Err

if only, LaGrande, if only...

Uhm, could it be that "boo-ey" is the original pronunciation? As many maritime terms, it's not an Anglo-Saxon word.
Etymologically "[i]t is not clear whether the Eng. was originally from OF., or MDu." I don't know about OF, but the current Dutch is boei, pronounced boo-ey, and the Middle Dutch was boeie, which I would guess would be pronounced 'boo-ee-y@'.
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<hr>average english accent<hr></blockquote> I don't think we're is pronounced the same as wear/where in England either, nette! (But perhaps LaGrande can correct.)

thanks shilgia. i can't get a mental lock on how my UK friends would say it right now. my head's too full of the spectre of the hideous 'boo-ey'. which, whether it's the original pronunciation or not, is an abomination.

#71: That could well be the case. It has often been mooted that American spellings/pronunciations are in fact closer to the original than their English counterparts - but, mazgringo, that doesn't make them right.

I don't think there's any such thing as an 'average English accent', but, in general, I think that most English people would distinguish between "we're" and "wear/where". I make clear distinctions between all three. I've tried muttering 'wear off to the shops now' several times and it doesn't sound totally peculiar, so I can only assume that there are, indeed, some English people who would pronounce it thus!

#71: By the way, I know you're shilgia and not mazgringo, but I'm forestalling mazgringo's whoop of triumph at the merest hint that a transatlantic pronunciation could be correct.

when i say average english accent i guess i'm talking about 'estuary' english.

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<hr>I've tried muttering 'wear off to the shops now' several times <hr></blockquote> so, LaGrande, are you getting funny looks from your colleagues, or what?

Estuary English? Hiss spit

#76: Fortunately, I have an office to myself ...!

Buoy is a word that I've felt I was mispronouncing as "boy," so now have both pronunciations, but feel uncomfortable with booey.

Lifebuoy is pronounced lifeboy--but is that changing too?

And what about to buoy up one's spirits? I've never heard it as anything but boy, to the best of my knowledge.

I've made an executive to go back to my original pronunciation (boy), and just deal with the fallout through therapy.