Realtors--meet on in FeBOOary in the Liberry

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Random832 <random832 at ...> wrote:
>
> >> Random832 wrote:>>
> >> I-ern for "Iron" - READ THE DAMN WORD. Or don't. It is English, 
> >> after all, the language with the most screwed-up spelling system
> >> ever. 
> >>
> >> It's not "wrong".
> > 
> > Mike:
> > From the on-line American Heritage® Dictionary:
> > i·ern ---- that's a long "I" and an upside down "e"
> > 
> > No other pronunciation offered. What other way did you have in mind, 
> > Random?
> 
> Random832:
> 
> how about i-ron?
> 
> My point was, rather, words change. That one did long ago. Some (most of 
> them complained about in this thread) are changing today. Who knows what 
> words will change tomorrow?

Geoff:
Most English folk will pronounce 'iron' so that the 'r' is fairly weak as in 'fire' 
or 'shire'. Many people with a strong Scots accent will roll the 'r' so it comes 
out as 'irrr-on'  if you can interpret that spelling.

On the question of 'realtor', in the UK, we get round the problem by 
pronouncing the word as 'estate agent'.
:-))