Heres a link to 50 phrases that people over here in Britain that started in America: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
Now I would like you to draw your attention to number 22-

Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished? Chris Capewell, Queens Park, London

if that person thinks that a train station is the wrong word then what other words are there for it? Train port?

Looking at the article these people really seem to get angry very very easily at the smallest things.

Though I didn't even know "deplane", meaning to disembark from a plane, existed. Sounds so stupid.

50. "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" has to be the worst. Opposite meaning of what they're trying to say. Jonathan, Birmingham

It's a railway station.


The one that annoys me is "could care less", because it just doesn't make sense. Most americanisms are just spelling differences and the like but that one just doesn't mean what people want it to mean.

Railway Station.

.... wow. those upset people? come on. few yes,i gat confused on and didnt even know existed,but all the others i cant see how there bad. maybe you brits just think to high of your language. while there is a blurry line between spouting something completely incorrect and saying it correctly,most of those dont cross it. let people talk how they want,its are language and if people over there want to use it then its there choice.

lord commissar klimino wrote:.... wow. those upset people? come on. few yes,i gat confused on and didnt even know existed,but all the others i cant see how there bad. maybe you brits just think to high of your language. while there is a blurry line between spouting something completely incorrect and saying it correctly,most of those dont cross it. let people talk how they want,its are language and if people over there want to use it then its there choice.

I think people mainly get upset when Americanisms supplant British English, especially in slang terms. It's not nice to feel like your culture is being co-opted.

That seemed like a lot of unfriendly people who are hung up on language evolving and changing. The Grammar equivalent of "you kids get off my lawn".

To be honest, many of them are ones Americans also get annoyed with as well.

htj wrote:

lord commissar klimino wrote:.... wow. those upset people? come on. few yes,i gat confused on and didnt even know existed,but all the others i cant see how there bad. maybe you brits just think to high of your language. while there is a blurry line between spouting something completely incorrect and saying it correctly,most of those dont cross it. let people talk how they want,its are language and if people over there want to use it then its there choice.

I think people mainly get upset when Americanism supplant British English, especially in slang terms. It's not nice to feel like your culture is being co-opted.

then keep using your culture. you cant force people to follow your culture. if they start using an American term they dont like they will know it and stop. i do understand,but it just seems like there to upset or somethin. i dont know,just dont like how the dis it. its more like full on hate than just being annoyed.

They made English the main language of North America and now we return the favor, is all this is.

Ahtman wrote:They made English the main language of North America and now we return the favor, is all this is.

Hah, yeah, that seems fair.

It's not so much that people hate Americans for saying these things, it's that people hate the fact that British people are starting to emulate Americans at the expense of their own culture. Whether or not you think this is a bad thing depends on if you think it'd be good if all English speaking countries were like America. And whether or not you think this will actually happen, well, only time will tell, really. Personally, I don't get too worked up about it, but I do understand why it upsets people.

Skejule.
Train station.
I could care less.

Those would be my top three, I think.

OTOH there are many American expressions or slang phrases I appreciate, such as mensch.

I really like 'hot damn.'

Just another example of the jealousy of the greatness of Texas, and to a lesser extent those other states in the USA. Its not our fault you're not educated more gooder.

In the words of the immortal bard:" Come on in boys. The water's just fine."


Spass America HURR!

On another note, people in the UK look down on the Yanks for their alternative spellings of well known words such as 'color,' armor,' and my favourite - 'plow.'

But in reality, those examples are the correct, old English spelling. It was the UK that changed circa 1830s.

Damn their American eyes!

I just really hate gak trendy new fangled words..

I hate the words "Moreish" and "staycation"

People who use them are scum.

htj wrote:I think people mainly get upset when Americanisms supplant British English, especially in slang terms. It's not nice to feel like your culture is being co-opted.

lol

That's amusing to me as an American, because our "version" of the English language is a bastard version that uses words from a huge variety of languages because there's no point of inventing a new word when there's already one for it.

For example, why make up a word to replace Schadenfreude? We already have one-- Schadenfreude! Sure, it's German, but that's okay, I have lots of friends descended from German immigrants anyway.

That's a false glaubensneid.

Shadenfreude and weltschmerz are the gestalt zeitgeist.

British English is full of borrowed words, such as salaryman, pyjamas and jungle.

“Not only does the English Language borrow words from other languages, it sometimes chases them down dark alleys, hits them over the head, and goes through their pockets”

But as they say in French, "That's life".

Patio also comes to mind.

