Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Hello, World!

Why do people hate Aucklanders so much, and make so many rude jokes at our expense? People should really have more respect for their social betters. The stereotype is that all Aucklanders are snobby, materialistic, label-whores drinking poofy Italian coffees in Remuera. This is an absurd stereotype. Everyone knows Remuera is so very 1980s, and all the Right People have moved on. No one lives there now, except beneficiaries in state houses, and old people. Anyway, we are not ALL like that. Many Aucklanders are so poor, they can't even afford a decent yacht.

There are some who define themselves as Aucklanders, who give the rest of us a bad name. The sort that pronounce Möet as 'Mo-ay' (eek! Quelle horreur! ), and still think Louis Vuitton is a viable status-label (ugh. Only elderly Asian women and teenage girls with improbable fakes still think so).

So I thought I would put some thoughts online, to set the record straight. We’re not all mannerless snobs. Some of us are much, much worse. But at least we know how to pronounce Möet.

8 comments:

golfwidow said...

Of course the "T" is enunciated. Look at the umlaut. Does that occur in French? No, not so much. "Möet" is DUTCH. They use "T"s there.

Unfortunately, around here, we dirty Yanks don't even say "Moh-AY," we say "MO-ee," so I just order beer.

Mrs Smith said...

Beautifully explained, Golfwidow. However, in defence of the Dirty Yanks, I must say they do have a wonderful sense of humour. Once, when dining with American friends, they brought out a bottle of Californian champagne. Oh, how I laughed and laughed.

Anonymous said...

Crikey. I suppose someone has to be stick around to prop the Algonquin Round Table up.

Anonymous said...

It's Moët, not Möet.

The mark over the e is not an umlaut, it's a diaeresis, which is used to show that two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately, not as a diphthong. It's what distinguishes noël from Noel.

But you're right about the pronunciation.

Mrs Smith said...

Fuck off, it's a spelling mistake - spare me the mind-numbing lecture.

P.S. So glad you agree with me about the pronunciation. My life is so complete now.

Anonymous said...

I refuse to fuck off! I enjoy this blog far too much to even consider that, madam.

Mrs Smith said...

Oh well. I suppose I should be grateful for any readers I get. Even the really annoying ones.

Anonymous said...

I love it that someone knows this stuff: "diaeresis", I had to carefully sound that out to work out how to say it. Cool.