[LMB] OT: Amusement (was [OT:] Priorities)

[Raye Johnsen]

--- "Peter H. Granzeau" <pgranzeau at cox.net> wrote:

> At 12:51 AM 4/12/2007, Raye Johnsen wrote:
>
> >'Toys 'R' Us' (meant to be pronounced 'Toys Are
> Us')
> >is the name of a chain of mega-toystores based on
> the
> >supermarket model.  The chain is sufficiently
> >ubiquitious in America (and the concept telegraphed
> >clearly enough elsewhere) that the name gets
> co-opted,
> >altered and reapplied elsewhere as appropriate.
> >
> >The  'ya' instead of 'are' is a slurring that I
> would
> >interpret as either a regional pronunciation or a
> lazy
> >speaker.
> 
> The whole humorous point of "Toys Ya Us" is that the
> letter spoken 
> "Are" in the trade mark is written as a mirror image
> of the letter 
> "R", and the final letter of the Russian Cyrillic
> alphabet is spoken 
> "Ya", and also looks like a mirror image of the
> Roman letter R.

I *see*.  It is funny, but I couldn't get it because
the joke relies on knowledge of the appearance and
pronunciation of the Cyrillic alphabet, which I
didn't/don't have.

It falls under my 'regional accent' explanation,
really - it'd only be seen by someone with the Russian
background, so I'll bet it's how they say the name in
the areas with a history of Russian immigrants.

Raye

raye_j at yahoo.com
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"It 'went away'?  'I dwell in darkness without you'
and it WENT AWAY?"
  -- Sorcha, 'Willow'


       
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