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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2023 April 30

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April 30

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Why do people sometimes respond with "thanks - you too!" after someone wishes them Happy Birthday, or says "enjoy your meal/flight/etc."

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I must admit that I've slipped up and done it a couple of times. Always felt stupid afterwards - brain on autopilot moment. Just been googling around and it seems that it's quite a common thing. Iloveparrots (talk) 18:35, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I've done it and felt stupid immediately afterwards for not paying enough attention to what the other person said, or what I said. It's usually a case of being too preoccupied with what is going on to to formulate a correct response. I don't think anyone has taken it amiss - flight attendants must hear this multiple times a day, for instance.Acroterion (talk) 18:43, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I don't suppose it's too bad if you're saying it to a flight attendant who's on the same plane as you. The person at the ticket desk on the other hand... I've personally said it to waiters before and then had to laugh at myself and offer a "sorry, man". Iloveparrots (talk) 18:52, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, mostly a reflex, I guess. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 21:03, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
"Autopilot" is a good explanation, responding in kind without thinking about it first. One funny example is in the movie "The Naked Gun", when the two stars get together for a date. Priscilla Presley tells Leslie Nielsen, "I'm a very lucky woman!" He responds, "So am I!" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:58, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Leslie Nielson was a hilarious guy. He's missed. Cullen328 (talk) 20:00, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Another hilarious guy said, "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."[1]  --Lambiam 05:37, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That one sounds funny, but it actually makes sense. If you think of new ways your country could be harmed, you might also think of ways to prevent them from happening. --174.89.12.187 (talk) 08:49, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
So we also never stop thinking about ways to harm our country. Right. It sounds like a malapropism, and reminds me of Chicago's Mayor Daley, quoted in 1968, "The police are not here to create disorder, they're here to preserve disorder." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 09:34, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

England's use of the word 'again'

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Which English accent says uh-gain for again, rather than uh-ghen? 86.130.77.121 (talk) 19:10, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I can think of Brits ranging from Rex Harrison to Adele pronouncing it "uh-gain". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:55, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In which accent are YOU speaking when you say uh-gain and uh-ghen? (And what's that h doing there?) HiLo48 (talk) 22:08, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I assume the h is there to fend off a reading "gen as in Gen X". —Tamfang (talk) 22:49, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
So it's a silent h? Nothing to do with chickens? Not very helpful. It could mean anything. HiLo48 (talk) 00:03, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It's a common way of clarifying the value of g before e or i, presumably inspired by Italian orthography. Our respelling key does it. Nardog (talk) 02:14, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I'm Irish and I say uh-ghen. 86.130.77.121 (talk) 19:33, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Let's use IPA; that should make things clear. For people who don't know IPA, just read the article. I think the question is about /ə'gɛn/ vs. /ə'geɪn/. Not being British, I can't answer the question. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:07, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I am (an English English speaker, mostly southern), and my usage is mixed depending on context, position, emphasis and a load of other linguistic stuff that automatically happens. /əˈɡɛn/ is probably my prevalent pronunciation. Bazza (talk) 09:17, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, no, not again.[2]  --Lambiam 14:27, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
/e/ refers to DRESS in British usage and to FACE in American usage. And using /eɪ/ inevitably implies exclusion of those with monophthongal FACE or without vowel duration contrast, even if your intention is to include them. The IPA does not make things any clearer than any other form of transcription. Providing enough context to identity the underlying conventions and the level of abstraction does. Nardog (talk) 15:19, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
What "might be a glide"? A diphthong like [eɪ] is already composed of a nucleus and a glide. Nardog (talk) 16:00, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I thought of something similar to /eː/ ~ /eːi/, I guess... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 16:31, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In 1982 Wells was writing that FACE was more common than DRESS in again (and the opposite in ate), but his 2008 dictionary reports 80% of BrE speakers preferred the latter and "Many British English speakers use both pronunciations." Nardog (talk) 15:46, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
After thinking, I wonder if the OP might have mixed up /eɪ/ and /eː/, where the latter sound mostly seems to occur in Scots and possibly Northern English varieties. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 15:54, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The fictional characters I've heard say uh-gain were... Auntie Mabel (Lynda Baron from Urmston, Lancashire), Tom Oakley from the countryside village Little Weirwold (John Thaw from Gorton, Manchester), Mary Poppins in London (Julie Andrews from Hersham, Surrey) and the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith from Northampton, Northamptonshire). 86.130.77.121 (talk) 19:53, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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