In a Brooklyn flower shop a woman asked about a Poinsetta. The clerk said, "just so you'll know, it's a poyn·seh·tee·uh." If I were the clerk would have repeated it correctly, hoping she would hear hear the difference.

by Anonymous

reply 20

December 21, 2020 1:00 PM

You blew that one, OP, you dolt.

Some "oh, dears" won't help correct you.

by Anonymous

reply 2

December 20, 2020 4:10 PM

When someone mispronounces a word, the polite thing to do is avoid saying the word, so you don't sound like you're correcting them. If mispronouncing poinsettia is the worst that woman did today, she is a saint. Don't be a cunt and try to act superior over the fucking pronunciation of a word.

by Anonymous

reply 3

December 20, 2020 4:33 PM

Is it pronounced poinsetta or poinsettia?

Some say poinsetta and some say poinsettia. In both cases, either pronunciation is acceptable. This traditional holiday houseplant, a native of Mexico, is named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (circa 1820).

by Anonymous

reply 4

December 20, 2020 4:38 PM

This makes me want to go into that shop and repeatedly pronounce it pwan-seesha.

by Anonymous

reply 5

December 20, 2020 4:42 PM

I don’t even think this really happened, but if it did, it happened to OP.

by Anonymous

reply 6

December 20, 2020 4:46 PM

R6, OP here. It did happen. Graham Greens on Graham Avenue near Metropolitan Avenue before Williamsburg was invaded by "The Millens." Told to me by a female friend who was in the shop.

by Anonymous

reply 7

December 20, 2020 6:22 PM

The ia at the end is diphthongized. Penultimate syllable in English gets the stress so the guy in the store is an idiot.

by Anonymous

reply 9

December 20, 2020 8:06 PM

It's rude to correct someone's pronunciation if they're not very close to you. If I had to correct all you bitches /rollseyes/

by Anonymous

reply 10

December 20, 2020 9:40 PM

R10, how about their punctuation?

by Anonymous

reply 11

December 20, 2020 9:42 PM

I've always seen it spelled as "Pointsetta" and pronounced it that way. The ia suffix is a northeastern thing, I think.

It's "flor de nochebuena" in Spanish, so it's not like anybody has to worry about being authentic.

by Anonymous

reply 12

December 20, 2020 9:45 PM

[quote] If I were the clerk would have repeated it correctly, hoping she would hear hear the difference.

It sounds like you have much bigger problems with language than how to pronounce words correctly.

by Anonymous

reply 13

December 20, 2020 10:12 PM

I done seen a pornsetta TREE growing in CostaRicka. For reals.

by Anonymous

reply 14

December 20, 2020 10:23 PM

[quote]The ia at the end is diphthongized. Penultimate syllable in English gets the stress so the guy in the store is an idiot.

This makes no sense. I think the first sentence means that the second i represents a consonant sound, but "penultimate syllable gets the stress" isn't a rule of English accentuation, and actually neither point is relevant to this question (which has to do with whether you pronounce and write an i before the a).

by Anonymous

reply 15

December 20, 2020 10:39 PM

I said it was a dipthong. A dipthong is one syllable. If it's at the end of the word then it doesn't get the stress because in english, stress is on the penultimate syllable. Since it's a made up english word, it uses english rules.

by Anonymous

reply 16

December 21, 2020 3:17 AM

I guess it TENDS to be on the penultimate syllable. Whatever. PointsetEEEa sounds fucking retarded. Dude is still an idiot.

by Anonymous

reply 17

December 21, 2020 3:18 AM

By the way, the red parts on a poinsettia are bracts, and any flowers are tiny and visually insignificant. OP, you mistitled the thread.

by Anonymous

reply 18

December 21, 2020 10:37 AM

Them there big red poppy things

by Anonymous

reply 19

December 21, 2020 12:40 PM

We had a pastor once, whom whenever he was asking congregants to "donate" (pay for) poinsettias to decorate the sanctuary (and then be taken home by the congregants after Christmas Eve communion), would always implore us, "Please find it in your heart to donate a poindessidas or two." (Pronounced like "poyne-duh-cydas.") None of us ever figured out why he pronounced it this way...he was an odd bird.

by Anonymous

reply 20

December 21, 2020 1:00 PM