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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3638 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 14, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Obviously I get all my news from the most reliable sources, The Motte. So imagine my surprise when I randomly heard a news clip today and someone said MAGA, pronouncing the MA, like from the word maw, instead of mad. Before I embarrass myself in conversation, the reporter was a weirdo right, everyone says MAGA with the MA sound from mad, right?

Neither, it's may-guh. The same vowel sound as in "make".

In the early days of Trump's campaign I was confused at why so many conservative Americans were celebrating the drunken debauchery of Magaluf.

Maw? Mad? I've always thought it was the PALM vowel, like in "saga" or "mama".

Wait it's not Mage-ah?

You say Mah-GA, and I say May-GA.

Mah-GA, May-GA, Mah-GA, May-GA, let's call the whole thing off!

I intended to post Ella and Louie, but then I found this version.

Now that you mention it, I can't recall ever hearing anyone saying that in real life.

When I say it in my head, it sounds like the maga in magazine. In my head, MA like in mall sounds vaguely British, but I have nothing to back this up.

In my head, MA like in mall sounds vaguely British, but I have nothing to back this up.

I mean, it is how the Brits would pronounce that word, because the first letter of the British English alphabet is "aw" and not "a" (just like how they pronounce the letter "o" as "oi" under certain conditions, like in the word "no").

I hear both pronunciations equally often.

Obviously.

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