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[-] EndOfLine@lemmy.world 104 points 1 week ago

Wait until he notices the C's in “Pacific Ocean”.

[-] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 61 points 1 week ago

I never did understand how an ocean can contain multiple seas.

[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

Did you recently become a father? Because that was one of the better dad jokes.

[-] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 13 points 1 week ago

I earned my dad joke card in 1985 when I came around the corner carrying a joke book and like 7 kids groaned.

is old

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 3 points 1 week ago

That's why I prefer the Dead Sea.

[-] Lennny@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago
[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

In terms of geography, seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land. Seas are found on the margins of the ocean and are partially enclosed by land.

[-] NickwithaC@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Give me more of these!

[-] lugal@lemmy.world 86 points 1 week ago

It's the same in German: /mɛʁˈt͡seːdəs/

Despite what other commentators say who are evil and eager to spread lies about the German language

[-] Ultraviolet@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago

However, in Spanish, which is the name's language of origin despite being a German car, they're the same. All e as in red. Mercedes.

[-] lugal@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

True, it's a common female name, or was idk. Iirc the car is named after the daughter of the inventor. The German pronunciation is the butchered version of the Spanish first name so I'm on no moral high ground

[-] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 week ago

Iirc the car is named after the daughter of the inventor.

Not the inventor and it's a bit more complicated. Emil Jellinek was selling Daimler cars, and had them participate in races for publicity. His daughter was called Mercédès Adrienne Ramona Jellinek. The historical record is a bit unclear, either he used her name as a pseudonym for a racer, or he christened one of the cars after her. In any case they won that race, gaining the name some notority which he and the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft used for further marketing later on.

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[-] flughoernchen@feddit.org 19 points 1 week ago
[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago

On a phonetic level, some specialist will be able to discern the different E-sounds, but they're still very similar. It's definitely not like the English pronunciation where it's completely different sounds.

[-] lugal@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

It's basically the three E sounds we have in German (short, long and "unstressed") but I see that to the untrained ear, this isn't obvious

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

E is super flexible in German

e, ae, oe, ue, eu, ie, ei, ee all make distinct consistent sounds

[-] pumpkinseedoil@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

The difference is so narrow that I wouldn't notice any difference apart from the length, the first and last e are very slightly shorter than the middle e. And of course you have the usual going-down-with-your-voice-at-the-end-of-the-word

[-] lugal@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Yes, we often call them "long" and "short" E but the short E is actually halfway to A. It's a different vowel even though it's written the same. The last E is the vowel we often have in unstressed syllables like gekommen, same in English upon, about. We write it as E but it's basically the most relaxed vowel possible.

Look at this vowel chart to see and hear the differences.

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[-] bazingabot@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

not true in German, there all Es sound exactly the same

[-] manucode@infosec.pub 29 points 1 week ago

When I, as a German speaker, pronounce Mercedes, every e is slightly different.

[-] 299792458ms@lemmy.zip 19 points 1 week ago
[-] stepan@lemmy.cafe 7 points 1 week ago
[-] RVGamer06@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago
[-] kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago
[-] srestegosaurio@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

At this point this thread is just making fun of English having no phonetical uniformity at all.

[-] Wilzax@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

The first E in Mercedes sounds slightly different from the other two in German, mostly because the rhotic sound [r] modifies the tongue placement for the preceding E, forcing you to say it as either an open-mid front unrounded vowel [ɛ], or a mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽]. The [r] prevents the vowel from being a Close-mid front unrounded vowel [e] like the 2nd and 3rd occurrences of E.

Or more simply, the first e sounds more like "bed" while the second and third sound more like "may", assuming you're reading this with a standard American dialect.

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[-] HerbSolo@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago

Me as a kid, having just learned english, listening to Janis Joplin: "What the fuck is a mercy dispense!?"

[-] RQG@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

When you pray for the lord to have mercy, they have to dispense it somehow. That part made sense to me as a kid.

However why would God have to buy one? And from whom? Who manufactures these mercy dispensers for God? Why wouldn't God just make them into existence?

When I learned that it was Mercedes Benz I came to understand that even God needs to abide by trademark law.

[-] StopJoiningWars@discuss.online 17 points 1 week ago
[-] Maalus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Same in Poland.

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[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

But only in English. In the original German, all three e's are actually the same.

[-] TypFaffke@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago

Diese Kommentarsektion ist nun Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

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[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 week ago

What the hell, it's originally Spanish where all the Es sound the same, then it got popularized by a German brand, where all the Es sound the same, how did it become Merceydees in English?

[-] renzev@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago
[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 5 points 1 week ago
[-] Wilzax@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Not if you pronounce it the way Germans do

[-] archonet@lemy.lol 11 points 1 week ago
[-] 3ntranced@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

If you add Benz you get a 4th E sound

[-] rivvvver@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago

mercedeez nuts lmao gottem

[-] apostrofail@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Abraham is another

[-] Brahvim@lemmy.kde.social 5 points 1 week ago

I’m fighting an urge right now…

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[-] bazingabot@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago
[-] Corno@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

In Spanish the e's are pronounced the same way, and the same applies for German! It's only in English that the e's are all pronounced differently! English is such a weird language, I love it but it's things like this which are hilarious to me.

[-] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

this confused me, I speak too many languages

[-] RmDebArc_5@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

I pronounce the last e like the second one

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this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024
727 points (96.9% liked)

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