Melissia wrote:

htj wrote:I think people mainly get upset when Americanisms supplant British English, especially in slang terms. It's not nice to feel like your culture is being co-opted.

lol

That's amusing to me as an American, because our "version" of the English language is a bastard version that uses words from a huge variety of languages because there's no point of inventing a new word when there's already one for it.

For example, why make up a word to replace Schadenfreude? We already have one-- Schadenfreude! Sure, it's German, but that's okay, I have lots of friends descended from German immigrants anyway.

Using words from different languages? How un-British. Why, I was having a shufti at a newspaper in my bungalow the other day, read that and spat char all over my pyjamas.

Kilkrazy wrote:Skejule.
Train station.
I could care less.

Those would be my top three, I think.

OTOH there are many American expressions or slang phrases I appreciate, such as mensch.

Mensch is certainly not an "Americanism."

I can just imagine some cliche British old men sitting around in their study sipping tea while reading this. I hadn't even heard some of those before reading that article.

"I could care less" is annoying as hell, though.

bushido wrote:I can just imagine some cliche British old men sitting around in their study sipping tea while reading this. I hadn't even heard some of those before reading that article.

"I could care less" is annoying as hell, though.

Indeed. the proper grammar is
" I couldn't give a gak"

Some of those terms or phrases in incorrect even in American English... it's slang... it's grammatical crap. British slang better? I doubt it. Most of the respondents in the article however, need a life... or a hobby... or a girlfriend.

Cultures evolve just like language. If it gets you that worked up, seriously, get laid at some point or call in the doctor for a time lock.

Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:Cultures evolve just like language. If it gets you that worked up, seriously, get laid at some point or call in the doctor for a time lock.

Oh come now, complaining about stupid, petty stuff on the internet is a time honoured tradition! The natural successor to writing a letter to the editor.

At least it isn't leetspeak.

Tnetennba

'Good morning that's a nice tnetennba.'

With the invention of the telephone, television, and the internet, languages are starting to converge rather than diverge. I assume that in a few hundred years from now, there will only be 1 language spoken on Earth. British and American English becoming the same is the simplest (since we're basically speaking the same language already). If you Brits want more of your dialect to become dominant, you need to start using it more and more in popular culture.


As for everyone complaining about "I could care less". I agree, it's idiotic. But, to dull the anger a bit, it's best to know the history behind the phrase. It was originally a British phrase "I couldn't care less". It then jumped the pond in the 60s. Americans started using it sarcastically by dropping the negative. Over the decades, we've dropped the sarcasm, leaving us with an idiotic phrase that means the opposite of what people think it means. But, it does have it's roots in things that make sense.

Grakmar wrote:With the invention of the telephone, television, and the internet, languages are starting to converge rather than diverge. I assume that in a few hundred years from now, there will only be 1 language spoken on Earth.

We should call it 'newspeak.'

British and American English becoming the same is the simplest (since we're basically speaking the same language already). If you Brits want more of your dialect to become dominant, you need to start using it more and more in popular culture.

We try, but you keep subtitling it! You're cheating!

As for everyone complaining about "I could care less". I agree, it's idiotic. But, to dull the anger a bit, it's best to know the history behind the phrase. It was originally a British phrase "I couldn't care less". It then jumped the pond in the 60s. Americans started using it sarcastically by dropping the negative. Over the decades, we've dropped the sarcasm, leaving us with an idiotic phrase that means the opposite of what people think it means. But, it does have it's roots in things that make sense.

Is that really true? That is genuinely fascinating, if so.

I admit to using "bloody" as an adjective more often myself (as in, "bloody hell" or "shut your bloody face").

htj wrote:

Grakmar wrote:As for everyone complaining about "I could care less". I agree, it's idiotic. But, to dull the anger a bit, it's best to know the history behind the phrase. It was originally a British phrase "I couldn't care less". It then jumped the pond in the 60s. Americans started using it sarcastically by dropping the negative. Over the decades, we've dropped the sarcasm, leaving us with an idiotic phrase that means the opposite of what people think it means. But, it does have it's roots in things that make sense.

Is that really true? That is genuinely fascinating, if so.

That's what I've heard from semi-legitimate places. We Americans love our sarcastic phrases, even if we sometimes forget that they're sarcastic.

"I should be so lucky."
"I could care less."
"Tell me about it."

http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/g09.html

Interesting stuff indeed. Now, in an effort to further British cultural hegemony, allow me to suggest some fine Britishisms to replace the above phrases.

