website could not help correcting 'Menage'  whenever she spotted it. Good for you!!
DabDab . Many Place names sometimes are SHORTENED such as Woolsery in N.Devon the original name was WOOLFARDISWORTHY and  still bing used in Google maps . Bensington on Thames in Oxon. is now called Benson.//  It is not only French name places which are not pronounced as they may once have been but  Anglo Saxon ones too. What about BEORMINGHAM( Beorma ingha's ham) but in reality it too is a shortened version . In the case of both Benson and Woolsery  A great man of us living in these places DO know what one is on about!!   There is also Towcester called Toaster a short form NOT a mispronounciation as such.  What I was referring to in the first instance were Malapropisms: words that sound almost the same being used WRONGLY. Hyacinth Bouquet if u ever saw the TV series sometimes did too and one episode of that series was filmed in BENSON!! if u (short form many of us now use on our mobiles and the Internet too just in case any Grammarian of Purist may read this) saw it was the hilarious  one at Benson Lock where she went boating and  eventually fell in the river Thames //It is NOT a mispronounciation at all. IT is a WORD wrongly used just as folk in the last  few year now say  "WOULD OF and WRITE it that way too INSTEAD 
of WOULD HAVE"!! Another instance of "should I really have to write it" ignorance !! Sorry but its true.but we attend free schools are taught our mother tongue( or are they?) Many folk whose mother tongue it is not and have  learned English do know the difference.. WHY??


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