Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2019 December 28

= December 28 =

Lama vs Llama pronunciation in English
I pronounce them the same but are they actually pronounce the same or should i pronounce them differently — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.241.216.98 (talk) 01:08, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes they are pronounced the same in English. The pronunciation is indicated in the llama article.--Shantavira|feed me 10:22, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * There's this little item, by Ogden Nash as I recall:
 * The one-L lama, he's a priest
 * The two-L llama, he's a beast
 * And I would bet a silk pajama
 * There isn't any three-L lllama
 * Then the retort to the last line: A three-L-lama is a big fire in Boston. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:43, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I understand the lama and llama parts but not the lllama part. How is a three-L-lama a big fire in Boston? J I P  &#124; Talk 22:26, 29 December 2019 (UTC)
 * "A three-alarmer", meaning a three-alarm fire, meaning a fire which required responses from three different fire station.-- Jayron 32 22:53, 29 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Ah. I blame it on my not speaking English natively and having to have learned it as a foreign language. J I P  &#124; Talk 22:55, 29 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Don't feel bad. For many other English speakers, Boston English may as well be a foreign language.-- Jayron 32 23:25, 29 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Find a youtube of President Kennedy giving a speech or press conference, and you'll get a hint of the Boston accent. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:11, 30 December 2019 (UTC)
 * They're usually pronounced the same, but some English speakers use the Spanish pronunciation for llama (closer to "yama"). Matt Deres (talk) 02:12, 30 December 2019 (UTC)
 * If I heard a native-English speaker say that, I'd feel embarrassed for them, but would pretend not to notice. If it was an ESL speaker, it would be understandable, and I might gently point out the local pronunciation.
 * &mdash;Oye, ¿como te llamas? &mdash;My llamas are fine; how are your llamas?  Mathglot (talk) 10:25, 30 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Tut-tut, with a comment like that, you'll be for the highjump. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:40, 30 December 2019 (UTC)