I should be so lucky. - I should cocoa.
I could care less. - I couldn't give a tinker's cuss.
Tell me about it. - Roger me pippins and bake me Tuesday.

I may have made that last one up.

So is "disorientated" really the way you guys say it over there? I hear Bear Grylls use it a lot and it makes me cringe.

I like that they get really mad about abbreviations, like using 24/7 instead of saying the whole phrase '24 hours a day, seven days a week'.

bushido wrote:So is "disorientated" really the way you guys say it over there? I hear Bear Grylls use it a lot and it makes me cringe.

How else would you say it?

corpsesarefun wrote:

bushido wrote:So is "disorientated" really the way you guys say it over there? I hear Bear Grylls use it a lot and it makes me cringe.

How else would you say it?

Disoriented

I hear it as "disoriented"....

BearersOfSalvation wrote:I like that they get really mad about abbreviations, like using 24/7 instead of saying the whole phrase '24 hours a day, seven days a week'.

Yeah, that one was particularly nebbish. Although I prefer the sound of 'all day, every day' myself.

Its just as confusing and annoying for us Americans when we come to the UK or listen to a British person...

I took a trip over there a long time ago on family business and there were a lot of people there which I couldn't understand in the slightest...I guess what they say is true "Brits and Americans are two peoples separated by a common language."

That and sometimes I get a really weird urge to say "bugger" sometimes when I refer to someone I don't like...-shrugs- could be just me...

Grakmar wrote:

corpsesarefun wrote:

bushido wrote:So is "disorientated" really the way you guys say it over there? I hear Bear Grylls use it a lot and it makes me cringe.

How else would you say it?

Disoriented

That just means removed from the east.

Just joking, disoriented and disorientated are both correct in British English, much like judgement and judgment.

Gitsplitta wrote:Some of those terms or phrases in incorrect even in American English... it's slang... it's grammatical crap. British slang better? I doubt it. Most of the respondents in the article however, need a life... or a hobby... or a girlfriend.

... Of all the pretentious and petty entities that dwell within the internet...I've always found the grammar nazis to be most annoying.

Really?

So?

Probably all old grumpy people.

FITZZ wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:Some of those terms or phrases in incorrect even in American English... it's slang... it's grammatical crap. British slang better? I doubt it. Most of the respondents in the article however, need a life... or a hobby... or a girlfriend.

... Of all the pretentious and petty entities that dwell within the internet...I've always found the grammar nazis to be most annoying.

I think you actually meant to type;

Of all the pretentious and petty entities that dwell within the internet...I've always found the grammar nazis most annoying.

Kilkrazy wrote:

FITZZ wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:Some of those terms or phrases in incorrect even in American English... it's slang... it's grammatical crap. British slang better? I doubt it. Most of the respondents in the article however, need a life... or a hobby... or a girlfriend.

... Of all the pretentious and petty entities that dwell within the internet...I've always found the grammar nazis to be most annoying.

I think you actually meant to type;

Of all the pretentious and petty entities that dwell within the internet...I've always found the grammar nazis most annoying.

...Indeed.

Kilkrazy wrote:

Grakmar wrote:

corpsesarefun wrote:

bushido wrote:So is "disorientated" really the way you guys say it over there? I hear Bear Grylls use it a lot and it makes me cringe.

How else would you say it?

Disoriented

That just means removed from the east.

Just joking, disoriented and disorientated are both correct in British English, much like judgement and judgment.

Whats the Difference? I run them over in my mind and they come out the same.

The only word that people could use that will actually annoy me is "Epic". Seriously, why is everything epic? It's the most overused word I hear. Everything that is even a little bit good is "epic". Epic used to mean it was huge, vast, great, etc.

But now we've degraded it. D:

#4, Why would that bug you at all?

Mr.Norman wrote:#4, Why would that bug you at all?

Maybe because it's too "relaxed".?

DA's Forever wrote:

That just means removed from the east.

Just joking, disoriented and disorientated are both correct in British English, much like judgement and judgment.

Whats the Difference? I run them over in my mind and they come out the same.

One has an "e" the other doesn't.

Mike Noble wrote:The only word that people could use that will actually annoy me is "Epic". Seriously, why is everything epic? It's the most overused word I hear. Everything that is even a little bit good is "epic". Epic used to mean it was huge, vast, great, etc.

