Thread: had no inside into

I think the stress is on the last syllable in both. insI (sounds like the word EYE (Глаз) te. InsIde. It this makes it so difficult because the D and T sound the same. I still say he's a moron and said inside, but ok, im probly wrong. He's the smartest man ever.

I agree with Friendy about the stress. It should be on the first syllable in 'insight'. (that's what my Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary says, and it always gives Am/Br differences)

However, according to my memory, the stress in the word 'insightful' is on the second syllable. And yet my dictionary gives the stress on the first; insightful. Have I gone mad??


What is that all about?!

Originally Posted by waxwing

And yet my dictionary gives the stress on the first; insightful.

Mine too. And I also thought that it should be on the second.

No waxwing, you are not mad. I was wrong again. I am just digging myself a huge hole here so i will stop. Sorry for confusing everything all up. Im going to hide my head in shame.

I looked it in the American Heritage dictionary. In "insight" there's only one variant - the primary stress is on the first syllable and the secondary is on the second (maybe that is the reason of the confusion because sometimes it may happen that the secondary stress is more stressed). In "insightful" there are both variants but the one with the stress on the second syllable comes first.

EDIT: Oh, you probably mean an Asian ring sort of like Hispanics have a Hispanic ring even if they don't speak Spanish. Aha.

Exactly. Maybe if I saw you being Asiatic-like I'd notice it as well, but if I knew absolutely nothing about you and couldn't see you, I'd have thought you were an American and think no more of it.

I do pronounce water like 'wah-tuh', like all sophisticated well-raised Estuary-BBC-Queen's English speaking BRITISH people do. Though I don't think you would want to hear my voice, because, as I said, I sound like a Deb'mshur-Posh-Dutch-German-Gay person.

Btw, you know the new film 'Lady Killers'? When I tried to copy your accent, I sounded quite uncannily like the Texan gentleman Tom Hanks plays.

It can be that the guy actually says "no inside [info] into". That is a kind of govt/intel/military lingo. I think that actually makes more sense than "insight", because the whole point is about JFK's making far reaching statements, and those statements would need hard data [ = inside info], not some "act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively".

I considered that possibility too when making my first post in this thread, but I rejected it because we would say 'no inside info on something' rather than 'into' something. A native speaker wouldn't make that kind of mistake. I thought that it may well have been a kind of 'slip of the tongue', in that he may have unconsciously conflated the two phrases 'insight into' and 'inside info on' .. but I haven't listened to the tape so I'll just shut up

Hispanics... Oy I hate affirmative-action. The following is a conversation I had with a hispanic guy. (abbr. HG)

HG: Yo whats up dude?
SD: Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but are you Mexican?
HG: Yea, dude!
SD: Where were you born?
HG: Houston, Texas.
SD: Your father?
HG: San Antonio, Texas.
SD: Your grandfather?
HG: Chorpus Christie, Texas.
SD: Your great-grandfather?
HG: Dallas, Texas.
SD: WTF man? Where was your great-great-grandfather born?
HG: :smile: Mexico City.

But if I was born in goddamn Timbucktwo I am American!
American isn't a country-thingy, it's a racial description!

Originally Posted by smartdude

Hispanics... Oy I hate affirmative-action. The following is a conversation I had with a hispanic guy. (abbr. HG)

HG: Yo whats up dude?
SD: Hey, I don't mean to be rude, but are you Mexican?
HG: Yea, dude!
SD: Where were you born?
HG: Houston, Texas.
SD: Your father?
HG: San Antonio, Texas.
SD: Your grandfather?
HG: Chorpus Christie, Texas.
SD: Your great-grandfather?
HG: Dallas, Texas.
SD: WTF man? Where was your great-great-grandfather born?
HG: :smile: Mexico City.

But if I was born in goddamn Timbucktwo I am American!
American isn't a country-thingy, it's a racial description!

What the the hell does this have to do with anything? And why are you using this one "hispanic guy" as the basis of an entire theory on affirmative action? Love it or not, affirmative action is a little more complicated than where someone's ancestors were born. For example, it's often applied to women of all ethnic groups as well.

