Weapons Cashay

May 6, 2004

Whenever I watch the news and they announce that some soldiers have uncovered another Iraqi weapons cache, they always pronounce it "weapons cashay" which sounds really dumb. Why? I thought it was pronounced like cash.

5.3k · May 6, 2004

"cashay" or "caysh"...we all figure out what they mean.

Edited May 6, 2004 by Stunod

2.7k · May 6, 2004

On second, thought, maybe I shouldn't

EDITED to keep me from getting a warning, hehehe...

My guess is they don't want to confuse people with homonymns(sp?).

Edited May 6, 2004 by New England n00b

May 6, 2004

They "Try" to make it sound cool and they are just ignorant.

May 6, 2004

Sashay over to the cashay?

Sorry, that just sounds strange.

Er, no, I'm not sorry.

24.7k · May 6, 2004

The network execs probably had a round table on the topic. The figured that since they didn't know how to pronounce cache americans couldn't either so they decided to euroize the word and that's that. Of course now they sound like idiots but they are network idiots dammit!

May 6, 2004

I think the word is confusing unless you are reading it in text form. When you hear it on the news it sounds like "Today American soldiers uncovered more Iraqi Weapons CASH." If you were reading that, you would know exactly what was found but when an anchorperson says it, it sounds like they found actual money and that would confuse alot of people that really didn't know what type of cache the anchorperson was talking about.

When we first got our computer, we pronounced it catch for the longest time...lol

Edited May 6, 2004 by PandyBat

May 6, 2004

When we first got our computer, we pronounced it catch for the longest time...lol

Interesting, I've never heard computer pronounced as catch. Then again, I pronounce catch as ketch. I guess pronunciation is not my forte.

May 6, 2004

When we first got our computer, we pronounced it catch for the longest time...lol

Interesting, I've never heard computer pronounced as catch. Then again, I pronounce catch as ketch. I guess pronunciation is not my forte.

LOL....I meant the computer term cache, not the computer itself.

May 6, 2004

I guess it would be way to simple to relace "cache" with "stash"?

7.2k · May 6, 2004

Ever so often you'll get a British sounding reporter on and instead of "al KI-da" they say "al ki EE da"

Now don't get me wrong, but I kind of get embarrassed when Blair and Bush speak together--"the Sophisticate and the Hick."

"Our lads put on a terribily magnificant show and soundly defeated the enemy by which we are able to secure a freedom hereto unknown to our generation of Iraq citizens."

"Hoo-Whee! Ah herd dat!"

[Yes, I know my grammar isn't the best. I slept thru skool.]

May 6, 2004

Ever so often you'll get a British sounding reporter on and instead of "al KI-da" they say "al ki EE da"

Now don't get me wrong, but I kind of get embarrassed when Blair and Bush speak together--"the Sophisticate and the Hick."

"Our lads put on a terribily magnificant show and soundly defeated the enemy by which we are able to secure a freedom hereto unknown to our generation of Iraq citizens."

"Hoo-Whee! Ah herd dat!"

[Yes, I know my grammar isn't the best. I slept thru skool.]

Careful, now... he'll go new-kyew-lur on yo' a**.

May 6, 2004

I think the word is confusing unless you are reading it in text form. When you hear it on the news it sounds like "Today American soldiers uncovered more Iraqi Weapons CASH." If you were reading that, you would know exactly what was found but when an anchorperson says it, it sounds like they found actual money and that would confuse alot of people that really didn't know what type of cache the anchorperson was talking about.

When we first got our computer, we pronounced it catch for the longest time...lol

The confusion here is in the fact that a 'weapons cache' is in the singular. Despite the 's' on the end of weapons, it is a single cache. 'Weapons', in this case, is a pronoun - adding meaning to the noun 'cache'. Thus, your example should read, either, 'Today American soldiers uncovered more Iraqi weapons CACHES', or 'Today American soldiers uncovered AN Iraqi weapons CACHE'. The expression 'Today American soldiers uncovered an Iraqi weapon cache' would also be correct since plurals have no real meaning in a noun used as a pronoun.

There is implication that the cache may have contained one weapon or multiple weapons dependent on the use of the 's' in the pronoun but the word may be used either way. Therefor, expansion, or elucidation would be required to clearly explain the situation - if any booger really wanted to know that is.....