But now we've degraded it. D:

Cheapened it to point of the word "Awesome"

"The pizza rolls are done"

"Awesome"





Automatically Appended Next Post:
This is truly ironic since the worst transgressors of bad English on the internet tend to be from the UK. To be fair though, they're usually responding to a news story or something like that and they haven't been on Dakka.

It gets pretty hard to read with zero punctuation.

Mike Noble wrote:The only word that people could use that will actually annoy me is "Epic". Seriously, why is everything epic? It's the most overused word I hear. Everything that is even a little bit good is "epic". Epic used to mean it was huge, vast, great, etc.

But now we've degraded it. D:

Man, this is such an epic post.

Melissia wrote:

Mike Noble wrote:The only word that people could use that will actually annoy me is "Epic". Seriously, why is everything epic? It's the most overused word I hear. Everything that is even a little bit good is "epic". Epic used to mean it was huge, vast, great, etc.

But now we've degraded it. D:

Man, this is such an epic post.

Howard A Treesong wrote:It's a railway station.

A police station is a place where there's a lot of police officers who are sent off to do different tasks, a train station is a place where there's lots of trains waiting to be sent to different tasks.

If you call a train station a railroad station is a police station a hallway station?

Good to see the Brits taking a stand on such important causes...

CT GAMER wrote:Good to see the Brits taking a stand on such important causes...

I know right, they should be arguing with the French or something. Geeze.

halonachos wrote:

CT GAMER wrote:Good to see the Brits taking a stand on such important causes...

I know right, they should be arguing with the French or something. Geeze.

you 2 just made my day...well,its night technically but still...

FITZZ wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:Some of those terms or phrases in incorrect even in American English... it's slang... it's grammatical crap. British slang better? I doubt it. Most of the respondents in the article however, need a life... or a hobby... or a girlfriend.

... Of all the pretentious and petty entities that dwell within the internet...I've always found the grammar nazis to be most annoying.

ha yeah then you get the automatic grammer Nazi's on forums, the kind that give auto warnings for not putting a fullstop at the end of a sentence..........

lord commissar klimino wrote:

halonachos wrote:

CT GAMER wrote:Good to see the Brits taking a stand on such important causes...

I know right, they should be arguing with the French or something. Geeze.

you 2 just made my day...well,its night technically but still...

Yea I hear the brits dislike the french so much they will not even pronounce french sounding words, they britize them.

Like Chevrolet in the US is /ʃɛvrəle/ and the Brits say /ʃɛvrolɛt/

but the have to say Menu, as there is no real way else to say that one.

halonachos wrote:

Howard A Treesong wrote:It's a railway station.

A police station is a place where there's a lot of police officers who are sent off to do different tasks, a train station is a place where there's lots of trains waiting to be sent to different tasks.

If you call a train station a railroad station is a police station a hallway station?

Yes, and a radio station is a wave station.

Interestingly enough, I just finished reading an excellent book on the evolution of the American language:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Made-America-Bill-Bryson/dp/0552998052/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1311495368&sr=8-24

Very interesting and highly recommended.

Hella

Say it hella lot.

Burglarize - eg my house was burglarized. It's burgled.

Directionality - its direction. Some words have -ality added (intentionality or example) and mean different things.

Also mugging... in the UK the crime is robbery.

Phototoxin wrote:
Also mugging... in the UK the crime is robbery.

couldn't that also be "blagged" ?

As to the menu thing... the easiest way to "rename" it, and Britize it, is to call it what the Germans do (at least in my region), fairly well translated, it is a Food Card, or Drink Card. Though that leads to the problem that some places have with credit or charge cards, in that most people refer to them as just Cards, "do you take card?" etc.

One that bothers me, is Bike... As a bicyclist, i HATE it when people dumb down motorcycles to Bike, without the preface of dirt added to it first (dirt bike)... I own a road bike, and a mountain bike.. you people who insist on having a motor on yours need to mention the fact that you have a motor, it is not a fething bike!

Kinda sorta on topic, I hate how people say "cumf tur bul." You especially hear it in music from both sides of the pond. Comfortable =/= cumf tur bul. How do the T and R switch places like that?

It's grammar who cares, as long as people can understnade what I'm tryinmg to say i don't see the porblem.

44. My brother now uses the term "season" for a TV series. Hideous. D Henderson, Edinburgh

...what do they call it in Britain?

