Chewing the fat.

Well it did not help with Broughton St, but Websters online has a great tool for those mystery words. Each word has an audio option that will pronounce the word.
Funny thing about names. The correct pronunciation is the one that is accepted by the people closest to it. I know quite a few Stephens that are "stefen", and quite a few that are "steven". Of course, if you are a BBC fan, you may be aware that the name Bucket, could be correctly pronounced "Bouquet"

[CaptainK]

Gee Lodesman. I did not know that.

But the part about how people pronounce things. I understand. I hear people here in the USA, mispronounce words. You're not alone in this world?

Of course we have addressed that by calling certain mispronunciations "accepted use", and adding them to the language. That has been the way as long as language has been around, hence the origin of many of the phrases n this thread. Of course, when accepted use pervails to such an extent that it can not be isolated to individual phrases, a new dialect is formed. Such as ebonics. Yo dog? But keep it on the down low or homie be trippin

[CaptainK]

Yo yo yo MTV Raps. Kickin' it homestyle dog.

Snicker Snicker

[Lodesman]

If your name was Bucket, wouldn't you pronounce it differently? Mind you "a scared sailor with a bouquet" doesn't really have the same ring, does it?

[BC Mike]

Is now hoof, just like the ruff on your house, at the end of the rough road that gets ploughed ( plowed ) in the winter. I share office space with a Notary from Yugoslavia. We are always in the dictionary. I was explaining incognito last time.
This why I had to get rid of " Anemone " as a boat name.
In Kelowna we have Bernard Avenue named after an early settler.
It is pronounced the way you would say Bernard as in Saint Bernard the dog, which is not correct.
Michael

[Lodesman]

Actually it's pronounced 'hock', which is the way the Americans spell it. The hoof is south of the hock/hough.

I firmly belive that a hard to pronounce boat name has an advantage. When you can no longer tell people the name of your boat, it is time to leave the bar

[BC Mike]

The line in the quote said he then checked his horses houghs.
So I would have thought he was checking the horses hoofs, which would be a common practice, as opposed to checking the horses hocks.
But when I check my English dictionary for hough, it says see hock. Well fancy that. No bloody wonder we are all confused.
Michael

[capt lar]

Any idea where the term "pushpit" came from ?
I see it used to describe what I have always refered to as stern rail.

Larry

[Lodesman]

Opposite end of pulpit (pull-pit).

[delmarrey]

Try saying this one real fast..................

There was a skunk that sat on a stump.
The stump thought the skunk stunk,
but the skunk thought the stump stunk.
So, who do you think stunk, the stump or the skunk?

[Sonofason]

To jump back to port/starboard; I had always heard that larboard was changed to port because you would not tie up your boat to the wharf with the steering board against the wharf because it would get banged up, hece the 'port' side.

As for bitter end, the hemp lines were whipped and dipped in pitch to keep from unraveling, after which an unlucky crewman got to spit or lick the end to set the pitch, and it tasted bitter, hence 'bitter end'.

Don't know if it's true, but it sounds good with a beer in your hand...