How to pronounce 'derby'.

[Kot Matroskin]

I read on BS recently certain posters ridiculing certain American TV commentators for pronouncing the word 'derby' like they do in the U.K., that is "dahr-bee". Suggesting they were "trying hard to sound British".

Well, I'd like to stick up for the commentators and tell those posters to get over themselves.

I know we pronounce 'derby', as in the hat and the horse race, like "dur-bee. That's well established. Here's the thing, though, we never use that word to mean "a rivalry game between two local teams." In fact, we (Americans) don't have any particular word at all for that.

Naturally, not having a word of our own, we picked up the British one. Also, as is only natural with any "new" word, we picked up their pronunciation. This has nothing at all to do with "trying to sound British". It's just that the word when used to mean "rivalry game" is most commonly pronounced "dahr-by". To most of us, it just sounds "right" that way.

Those who would still make an issue of it, I ask, would you insist on pronouncing Derby County in the American way? Also, it works both ways. I watched Sky Sports report on the Kentucky Derby and they pronounced it "duhr-by".

[triplet1]

I think the term has its genesis in horse racing in both countries. Epsom Downs, near London, has had a derby race for three year old horses since 1780. The term later was applied to any important annual horse race (again usually for 3 year olds), as in the Kentucky Derby, but pronounced differently in the United States. Same spelling, same meaning, different pronunciation.

My guess is football borrowed the term from the more general horse racing meaning -- the all important annual event, or game. If that's true, I think either pronunciation is probably correct.

I would agree with you that the pronunciation "dur-bee" in the United States is unusual if you mean the annual cross town soccer game, and "dahr-bee" may be less confusing.

[mcontento]

Except for in England they pronounce the hat and the horse race "dahrbee" so we're not using a specificly soccer only term here, it is a matter of British English vs. American English.

Also John Harkes is well known for trying to be an imitator of speaking like a Brit when he doesn’t need to and in truth he can’t do it really well either. I think that's where a lot of the heming and hawing came from.

Another thing, we pronounce a lot of cities worldwide differntly than the natives, what makes Derby, England so f*ing special?


Put it this way you wouldn't call grilling a filet of salmon, "putting a fill-it on the barbie" like they do in Austrailia just because you're watching a game of Aussie Rules on TV, not unless you're doing it tongue in cheek, right? If you're being serious using it that way then you are a poser, i.e. John Harkes. :D

Besides the Brits have a lot of soccer terms that are pretty lame if used in the US. "Darby" included.

[Wearethecrew1]

I know we pronounce 'derby', as in the hat and the horse race, like "dur-bee. That's well established. Here's the thing, though, we never use that word to mean "a rivalry game between two local teams." In fact, we (Americans) don't have any particular word at all for that.


Donnybrook?:D
Rivalry Game?

[ElJefe]

I thought it was pronounced "NAM-bluh."

[JeremyEritrea]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/derby

In the USA, the word is pronounced as "dur-bee," in the UK it's pronounced as "dahr-bee."

And this thread does not belong in the MLS forums.

[Stan Collins]

Simple enough:

CLAH-see-co

Btw, I would have put it in "Soccer in the USA."

[Kot Matroskin]

Simple enough:

CLAH-see-co

Btw, I would have put it in "Soccer in the USA."

Feel free to move it if you want. I agree that it would have been better to post it there.

[Stan Collins]

Feel free to move it if you want. I agree that it would have been better to post it there. Unfortunately, it's now out of my range. Don't even know who's territory this is, as I seldom visit.

[LIZZIE]

Fox Soccer Channel pronounces it Darbee. Aren't those folks Canadian?

But anyway- if you pick up your soccer jargon from FSC, you would say darbee

[JeremyEritrea]

Fox Soccer Channel pronounces it Darbee. Aren't those folks Canadian?

But anyway- if you pick up your soccer jargon from FSC, you would say darbee

The people at FSC who pronounce it as "darbee" are a bunch of Anglophile douchebags.

[RichardL]

Another thing, we pronounce a lot of cities worldwide differntly than the natives, what makes Derby, England so f*ing special?
So how do you pronounce the city of Derby?


Besides the Brits have a lot of soccer terms that are pretty lame if used in the US. "Darby" included.
why is it "lame" when there is no direct equivalent?

[JeremyEritrea]

I'm thinking of starting a thread to discuss how to pronounce Worcestershire sauce.

[O Fenômeno]

LOL, liek one of dudes above said...it's British English, and American. Though americans trying to sound brit piss me off...

[Kot Matroskin]

[quote=RichardL;15173253]So how do you pronounce the city of Derby?
[\quote]


Exactly. People on BS are so quick to pop off, they don't think things through.

If they are going to carry that stupid line of reasoning to its conclusion, then they've doomed themselves to looking like idiots for the rest of their lives by pronouncing 'Thames' "thame-z" instead of "temz", or 'Reading' like "reed-ing".

Also, I tried to think of what that one poster was talking about when he said that certain English soccer terms would sound lame if used in America, and I couldn't think of any. I'm not saying there aren't any, but I honestly couldn't think of any offhand. Can we have some examples, plz?

[Stan Collins]

So how do you pronounce the city of Derby? Like it's spelled.

why is it "lame" when there is no direct equivalent? I suspect it's used out of esotericism. "Rivalry game" will do in the US, especially since there are so few possible matchups where the term actually applies here.

[RichardL]

Like it's spelled.

Why? Do you pronounce Cairo as Kayro or Edinburgh as Edinberg?

[wufc]

I like to pronounce it "darby" because it comes out my mouth easier than "durby"

[Michele]

Since '-by' was introduced to England by the vikings, the word meaning 'town', and btw still has that meaning in Denmark today, I would like you all to use the Scandinavian y-sound at the end of the word instead of an i-sound. If you need a little help, the sound can be found in French when a 'u' stands alone or in German when the 'ü' is used. Once you've incorporated this sound, you can start fighting over the use of 'dar-' vs 'dur-' at the beginning of the word, but first things first, right?

:p :D ;)

[Stan Collins]

Why? Do you pronounce Cairo as Kayro Um, and what country is that in. . . . "Egypt" . . . or "al-Misr?"