Wondering how to pronunce a certain name?

[OakLeaf]

but it depends on where you are how things are pronounced. I used to live on a street in Boise, Idaho called ROSSI street and everyone pronounced it ross eye
(except me)

like Moscow, Idaho is not pronounced like Moscow, Russia.
and many many more.

The database takes that into account (e.g., L. Frank Baum is pronounced differently from Martin Baum) - it's partially about where the people live now, but more about where their families are from, and somewhat about personal preference. I pronounce my own last name slightly differently from the way my father does!

DH likes to laugh at the way Ohioans (aka Ahahns) pronounce the names of places that are named after foreign cities. I'd have more patience for this prejudice if he actually pronounced the unvoiced double "T" in his own Italian-derived last name.

[Biciclista]

and to add to my own confusion, my own name.
In Italy, the ch is pronounced K
At Ellis Island, my grandfather was told our name would now
have the ch sound as in cheese.
this wasn't uniform, and depending on who you ask, the name has other pronunciations.
My brother is the only male who carried on the family name and had sons.
his son calls himself this name
with a SH sound!! I corrected him but he ignored me. it's HIS name.

[Owlie]

DH likes to laugh at the way Ohioans (aka Ahahns) pronounce the names of places that are named after foreign cities. I'd have more patience for this prejudice if he actually pronounced the unvoiced double "T" in his own Italian-derived last name.

Versailles, pronounced Ver-sails. That grates on my ears every time I hear it.

[OakLeaf]

Versailles, pronounced Ver-sails. That grates on my ears every time I hear it.

Versailles, Lima, Milan, Bellefontaine, Bremen, Gallipolis, Gnadenhutten, even Toledo...

It goes the other way, too. When I visited my sister in Dallas this fall, it turns out that one of her riding buddies grew up near where I live now. We were talking about the area, people we knew in common, things that had changed, when I said something about Newark. He pounced on the name like a thirsty man with a glass of water. "Nerk! You said Nerk!" he said.

[Owlie]

Versailles, Lima, Milan, Bellefontaine, Bremen, Gallipolis, Gnadenhutten, even Toledo...

It goes the other way, too. When I visited my sister in Dallas this fall, it turns out that one of her riding buddies grew up near where I live now. We were talking about the area, people we knew in common, things that had changed, when I said something about Newark. He pounced on the name like a thirsty man with a glass of water. "Nerk! You said Nerk!" he said.

I'm from southern Ohio, so Versailles was the first thing that popped into my head. But Lima and Toledo, those are the other two that bug me--thanks, five years of school Spanish.

[shootingstar]

I remember watching a Food Network show that explained the origin of beignet..and amazed that the American show didn't even acknowledge it came originally from French cuisine,....which is a term in its original French word is also used in southern Germany. Not surprising since that Alsace in France used to be part a Germanic state.

The narrator just explained when beignets were introduced into the U.S....now the doughnut.

Of course, I bow deeply to the French and southern Germans, that beignets are NOT at all like the doughnuts that we associate here in North America. I only know this because my German partner's mother used to make them.

We do use the original foreign language word for same thing in English language dialogue, a certain noodle stir-fry dish has a completely different word when one talks about CHinese cuisine, Japanese cuisnes or Thai cuisine. There are some dishes that are exactly the same in execution, ingredients and taste across those 3 countires.

[OakLeaf]

New Orleans beignets are exactly like doughnuts, except for the shape. And the fact that there's nowhere else in the USA (that I know of) that you can get doughnuts fried to order.

What are they like in France and Germany?

[shootingstar]

New Orleans beignets are exactly like doughnuts, except for the shape. And the fact that there's nowhere else in the USA (that I know of) that you can get doughnuts fried to order.

What are they like in France and Germany?

According to dearie, I am wrong, the southern Germans call them, 'berliners'. There's a way of pronouncing 'berliners' in German, that isn't so hard sounding as in English.

They are always made of yeast based dough, dusted with sugar and cinnamon and inside have a fruit jam filling.

I haven't yet tried a beignet in France.

German puff pastry is a completely different word than the French word for puff pastry, which I'm not even sure what the latter is. I would have to consult a dictionary for German to spell it out. Most definitely with Germans who speak English during the whole evening, it would be better to use the German puff pastry word. Just like the French, they too, are proud of the gourmet art and craft of handmade puff pastry from scratch.

There are certain concepts/words that denote historical legacy, cultural pride and craftsmanship/skill/artistry that originated in mother country, where it is better to learn and use the word for it when you are talking about that thing in English.

[Duck on Wheels]

Hmmm. That never occurred to me, that the beignets I had in "N'Orlens" were a direct derivative of berlinerboller (jelly-filled doughnuts here in Norway, and I think also in Germany). Same basic cooking technique, yes, but different size, shape, and taste. Both very good, tho. And though JFK declared himself to be one ("Ich bin ein berliner!"), nobody really thinks he meant he was a beignet either.

[shootingstar]

Versailles, pronounced Ver-sails. That grates on my ears every time I hear it.

Oh dear...for that gorgeous palace it MUST be French pronunciation to capture its glory. "Ver-sigh". Like the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. The English language to me is a less emotional sounding, less poetic sounding language in many of its words, compared to French, Italian or Spanish.

I said less "poetic", "emotional" in how English language sounds to the ear....before all the unilingual English speakers jump in.

[OakLeaf]

Oh dear...for that gorgeous palace it MUST be French pronunciation to capture its glory.

Don't worry, we know how to pronounce the name of the place with the palace.

There's no palace in VerSAILS, Ohio.

There's no piazza in MILE-an, Ohio.

There are no mountains in LIME-a, Ohio (pronounced like the beans, for that matter) and no fountain in BelFOUNtain, Ohio.

And if you want to pronounce the name of our state Oh-hi-oh, we won't correct you.

But for sheer poetry, read some Gerard Manley Hopkins some time (who was not from Ohio )...

Bridge of Sighs in Venice

Don't you mean the Ponte dei sospiri?