The new location for the limerick game is Madras. Although the material madras is pronounced "MAH-dras", the location has always been pronounced "mah-DRASS." As part of a general post-colonial re-naming of Indian cities, Madras was renamed Chennai in 1997. However, I stand on the original name for its English-rhyming potential & per this from wiki:

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After the British gained possession of the area in the 17th century, the two towns, Madraspattinam and Chennapattinam, were merged, and the English referred to the united town as Madrasapattinam. The state government officially changed the name to Chennai in 1996, at a time when many Indian cities were being renamed.[22][23] However, the name Madras continues to be commonly used for the city,[24] as well as for places named after the city, such as the University of Madras.

Note the pronunciation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras,_Oregon Thus does one have three possible pronunciations.

BTW, why isn't "Bluffing Game" in the thread's title?

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BTW, why isn't "Bluffing Game" in the thread's title?

Because it's the "Limerick" game?

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Originally posted by Proofreader:

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BTW, why isn't "Bluffing Game" in the thread's title?

Because it's the "Limerick" game?

Uhhh, yeah, that's whut I mint.

I'll get mine in this weekend, Bethree.

You don't need to Kalleh.
I already sent mine and it's the winner.

Balderdash! This time mine is going to rock!

Kalleh, one of us getting confused is enough! Balderdash is the commercial version of the Bluffing Game! Sheesh - maybe my senility is contagious.

I actually wrote a limerick defining "balderdash" at OEDILF:

Beer and milk, beer and wine made a drink
That was surely repulsive, I think.
It was balderdash (eeew!);
No one's pique would accrue
If you tossed the whole thing down the sink.

Great stats so far: 8 entries from 4 limerick-writers in 4 days.

I'll give it the weekend for Kalleh's & any others that waft in- perhaps RE will pen one?

Just to be sure of this pronunciation business, I emailed an Indian friend for a confirmation. Awaiting a reply.

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Originally posted by Geoff:
Just to be sure of this pronunciation business, I emailed an Indian friend for a confirmation. Awaiting a reply.

I'm never convinced that that helps with place names. It certainly doesn't with Chinese ones. The standard Chinese pronunciation for place names is rarely anything like the way they are conventionally pronounced in the west.

Now whether we SHOULD generally try to pronounce names as closely as we can to the native pronunciation is an entirely different question but for the purposes of the limerick game if there is a conventional western version that's the one I think we ought to use.

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Balderdash

It means "nonsense," so I thought it fit the context.

I think we should be liberal with the pronunciations. We aren't OEDILF. I guess also everyone (with the possible exception of me!) has decided it's not important to include anything about the actual venue (ie, city, state, province country, island, etc.).

I think it's a good idea, Kalleh, but it can be in passing rather than critical to the limerick. As for place names, I'd be lost trying to pronounce most Welsh ones. It would cause tongue sprain!

Well, let's see. I've been to Chennai twice, in the past decade or so (couple of weddings, a thread ceremony, and just plain visiting a friend's family), spending 3 or 4 weeks there. Almost no Indian I ran into (some natives of the city, others mostly from the interior of Tamil Nadu, the state in which the city exists) called it Chennai. They all called it Madras /məˈdrɑːs/. The only time I've heard the /'mædrəs/ pronunciation, and that rarely, was in reference to short pants (trousers UK) made of the madras material. Now, I have also never heard anybody in the West, non-Indians, pronounce any other way than with the stress on the second syllable. I have, though, heard the material pronounced the same way as the city.

NB: I do not speak Tamil, the majority language of the city of Madras, so I have no idea of its pronunciation in that language. All the Indians I spoke with were speaking (South Asian) English.

Thanks, Z! I think I'll just pronounce it Pittsburgh.

Pennysylvania life's losing its glitz
So I think I'll be calling it quits.
I may move out to Philly
(Though that would be silly)
But I will leave this burg they call "Pitts."

Why I said, "Pittsburgh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TLYwelOPk See 0:49 to 1:00

Ah, well, with all this pronunciation discussion, I need a little more time for writing this limerick. Go ahead and post them without mine if you wish. I'm heading out tomorrow for a conference in New Orleans, so I won't be around a lot.

Got it! Poll's up folks, cast your votes.

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Originally posted by Geoff:
Why I said, "Pittsburgh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6TLYwelOPk See 0:49 to 1:00

This clip is a HOWL. Sent it to my bro who spent a yr in India in the '70's & can do the accent as well as Fisher Stevens.