My guess is that if you pronounce Colonel the way it is spelled that it would sound funny. Or, if it was spelled the way it is pronounced it would look funny, therefore possible lack of respect to the bird.

Anyone know the history of how the name came to be?

Two different words were used by the spaniards in the 16th or 17th centuries.Somehow this spelling was associated with the others pronunciation.

I'm not aware that the word was ever spelled any differently in the English language.

Ain't no R in Cuh-nal.

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I always take precautions

Worcester, Mass, pronounced Woosta. Have to save the "R"s for Sawr, as in the bandsawr.

The French

I guess that would make things too simple. I always why lue...lieu..lieau...uh...lootinunt was spelled so funny.

Here ya go.
"Colonel comes from Old Italian colonello, commander of a column of troops, which in turn derives from colonna, column. It wasn't always spelled the Italian way, though. Four hundred years ago English followed the Spanish practice and spelled the word "coronel," sensibly pronounced the way it looked. Eventually this was corrupted to ker-nel, still not bad considering we're talking about the British, who pronounce "Featheringstonehaugh" "Fanshaw."
But it couldn't last. Some nameless busybody decided coronel ought to be spelled "colonel" to better reflect its Italian origin, doubtless out of the same misplaced love of precision that gave us 16-1/2 feet to the rod and 27 and 11/32 grains to the dram. It's just the Anglo-Saxon way, I guess. How these people conquered an empire I'll never know."

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Dick

You know how Worcester sauce got its name? A cook invented the recipe and owned his own resturant. He put it on the counter and said nothing. A gentilman came in, ordered a steak and tried the bottel on it. He smacked his lips, raised the bottel in the air and asked the cook, Wus dis here sauce?

You can spell it Kernel if you want to, but if a Colonel sees it, be prepared to get popped.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

As long as you people remember there's no "I" in "team" things'll go along just fine.

Now get back to work.

Dang....And I thought that was the German spellin,

Like in Kernel Klink........The things ya find out around these parts



.


Never Promise Nothing You Know You Can't Do...

But, Always Do A Little More Than You Promised.

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

It nevre ceases to amaze me the depth of Ka-Now-Ledge on this here site

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I had a coloneloscopy oncet (pernownced wun-set, like, then, not now). Didn't know what the doc was lookin for, but turns out, he was lookin for money I didn't know I had. But I guess thats about privates, not orficers. There's no R in officer, but there's one in orfices...wait....nevermind..

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Halfway and one more step

You guys cain't spel wurth a hoot.

Seen that on the Benny Hill show years ago. He saidn that if you pronounce psycology P - sycology it means you are a fool, the p is silent like the p in swimming pool and then got that stupid look on his face. I still see the re runs on dish now and then

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It aint rocket surgery

Maybe it's like Justin Wilson's dog (way down in Louisiana) named Fido but down there spelled PHYDOUX.


Art

How about that old quarterback named "Farve" and spelt (?) "Favre"?

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Our family spells our last name at least 5 different ways since they arrived. My grandad had about 4 brothers that all spelt it different.
How many different ways do you think bacon can be spelled?

I thought colonel was an old Gaelic word meaning "ruptured duck".

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

You are supposed to pronounce it the way Lebeau from Hogan's Heros did.

Attached Images

Lebeau.JPG (14.3 KB, 17 views)

I kertainly hoppe the OP weren't lookin' fer menia cerious repleyes

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paws for friendship

As a Kentucky colonel, I don't argue, I just accept that it was probably the British way, originally.

Fortunately, not all of the British customs endure so long. I'm eternally grateful that our speedometers are not calibrated in furlongs per fortnight...

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Ummm, we call those "aliases"!

bacon
bacan
bac'n
bakin
baykin
and of course....sow belly

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paws for friendship

John Taliaferro Thompson, the man behind the Thompson submachine gun, had an unusual middle name. The spelling I just gave is correct, but it was pronounced "Toliver." Go figure.

John Garand's last name is universally pronounced "Guh-RAND." He himself pronounced it to rhyme with "errand."

These are things you just have to know - no reason for them other than tradition. The English language is weird.

I pronounce Worchestershire sauce "bug juice." It's simpler.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

That sounds kind of corny.

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I'm with the banned ...

If you're a piarate colonel there's an "arrr" in it.

In their journals Lewis and Clark had over 25 different spellings for the words Mosquito and Moccasin

Knifes to all of ya

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Still Running Against the Wind

an' yur wifes, to.




What was it?


You're kidding, right?
You did notice JOERM started this, diddenya?

And- you forgot Bakun

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

And Hoopes is as often pronunced hoops instead of hoop eze, Townsend Whelen is correctly pronounced Whay-lan, Leopold scopes are Lew-polled instead of leo-polled.

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Front sight and squeeze

I've heard "Left tenant", Leit (Late) tenant and Leit NONT. Its no wonder people can't spell this word.

You gotta be a Yankee, if you don't know the correct pronunciation...

At the inception of colonel, the letter R was associated with assault pirates and the government threatened to ban it and they became scare. When R's started to show up, they were swooped from the shelves and hoarded against further shortages. Because the pirates were primarily in the area of the southeast, the folks in the northeast got most of the supply as it became available. Hence, all the extra R's in the way they pronounce the most simple of words and none in colonel!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Well, bear in mind that you are talking about English...the language where "phonetic" isn't spelled with an "f" !

One that always puzzled me was Pall Mall cigs. Never heard them called anything but Pell Mells.

The same reason tap beer is spelled "draught" instead of draft.

In Spanish, "Colonel" is spelt and pronounced "Coronel". "General", on the other hand, is pronounced "Heneral". Not that it matters, I suppose, but I have met more Henerales than I have Coroneles, although I've met quite a few Teniente Coroneles. I googled "Coronel" and it was actually listed as being the "old spelling of Colonel".

I think the Mexican Army is a little top-heavy with Henerales who accomplish little, draw beaucoup pesos in salary, and are quite dangerous to be around on their own turf. The best depiction I have seen on film of a "Heneral" was in the Michael Douglas movie "Traffic". It might have just been a movie, but it looks a lot like things I've seen in real life. They got that depiction bang-on.

Most of the Teniente Coroneles and the few Coroneles I have met have actually been quite useful souls, accomplishing things as they go about juggling many myriad problems at the same time. Something must happen when they jump up to the Heneral class that makes them more useless and more dangerous at the same time. Or maybe it's just where the line is drawn between a useful beaurocrat and a dangerous politician. I really don't know, and I am referring to my personal experiences with the Mexican Army here, not as a rule for the World to live by.

This thread has Texas Star written all over it....someone put up the bat signal!

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

Now that's one heck of a mouth full, very educational and something we should all remember and put to good use! Thank you sir.

......and what exactly was the question again

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

What's the difference between an orange?

I would rather have sausage over bakon any day of the weak.

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- Change it back -

I thought it was "Phydeaux?"

Uhhh..................... maybe because it would be corny to spell it kernel???!!!

Anybody remember Colonel Korn in 'Catch 22'?

That there is funny...don't care who u r that's funny.

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Carpriver.

Was it Sessue Hayakawa who had the classic line: "Yankee coronel, you suplised I speak you ranguage? I was educated in you countly at UCRA."

Its a Chinese word they dont use Rs

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US ARMY
Viet Nam 70-71

Since You Asked: A Pall Mall by any other name ... | MailTribune.com

!

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I used to be disgusted..