How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
#1How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:31pm
Is it Oh-ver? Or maybe Oh-v-ray?
Or is it Oh-you-vee-ruh?
I think it's Oh-vruh.
Words can be so darn tricky sometimes.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#2How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:34pm
I thought it was O-very. As in "Some people can be so oeuvre annoying."
Updated On: 1/3/13 at 04:34 PM
ChanceEncounter
Stand-by Joined: 7/7/12
PastorErnst
Broadway Star Joined: 4/20/09
#4How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:50pm
How to Pronounce Oeuvre
Updated On: 1/3/13 at 04:50 PM
#5How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:53pmThen how come Louvre is pronounced loove?
#6How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:54pmLoo-ve is a very Americanized pronunciation. In French it sounds much more similar to oeuvre.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#7How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 4:57pmI have no idea how to pronounce it but don't fill up on them or you will spoil your dinner.
#9How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 5:28pmShe made brazen oeuvretures to a man who never had a friend in this town till she came here!
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#10How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 5:47pmI cried when little Oeuvre got shot on the barricade.
#11How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 6:56pmI don't remember Oprah getting shot on any barricade.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#12How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 7:07pm"Oprah, Oeuvre, Oeuvre, Oprah" - David Letterman's writers ripping off Tom Meehan.
#13How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 7:16pm
Jane, Joey's right (as always) but the French don't punch the "-ruh" as if it were a second syllable. English speakers tend to either punch it or leave it off entirely, so we get two pronunciations of macabre: muh-cawb or muh-caw-bruh. (Likewise, Loov or Loo-vruh.)
I took more than a year of conversational French and never got the French "r" quite right. But it's a beautiful language on the page...
#14How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 7:21pm
Yeah--easy on the second syllable and just when you are thinking about starting to roll the "r", stop. But don't NOT roll the "r". Start, and then swallow it.
Like...well--like something you swallow softly and quickly.
#15How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 7:30pmI like when Venus refused to make horse dovers for Olive's company.
willep
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/08
#16How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 7:36pm
The youtube video pronunciation is hilarious.
Updated On: 1/3/13 at 07:36 PM
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#17How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 11:10pm
"Joey's right (as always)"
Sorry. He isn't. At least not here.
"Loo-ve is a very Americanized pronunciation. In French it sounds much more similar to oeuvre."
Not really. But I thank you for all your Edwin Drood calculations. I appreciate those.
To no one in particular, I would try to avoid the word "oeuvre" as much as possible. At least when speaking English. It sounds awfully pretentious. As for its pronunciation, the "oeu" does not sound as "oo." It's closer to the u in "curve," though not exactly that, either. I'd say avoid speaking or writing the world.
#18How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 11:14pm
"Not really. "
Seeing as I've lived in Paris for a year and speak fluent French, I can assure you, yes really.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#19How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 11:20pmSorry, Kelly, you can assure me as much as you want, but no. Look at a phonetic transcription of the pronunciation of those two words.
#20How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 11:26pmI don't need to. I know how it sounds in casual conversation in the typical accent, I've heard other people say it, in Paris, for a very long time. If you'll notice, the pronunciation of many American words is different depending on your region.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#21How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/3/13 at 11:37pm
Kelly,
I can't speak for your experience, but never have I heard "oeu" pronounced "oo," either in Paris or anywhere else in France.
If the OP wanted to know the correct pronunciation of the word, I gave him the closest English approximation thereof.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#22How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/4/13 at 10:31am
After Eight, since you seem to be the only one who knows anything and you've just banned the word, what word would you suggest we use in its place? Let's say, for example, we wished to correct a pompous blowhard who had just asserted that the only reason Into The Woods has any following is because it is by Steven Sondheim and if another composer had written it, it would be long forgotten by now. If (god forbid) I was in that situation I'd say "But Into the Woods is the most popular show in Sondheim's oeuvre! It's not the cart being pulled behind the horse of Sondheim's name, it is the "gateway drug" that brings thousands of new fans to his work."
So how would you correct that misguided cretin while avoiding that taboo word?
#23How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/4/13 at 10:34amThis reminds me of the cringing popular pronunciation of Göthe (or Goethe). There is no imaginary "r" after the "o". The German pronunciation of "ö" is like the "oo" in "look" or "book".
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#24How do you pronounce Oeuvre?
Posted: 1/4/13 at 10:47am
Not that someone as crass as you deserves any elucidation--- are you capable of being elucidated, anyway?-- but, to show how generous I can be-- even to a lout --I would say "Into the Woods is the most popular show among Sondheim's works."
Oh. And here's a freebie. Try to avoid a lamentable phrase like "gateway drug."
Videos