[HPFGU-OTChatter] "The Noughties"?

[Janette]

Carol :

> I see that Julie Walters has referred in a recent interview to the
> years 2000-2009 as "the Noughties," an expression I've never
> encountered before.
>
> Geoff, or any other Brit on the list, how would you pronounce
> "noughties" (or "noughty," if you prefor the singular form, which I
> can't imagine being used)? Is "noughty" a homonym of "naughty" (which,
> to me, sounds exactly like "knotty") or is it more like "nowty"?
>
> Carol, for whom British spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary are
> endlessly fascinating


montims:

My two pennorth: Noughty IS a homonym of naughty, which is the punning
aspect of it, but it is pronounced norty in both cases (well, fellow Brits -
not quite, but good enough for the purposes of this discussion...)  Just
don't stress the r...    It is, of course, derived from "nought", meaning
nothing, and now I have it - that rhymes with thought.  For example, how
would you pronounce Dreadnought?  In Yorkshire where I lived for a few
years, the word would be pronounced, and spelt, nowt...

Back to an old hairy/harry pronunciation controversy - How do you say Bill
Haley, and Halle Berry?  I heard both these names spoken on tv recently, and
had the aha moment - change the l for an r (like those old bad Chinese
impersonations) and you have the pronunciation of Hairy and Harry.  Dadah!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]