Buoy

So do you pronounce it with two syllables or one?

Booee.

Or Boy.

Boy here.

menzies said:

So do you pronounce it with two syllables or one?

Booee.

Or Boy.

Boy here.

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In OZ, it`s "boy".

I can give you a sentence that you can say but not write.

A boy went for a swim.

He swam out to a buoy.

He climbed up onto the buoy, but was too heavy, so both **** sank!

Have always pronounced it "booee."

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search...&param4=15|US|1.17.4.544|1.17.4.544&type=8153

markpierce said:

Have always pronounced it "booee."

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search...&param4=15|US|1.17.4.544|1.17.4.544&type=8153

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In the UK and the Commonwealth it is pronounced boy.

menzies said:

In the UK and the Commonwealth it is pronounced boy.

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Further evidence that Americans and British are separated by a common language.

Or as I like to tell the good folks around here; we gave you a perfectly good language and you screwed it up!

As I heard it, Englisn was the result of Norman invaders trying to make dates wirh Saxon barmaids, and is as legitimate as the other results.
And of course,English does not borrow words from other languages, it follows them down dark alleys and mugs them for syntax.
And I say bouee.

Boueeeeeee

Sounds like calling the pigs in!

Boy is a single syllable and buoy is two. What’s the problem?

tpbrady said:

Boy is a single syllable and buoy is two. What’s the problem?

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KISS - Boy and Buoy are both single syllables.

Webster seems to show it both ways, depending on how you pronounce it. Sounds like a split decision.

Pronunciation is fickle.
Say "cough"(of a smoker),say "bough" (of a tree).
Just one letter different but pronounced so differently,here.

menzies said:

Boueeeeeee

Sounds like calling the pigs in!

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Whooohee. The marker is in sight. Soon looking for the next.

Oh, I can tell winter is upon us.....


I pronounce with two syllables.

Agree with the two syllable replies.

Call it floating ATON if all else fajls.

Around here, it's usually two syllables.

Some of the old-time fishermen blur them to the point that it's basically one syllable, but there's still a different sound between "boy" and "buoy." The best way I can describe it is a more forceful exhalation after the "b," and maybe just a hint of uplift at the end of the word. Anyway, I can always tell which one they mean.

Interesting that this is closer to the British pronunciation. A lot of the dialects of rural American East Coast communities, from New England to the Outer Banks, are older than what you hear inland and in the cities.

menzies said:

KISS - Boy and Buoy are both single syllables.

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Been having that discussion the past ten days!

Rob

Depends on its meaning. When a verb, it can be pronounced as boy "I'll try to buoy her spirits up a bit". When a noun, boo-ee, "do you see that buoy in the water over there?"

I definitely want to know it is a buoy in the water, not a boy.

I definitely want to know it is a buoy in the water, not a boy.[/QUOTE]



Lol, that made me laugh. I just imagined the poor fella in the water...

caltexflanc said:

Depends on its meaning. When a verb, it can be pronounced as boy "I'll try to buoy her spirits up a bit". When a noun, boo-ee, "do you see that buoy in the water over there?"

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Ah, good point made there.

When stating that you are buoying someone up - do you use two or three syllables? If two, why, since you use two when just saying buoy?

Is it Boo-ee-ing

or

Boy-ing?

Buoy, think buoyant. It used to be one syllable for bouy in the English language. In my opinion it is unfortunate that Canadian English-language dictionaries now recognize both pronunciations. I suspect it is further dilution of our language from the US. Have to recognize common usage.

menzies said:

Ah, good point made there.

When stating that you are buoying someone up - do you use two or three syllables? If two, why, since you use two when just saying buoy?

Is it Boo-ee-ing

or

Boy-ing?

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Yes, Boy-ing, Boy-ed, boy-ant, etc.

A boo-ee's a boo-ee.

Bob’s boy, Boyd, bouyed spirits by boinging buoy bells.

Booee

Neither boy or boowee.

Bwoy.

More than two syllables, but less than one.

Must be winter 'round here...

Bewie is the right way to say it.

ben2go said:

Bewie is the right way to say it.

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So you can bewie someone's spirits?