2.3k · May 6, 2004

If you put a "t" on the end of "cache", you have "Cachet" pronounced Cashay, which is a word meaning a distinctive seal or mark. The fashion and Entertainment journalists are familiar with that word, but apparently the war correspondents are not. But you have to remember that network "journalists" are efete snobs that like to pronounce foreign words their own way in order to be on the leading edge of their own goofiness. Remember when they all started to pronounce Sheik as SHAKE instead of SHEEK? And how for awhile they delighted in pronouncing Quixote (sp?) as Quicks-oat instead of Ke-hoteee? They have their inside jokes, so they can look down at the rest of us as not being in their league of coolness... It gives them a feeling of power to take a foreign word that's been pronounced one way in America for centuries and give it a new spin. But pronouncing one word so it sounds like another with a totally different meaning is just bad communication.

38.2k · May 6, 2004

Whenever I watch the news and they announce that some soldiers have uncovered another Iraqi weapons cache, they always pronounce it "weapons cashay" which sounds really dumb. Why?

Because the reporter is dumb.

May 6, 2004

Maybe that's why they pronounce Qatar as "gutter"

3.1k · May 7, 2004

Were there nucular weapons in the cashay?

Or maybe you were watching the Canadian news, eh?

Pronouncing it "cash-AY" is one of my pet peeves. Worse than "FOIL-age".

May 7, 2004

On that line, I hate when people say "sherbert" or "breakfasses" or confuse "cavalry" and "calvary"... but now I highjack my own thread away from a caching topic. *Erhm*, a cachaying topic.

38.2k · May 7, 2004

And when did Peking become Beijing? And how do we really spell Ghadafi? I've seen Quadaffi, Khaddafi, Kadafi, Qaddafi, Gaddafi, Khadafy, Qaddafi and more...yYou'd think the guy would set the rest of the world straight.

And are they Moslems, Muslims or Islamists? And who decides this stuff anyway?

Edited May 7, 2004 by briansnat

2.2k · May 7, 2004

And when did Peking become Beijing? And how do we really spell Ghadafi? I've seen Quadaffi, Khaddafi, Kadafi, Qaddafi, Gaddafi, Khadafy, Qaddafi and more...yYou'd think the guy would set the rest of the world straight.

And are they Moslems, Muslims or Islamists? And who decides this stuff anyway?

i've heard heard newscasters talk about jupiter's moon, 10, when they mean Io. i also heard one talking about saturn's moon titan, with the first part rhyming with "it".

May 7, 2004

Maybe proper pronunciation isn't their forte.

Usage Note: The word forte, coming from French fort, should properly be pronounced with one syllable, like the English word fort. Common usage, however, prefers the two-syllable pronunciation, (fôrt), which has been influenced possibly by the music term forte borrowed from Italian. In a recent survey a strong majority of the Usage Panel, 74 percent, preferred the two-syllable pronunciation. The result is a delicate situation; speakers who are aware of the origin of the word may wish to continue to pronounce it as one syllable but at an increasing risk of puzzling their listeners.

May 7, 2004

And when did Peking become Beijing?

In 1978, when the International Standards Organization adopted the Pinyin method of romanisation, displacing the Wade-Giles system that had been in use from the 19th century.

The multiple spellings of many Arab countries occur because there is (to my knowledge) less standardization on how Arabic phonemes & syllables are transposed into those of English... the fact that there are so many variations of English pronuciation only complicates matters.

Wikipedia lists 30+ "accepted" spellings of Quadaffi's name. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll see them all. They also have a good article on transliteration, transcription and romanisation should you be interested in the technical details.

As for the mispronunciation of cache, it's merely one symptom of the decreased emphasis on linguistic standards in our culture.

Edited May 7, 2004 by RexDart

3.1k · May 7, 2004

i've heard heard newscasters talk about jupiter's moon, 10, when they mean Io. i also heard one talking about saturn's moon titan, with the first part rhyming with "it".

Does anyone else remember being taught that Uranus was pronounced "YUR-in-iss"?

I imagine some teacher saying. "We need to change the way we say 'Uranus'; the kids laugh whenever we say it because it sounds like 'urine'. Fortunately, I have a less provocative pronunciation..."

38.2k · May 7, 2004

In 1978, when the International Standards Organization adopted the Pinyin method of romanisation, displacing the Wade-Giles system that had been in use from the 19th century

OK, and why do we call Germany, Germany when they call it Deutschland? Why don't we jsut call them what they call theirselves?

May 7, 2004

When I heard an officer being interviewed use cachet (kashA) when he meant cache (cash) I was embarrased.

Cachet = prestige

Someone who has cachet has superior status.

Someone who mispronounces cache as cachet has the opposite!

Ah well, most the world pities our lack of class regardless...

Nonetheless--enjoy,

Randy

2.3k · May 7, 2004

This inane idea that lexicographers have about letting mass incorrect usage determine our language results in stoopid things like nonsensical words like " irregardless" gaining status... English is goofy enuff without letting idiots mess it up even more. Is it Flammable or Inflammable?

