Squibs / Pronunciations of lots of words

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Stacey wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33033>:

<< I am trying to write a fic and was wondering about something. Can
the offspring and descendants of a squib be considered pure blood, if
all said descendants are indeed wizards/witches? >>

I think the descendents of a pureblood witch/wizard and a Squib from a
pureblood family would claim to be purebloods, if necessary by
claiming that the Squib was really a witch or wizard. First claim that
the census records are wrong, then pay someone to destroy or alter them.

 <<  Is it possible for a squib to have wizard/witch offspring? >>

It should be easier for Squibs to have wizarding children than for
Muggles to do so. I consider that Squibs are homozygous for the
recessive yes-Magic gene (that controls whether or not a person  has
magic, while many other genes influence how strong various aspects of
the magic are) but don't express the magic due to some kind of birth
defect. So the offspring of two Squibs should be as likely to be magic
as the offspring of a witch and wizard, and the offspring of a Squib
and a Muggle as likely to be magic as any Half-blood. 

I also have a theory that wizarding people only marry Muggles who are
heterozygous for the yes-Magic gene because the ones who are
homozygous no-magic just "smell" wrong. So the statistical change of a
half-and-half child to have magic would be 50%. I think this is
increased by other factors, such as I think almost all children born
to witches have magic for much the same reason that Rh- mothers
usually miscarry Rh+ fetusses.

Tonks wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33069>:

<< I am with Steve... where I live Harry is Hairy and Sirius is
Serious... all the same here. Midwest. >>

Midwesterners pronounce 'Harry' like 'Sirius'?

Montims wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33072>:

<< "irritate"? Pyramus? (the lover of Thisbe in Midsummer Night's
Dream) Also Sirius rhymes with Bilius (with the "o as riental" l/r
confusion) - Ron's middle name.  >>

I don't think Bilius starts with same vowel as Sirius or irritate.
Fleur's pronunciation, Beel, starts with the same vowel as Sirius and
irritate. And heal and heel and seal -- 'Seal-ius'? 

I think Bilius starts with the same vowel as silly and jealous and
gelatin and Melissa. Now I am mumbling to myself about sir and cirrus
and cygnet ... mermaid and meerkat ... 

I think 'irritate' starts with 'ear'. The same sound as 'Pyramus'
starts with peer/pier, and 'Sirius' and 'serious' start with
sear/seer. (Seer like Trelawney pronounced like sear,not like
sightsee-er). I've only seen 'sere' in writing so I don't know whether
it's pronounced the same as seer/sear (my guess) or like 'share' with
s instead of sh. 

Geoff wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33082>:

<< Miriam? >>

Miriam is also pronounced like 'ear'. And 'mere' as in 'a mere
scratch'. And 'mere' a dark scary isolated lake. 

Someone used the nomme d'Yahoo 'Mirzam Black'. That's a star in the
same constellation, but one I have never heard spoken. I thought I
assumed it was pronounced like Miriam with z instead of the second i,
but just now writing this post, I noticed I'm now pronouncing Mirzam
like Sir zam and mermaid.

montims wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33083>:

<< and pyramid  >>

I must confess that I thought you'd written 'pyramid' in your previous
post that I replied to, above. Since I pronounce the first syllable of
Pyramid and Pyramus the same (and Cyrano has the same vowel), I didn't
have to change my reply except the one word 'Pyramus'.

Goddlefrood wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33087>:

<< Irrigate, iridium >>

More vowels like Sirius.

<< Anyway, what I'd like to know from our Amewrican friends is why on
earth do you not pronounce the h in herb. >>

Mew.

I didn't know until now that the British pronunciation was different. 

I started most words by pronouncing them by the sight of their written
form, so it never occurred to me that 'erb' was the correct
pronunciation until parents corrected me; I still pronounce the H
unless I am remembering to be careful with my pronunciation. I
pronounce the H in Herbology and herbiage (is that a word?) without a
second thought.

It has occured to that Spanish (Mexican Spanish anyway) for 'herb'
might be 'yerba' because spearmint is Yerba Buena, and I've read
representations of some rural British dialects saying 'yarb'.

Goddlefrood wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/33112>:

<< you might care to know that the eqivalent of "my two cents" would
be a small two penn'orth. Just a small two penn'orth. >>

My recollection of happy old days on the mail list is that different
people (presumably from different parts of Britain) had different
sign-offs:

Just my 2p worth
just my tuppence worth
just my two-penn'orth

Maybe others that I don't recall. I have trouble imagining that the
phrase two cents worth originated before America split from Britain
(wasn't tuppence a day's wage for a common laborer then?). 

Otherwise, in which country did it start and then spread to the other?
And what did it mean? I don't know how to research my theory that it
started as price of a postage stamp, referring to someone writing a
letter to say their tuppence worth, because in-person, by letter, or
publishing printed matter, were the only means to have one's say.