mysterious "a-words" now we're REALLY confused

[irbohlen at email.unc.edu]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., dawncad1 at y... wrote:
> 
> > 
> > So if "a--" isn't "ass" (or "arse") what the bloody hell is it? 
(g)
> > 
> > Incidentally, I'm hoping to see the film tomorrow, so at last I 
> might 
> > actually know what some of these discussions are really about...
> > Bert
> 
> I'm pretty sure Malfoy said "a-s-s". After seeing the movie the
first 
> time, I was discussing this with my friend. We were both surprised 
> that a child was allowed to say it in a PG movie. In US television, 
> saing a-s-s is no longer censored, I don't know if this is the case 
> for other countries, but I was still shocked to hear a child say it 
> in a children's film.

OK. Here's how I understand this. Malfoy says "arse" in the film at
some point [which I don't remember after 2 viewings, probably 
because I was so exercised about Ron saying "bloody brilliant" to 
McGonagall]. How do I know he says "arse"? because the word
"ass" in British English, as far as I know,  means donkey, and I 
can' t think of a situation where Malfoy would reference such a creature.

However, what a lot of Americans don't know is that the "r" in arse
is silent. So yes, the words "arse" and "ass" sound the same.  Sort of. 

In fact, I learned when I worked in London that when English-speakers
[as opposed to American-speakers] want to indicate what we 
Americans call an "ah" sound, they write "ar". Yes it's true. Think about
the singer Sade, who for years over here in the US was called "ShaRday" 
because that's what her  British publicists put out as the pronunciation, 
meaning of course "Sha-day".

Getting back to the a-word, like "bloody brilliant" I don't remember
"arse" in the book. Maybe Steve Kloves thought they needed to 
modernise things a bit.

Ivis the elderly