Gerbiee
Member
I <3 Gerbils
Posts: 432
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Post by Gerbiee on Jul 24, 2008 12:43:44 GMT -8
Do you pronounce gerbil grr-bil or ger(as in germ)-bil ?
I pronounce it ger(as in germ)-bil.
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Post by Shooting Star on Jul 24, 2008 12:49:07 GMT -8
It's a "soft G"-- sounds like JUR-bull.
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Post by gustav on Jul 25, 2008 3:54:33 GMT -8
But it SHOULD be grr-bil, that's way better.
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Post by bonetaiser on Jul 25, 2008 10:12:38 GMT -8
Nah, that doen't sound that good. makes them sound almost fierce. It's spelt Gerbil and I dont her how Ger or Jer sound like Grr whatsoever. So ShootingStar is right.
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Post by Thelodar on Jul 25, 2008 13:32:31 GMT -8
"jerbull" my elderly neighbor insisted that they were "grrbulls" though.
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Post by megannn on Jul 29, 2008 9:32:51 GMT -8
Grible's the best pronunciation.
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Post by RitzieAnn on Jul 29, 2008 10:07:29 GMT -8
Fur-bulls The siggy on my emails says "furballs"
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Post by picklepot on Jul 29, 2008 12:13:28 GMT -8
Ha ha. I can't tell whether Gerbil_love is having a giraffe! Or being serious? ;D I've been to Canada, but I don't think I had a conversation about gerbils there? And I've never heard anyone say grr-bil in the UK. But, I do often pronounce words wrong...
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teenie2468
Member
Always work with what you've got
Posts: 487
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Post by teenie2468 on Jul 29, 2008 12:35:13 GMT -8
I pronounce it Jur-Bull, I think that's the best way. Teenie
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Post by Shooting Star on Jul 29, 2008 14:54:59 GMT -8
" The Arabic term for jerboa is yarbu; from this came the Latin gerbo. Because of their physical resemblance to jerboas, when gerbils were first classified scientifically they were called gerbillus, which means "little jerboa" or "jerboa-like". In French this word became gerbille, which led to the English "gerbil". So, the "g" in "gerbil" should be pronounced softly (as in the word germ), since it is a soft "g" in the French. "
Taken from Know Your Gerbils, part of THE PET LIBRARY series, copyright date 1972.
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