We must jealously guard "cache" and not let it be corrupted!!!!

May 7, 2004

OK, and why do we call Germany, Germany when they call it Deutschland? Why don't we jsut call them what they call theirselves?

If you look at that Wikipedia article on transliteration, it does discuss the general issue of names being different in other languages. Misunderstanding, mispronunciation or just a fundamental difference in opinion account for most differences.

I don't know specifically the why Deutchland, but Germany comes from the medieval Latin name for the place, Germanus (according to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.)

May 7, 2004

This inane idea that lexicographers have about letting mass incorrect usage determine our language results in stoopid things like nonsensical words like " irregardless" gaining status... English is goofy enuff without letting idiots mess it up even more. Is it Flammable or Inflammable?

We must jealously guard "cache" and not let it be corrupted!!!!

Dictionaries are intentionally not prescriptive. Style guides are, but few take them seriously as the entire concept of 'correct' English is considered stodgy, hopelessly old-fashioned and even (in extreme cases) prejudicial and stifling. It's even more outre and obscure than map-reading and GPS navigation, without the technological cachet. :lol:

If you've a love of 'good' English usage, let me recommend two books:

The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Ed. - All you could ever want to know about usage, punctuation and a host of related subjects. An excellent desktop reference if writing is a pastime, profession or passion. Includes an excellent Glossary of Troublesome Expressions.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation - A humourous (it's a British book) look at punctuation use and abuse.

As an aside (and finally bringing this back on-topic), cache and cachet both derive from the French verb cacher, which means 'to press or hide'. The first meaning 'to press' came to relate to an official seal and thence became a mark of prestige, which is the sense of modern English cachet. Given the common origin, confusion is probably inevitable.

May 7, 2004

My Father-in-law was in the Vietnam War, and when he went on his first geocache with us and saw the ammo box, he too called it a "Cach-A". He said that everyone in the military that he was with called those boxes "Cach-A's". Is it possible that it's not just the news reporters?

May 7, 2004

Cache (Cash)- a storage Place, A place where supplies are left for later retrieval.

Cachet (Cash-ay)- a letter of approval, OR a small package, usually containing a perfumed powder used to deodorize.

Things are not Cached, they are encached. We all develop our own "group" specific semantics, and in this case I think we are using the terms properly, regardless of the talking heads on the Boob Tube.

Jeff

:lol: :bad:

9.4k · May 7, 2004

Pronouncing it "cash-AY" is one of my pet peeves. Worse than "FOIL-age".

Worse than pronouncing Poinsettia "poin·set·ta" instead of "poin·set·ti·a"? :lol:

May 7, 2004

m-w.com says there's only one pronounciation of "cache"

...think i'll stick by that pronounciation :lol:

May 7, 2004

My wife and I have this discussion often. Being biologist we discuss the proper pronuciation of the word Niche. I say Neesh she says Nitch. Both are tecnically correct in that we as Americans have taken a word and bastardized it to make it our own. It is derived from French so Neesh would be the proper way to say it but nobody in the US would know what you are saying, but if I said Nitch you would know that I am talking about the place where an animal fits in its world. Do we pronounce hors du vors, horse do vers or do we use it properly and say Ordervs.

Ah, how we Americans take a little of everything, change it to suit our needs and then call the rest of the world crazy for misspronouncing their language! HA HA HA!

Peace!

May 8, 2004

I was going to mention aluminium, but I won't bother.....

May 8, 2004

Jeez . . . even the dictionary says the correct pronunciation of "Iron" is: "Eye-Orne" :bad:

Oh . . the 'Eye-Orne-Eee' of it all . . . :lol:

Rick

2.7k · May 8, 2004

I was going to mention aluminium, but I won't bother.....

There's no "I" in alumnum :lol:

3.1k · May 8, 2004

jewlery

ex-cetera (or abbreviated, "ect")

expresso

May 8, 2004

one symptom of the decreased emphasis on linguistic standards in our culture.

I mean um you know. :lol:

May 8, 2004

I think are language is to confusing words with multiple meanings like can and then theres to,too ,two I and eye and then theres mary and merry, accept except flaamable and imflammable mean the same thing but destructable and indestructable are opposites. ough sounds like f. Forget dictionarys spell stuff how it sounds

Edit: fore and four cash and cache won and one you why not make it onedoorfull or 1derful that is how it sounds or perhaps chocklet

Edited May 8, 2004 by geojed

May 8, 2004

I am intrigued by some areas of the population having a special interest in the mental health of little people - Gnome sane?

Weapons Cashay

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