Have you ever disagreed on a language issue with someone who thought they were right, even though you were?

Question

One night, I was telling my stepdad about this commercial I saw using the word "pancetta". I knew that it was Italian (for bacon) and the (soft) "c" was pronounced like the English "ch". He then told me it was pronounced like the "c" was an "s". I told him that is was pronounced like "ch". He disagreed. I told him that it was an Italian word, and in Italian you pronounce a soft "c" like "ch". He STILL disagreed. Obviously, I wasn't going to get anywhere so I changed the subject.

My question is, has something like this happened to you, where someone disagreed with you on language issues, thinking they were correct and trying to convince you that they were right even though you knew that you were right? What happened? What word/phrase/etc. was it?

Answer 1

I speak fluent German, and that song "Danke Schoen" always made me mad, because it's pronounced sort of like "shern" but everyone always says "shane."

I always tell everyone that the song isn't pronounced right, and every single person always says "no...it's not! it's right! blah blah blah"

Answer 2

OMG, I know exactly what you mean. I speak fluent spanish, mostly because I taught myself, but when I was in college, I minored in spanish because it looks better on a degree (plus it was soo easy for me). I was in an accelrated intermediate spanish class and the professor (actually a grad assistant..who was a native spanish speaker from Colombia) was talking to us about the difference between preterite and imperfect past tenses in spanish. I know spanish grammar like the back of my hand so when he wrote an example on the board and asked the class if it was an example of preterite or imperfect, I said it was imperfect, and he said...no, its preterite......(and it was SOOOO in imperfect tense, obviously)

so instead of asking in front of the whole class, why and disrespecting the professor, I waited until the class was over, called him aside, and asked him IN SPANISH, why it was that way? and not only did he answer me in ENGLISH (which made me mad) but he said: "I can't expect you to understand, its a little difficult"........so I asked him then......well maybe can I come by your office later and you can explain it to me? And he said "the people are coming in for the next class"......in other words......I dont want to help you!

GRRRRRR, I was SOOO mad that I dropped his class and changed teachers, and got an A without studying.

Just because your native in the language doesn't mean you can teach it!

Answer 3

It does happen very often... here on
Answers!
Me and other native Italians (mostly living in Italy...) have to face people from other Countries who apparently demand to know Italian better than people who talk that language everyday since they were child. Sometimes it happens the asker choose as "best answer" a completely senseless translation which clearly came out from an automatic translator and the users who post that kind of answer often do not even state how they did it...

And now I suppose there's a cat which bear "free of cost" as a name :-) A person liked "free soul" for the cat, but wanted it in Italian; but looked for the wrong meaning, since "gratis" means "free" as in "free of cost", not as in "freedom". I warned him/her, but nobody cared.

If you want a "current" one, look here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApYf_7OYHz6p2JntocyYtg_ty6IX?qid=20070821181259AAceWrC&show=7#profile-info-xScpXgphaa
I'm Italian native speaker and I live in Italy, but according to somebody (two thumbs down to me, 2 or three thumbs up to wrong answers) I *don't* know how to pronounce the Italian word "grigio"...

Answer 4

Here's as sincere of an comparison as you are going to get. Foul Language: Some men actually suppose it is the most effective method they will get any awareness in any respect is to make use of unhealthy phrases, specifically for the reason that there may be stress on men to behave like "Bad boys" for the reason that females are supposedly no longer drawn to first-class men. Dating is in no way convenient for men. Or they would simply undeniable no longer care. Not showering: Guys normally don't discover that they're used to their possess scent and can take a look at to determine how lengthy they may be able to cross with out showering or whatever like that -- until they truthfully care for themselves meticulously. In blue-collar paintings, it is far more traditional for men to move more than one days with out showering. My stepfather used to move three or four days with out showering and might no longer bathe after paintings, which induced the grime to settle into the sheets. White collar staff, similar to accountants, will more often than not bathe and use deodorant day-to-day, or two times an afternoon, for the reason that look is aspect of the task. Gas: Okay, this one is so no longer me, however a few men recall it humorous, horny and an accomplishment to be capable to allow one cross. Because they are so used to it, if they're round ladies, they're going to suppose they'll discover it humorous, horny and an accomplishment as good, despite the fact that it is relatively nasty and gross. So nearly, the mentality on each side demands to difference. Men have to be classier and females have to provide extra possibilities to first-class men.

Answer 5

Ugh. I take French in school, and I'm pretty good at it compared to other people.Once we had to say "Je vais acheter" which means "I'm going to buy". It's pronounced "jzeh vays ash-tay" but a lot of people were pronouncing it "jzAI vays ash-tay" which means something different entirely. It was annoying.

Answer 6

You were right. I work in a restaurant and our head chef lived in Tuscany for four years and he uses pancetta a lot in recipes

Answer 7

i agree with askawow. hers is similar to mine... (some whitey.lol, no offense im half white) responded to my answer by posting a "Question" saying i was wrong. he didnt even post a question, just a statement saying i was a shame to my race cus i couldnt speak it properly. Im chinese by the way, the dialect i speak is cantonese.
anyway the guy who showed his ignorance, obviously didnt realize there is more than one chinese language. he seemed to know a FEW words in mandarin... so i guess that made him a chinese liguist, in his head.
someone typed a question- HOW DO YOU SAY HOW ARE YOU AND HELLO IN CHINESE?- i specifically put, in my DIALECT, cantonese, we say it - NAY HO MAH?
and the smart a ss posted the question/statement saying it is-
NEE HOW MAH!.......but like i said, he obviously didnt know there were multiple dialects... so that means he didnt know much at all...... anyway he wasted points in telling me something i already knew how to pronounce in mandarin. and he made himself look stupid to all those that can speak cantonese, bc a few people came to my rescue- telling him i was correct, using cantonese

Answer 8

it happened so many times in here culture>languages.
im japanese. japanese is complicated. sometimes i saw some answers are wrong. but still get 10 points.
because questioner doesnt understand much japanese. (i know this is why they are asking question lol)
anyway nobody can change. they gonna realize someday. or not?

*add
just happend today too
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsEGRzYgZeXUaaulNfw4aOzty6IX?qid=20070820175541AA3nUwF&show=7#profile-info-3Puj63t7aa
his ans. is totally wrong.
'e.g.' does not make sense. that's not japanese. but still get 10 point. see?
he's using web, im using my brain.

Answer 9

Yes I have, and I won my case. I was arguing with someone about some language [forgot which one: could be either English or Chinese.], then I asked them one question in the end, and they couldn't answer me. Meaning I won.

Answer 10

NO PROBLEM MOST OF THEM THINK THEY ARE INTELLEGENT OF THEIR OWN.JUST SEARCH THE TUTORIALS OF THAT LANGUAGE IN GOOGLE SEARCH AND SHOW HIM THE CORRECT WAY