Q. I have lived in New Zealand for more than
30 years. In that time I have become used to most of the language differences between New Zealand and England, such as 'store' meaning 'cooker' and 'muffler' meaning 'silencer'. However, I find it impossible to ignore wrong pronunciation and undesirable word usage. I find myself saying 'leisure' when I have just heard `leesure' and I wince when I hear phrases such as 'endeavour to commence' rather than 'try to start'. My first job in London brought me into daily contact with a highly educated Oxbridge man. I can still vividly remember my embarrassment when I said to him, 'I have prepared the schedule' and he replied, 'Thank you — please pass me the list.' Mary, please help me resolve this dilemma. Should I correct, in my reply, the pronunciation of words just heard (and risk embarrassing the speaker) or use the local pronunciation (and thus do in Rome as the Romans do, even though I think I know better)?
B.W. Glendowie, Auckland A. Like you, the Romans are susceptible to peer pressure, but they also enjoy nostalgia and, in these anti-globalisation days, diversity. Far from being offended by your own 'original' pronunciations, they are more than likely to welcome the novelty value they afford. There should be no whiff of rebuke. The key thing is to present them as ingrained habits which you cannot shake off—just as they cannot shake off their own habits of pronouncing the very same words in the way that they do.
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