Different thread. And not on a Russian forum, frankly.

On topic: I would totally have one million of Randall's babies.

Originally Posted by Линдзи

What the the hell does this have to do with anything? And why are you using this one "hispanic guy" as the basis of an entire theory on affirmative action? Love it or not, affirmative action is a little more complicated than where someone's ancestors were born. For example, it's often applied to women of all ethnic groups as well.

Different thread. And not on a Russian forum, frankly.

On topic: I would totally have one million of Randall's babies.

@Lindzi:
*CLAP CLAP CLAP*
You know, I was waiting for someone to give Smartdude a worthy upbraiding. This is the only time I have actually wanted VM to be here. Maybe Smartdude is VM in disguise!

@Jasper:
As for my accent, I sound like a mix of Asian-Midwestern, apparently. Sigh. No, I don't know about any new movies. For example, apparently there's this new movie out called "You got served." And all people from ages 12-18 keep saying "you got served" now. Is it just me, or did that movie come out several years ago? Maybe it's You Got Served II. God, I need to get hip and cool again.

@Waxwing, Friendy:
The Oxford American dictionary has the stress on the second syllable.

@Dogboy:
Don't feel bad about mispronouncing stuff in English. I do it all the time. For the longest time I pronounced "legacy" as "LEE-gacy." And I also pronounced "heir" as "hair." And I still don't know how to use "whom."

Pravit: Thanks. Incidentally, your accent doesn't sound at all Asian to me; it sounds like fairly standard American.

Instead of that role by Tom Hanks you could insert any Texan gentleman. I was just displaying my knowledge of popular culture there.

Untill quite recently, I thought 'hyperbole' was pronounced 'hi-per-bowl'. Freaky Greekoid anti-penultimate emphases... always a pain in the arse.

Yes, but for all purposes, please do imagine that I have a posh British accent when I'm posting on this forum.

By the way, Pravit is very happy that you think he speaks like a normal American. *HAPPY!* You are my favorite cousin indeed, Lindzi!

The weird thing is, I did a little test and most everyone on the net that knew me thought I had an "Asian ring." However, I used not only samples of my own voice, but samples of white Americans talking. All of the samples had an "Asian ring" according to the people I asked. This makes me think that I might pronounce some words slightly different, but it's mainly my appearance that causes this "ring." Oh well.

Where did you run this test? I will admit freely (as I have done) that if I hadn't known your background, I wouldn't have noticed it. But there IS something Asian about the first 2 samples. Tomorrow I'll tell you the details. If I could be bothered.

People I know on AIM. Might I guess that it was the pronunciation of "here" and "water"? You know, I've noticed that normal Americans have a tendency to speak further up in the mouth, closer to the lips. Compare my pronunciation of water and Washington standard:

Me:
http://www.freewebs.com/wadr.wav
Washington(courtesy of EffMah):
http://www.freewebs.com/water.wav

So, finished my German. Now I can waste my time for half an hour before something interesting on telly starts.

Call me discriminating (or in this case quite the opposite, fa-fah), but I couldn't hear that much of a difference. Both were pretty nasal, both pronounced the 't' as 'd'. The only difference I noticed was that the first 'rounded' the vowel, as if it was (were - next topic) an 'oo', more than the second.

Then, pray tell, what is so Asian about the first two messages? I think they sound the same as the other ones. Maybe it's my pronunciation of "could you" as "cudja"? Although all Americans do that...oh, I simply don't know! You must excuse me, Jas-Jas, I've got to get back to that good ol' C programming I do. Pointers, arrays, and so on, good stuff indeed.

You know? I can't really put my finger on it. It may have something to do with the nasality, though I don't think that other Americans who talk through their noses sound Asian. Also, very slightly, the emphasis and the way you say the 'r'. I'm really, really picking nits here, grasping every detail I can think of. I'll just stop here and give up, before I get into a fight with you and the other forummembers.