Cheesecat wrote:It's grammar who cares, as long as people can understnade what I'm tryinmg to say i don't see the porblem.

i agree with this to a degree.if you have spell check,use it as much as you can.

i didnt even notice understand and problem were misspelled til i as writing this and the red lines showed up :/

lord commissar klimino wrote:

Cheesecat wrote:It's grammar who cares, as long as people can understnade what I'm tryinmg to say i don't see the porblem.

i agree with this to a degree.if you have spell check,use it as much as you can.

i didnt even notice understand and problem were misspelled til i as writing this and the red lines showed up :/

That's the joke.

MandalorynOranj wrote:

44. My brother now uses the term "season" for a TV series. Hideous. D Henderson, Edinburgh

...what do they call it in Britain?

We call it a series, e.g. the new series of Doctor Who.

Yea I hear the brits dislike the french so much they will not even pronounce french sounding words, they britize them.

Like Chevrolet in the US is /ʃɛvrəle/ and the Brits say /ʃɛvrolɛt/

but the have to say Menu, as there is no real way else to say that one.

Blackskullandy wrote:

Yea I hear the brits dislike the french so much they will not even pronounce french sounding words, they britize them.

Like Chevrolet in the US is /ʃɛvrəle/ and the Brits say /ʃɛvrolɛt/

but the have to say Menu, as there is no real way else to say that one.

There are a few that we retain the french pronunciation for... 'chassis' for example, 'sautee' for another.
Most people i know say 'Chevrolet' the exact same way as any American i've heard say it.

heacy hitter wrote:Heres a link to 50 phrases that people over here in Britain that started in America: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796
Now I would like you to draw your attention to number 22-

Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished? Chris Capewell, Queens Park, London

if that person thinks that a train station is the wrong word then what other words are there for it? Train port?

railway station?

Bill of fare.

Phototoxin wrote:Burglarize - eg my house was burglarized. It's burgled.

Directionality - its direction. Some words have -ality added (intentionality or example) and mean different things.

Also mugging... in the UK the crime is robbery.

I swear that all of the media reports say "an old lady in a wheelchair was mugged at knifepoint"?

Mugging is a bit like glassing but it involves tea.

Yeah we call it mugging and mugging is an English term, however the crime itself is called robbery.

I liked the fanny pack one. Teeheehee.

Reminds me a story my parents used to tell me from the late 80's when the American airmen's wives at the US Airbases in England would import the workout tapes that were all the rage. One of their friends got a new one and yelled excitedly to her neighbor across the busy street, "Hey, I got a new tape in we need to try out! 30 Days to a Firmer Fanny!"

Unfortunately, she didn't get the joke.

Kilkrazy wrote:

halonachos wrote:

Howard A Treesong wrote:It's a railway station.

A police station is a place where there's a lot of police officers who are sent off to do different tasks, a train station is a place where there's lots of trains waiting to be sent to different tasks.

If you call a train station a railroad station is a police station a hallway station?

Yes, and a radio station is a wave station.

[american word for touche]

halonachos wrote:
[american word for touche]

That would be touché.

Zefig wrote:

halonachos wrote:
[american word for touche]

That would be touché.

Excuse me mister 'I can add a dash to the top of the letter 'e''.

Okay, the americanized version of touché is now touche and is pronounced like touch.

I wish I was that good with my keyboard. I just copy/pasted from wikipedia. I think touché is too fun of a word to Americanize anyway. Some deserve it though. Croissant, un-Americanized, inevitably causes spitting when spoken and I prefer my pastries to be without undue amounts of errant spittle.

Gitsplitta wrote:Some of those terms or phrases in incorrect even in American English... it's slang... it's grammatical crap. British slang better? I doubt it. Most of the respondents in the article however, need a life... or a hobby... or a girlfriend.

I think Cockney Rhyming Slang wins in any slang war.

Croyzant.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Towsh.

Kilkrazy wrote:

MandalorynOranj wrote:

44. My brother now uses the term "season" for a TV series. Hideous. D Henderson, Edinburgh

...what do they call it in Britain?

We call it a series, e.g. the new series of Doctor Who.

Ah.

A season would be the ones that came out in a given year. "This season's Dr. Who is ______. Last season, _____ played him." A series would indicate the show, itself. "There's a new series coming out called Dr. Who. Have you ever heard of that?"

Yeah, the only one of those that bothers me is "could care less".

The rest are fine, language evolves, so we should just chillax.

kronk wrote:A season would be the ones that came out in a given year. "This season's Dr. Who is ______. Last season, _____ played him." A series would indicate the show, itself. "There's a new series coming out called Dr. Who. Have you ever heard of that?"

That's how I use those two words.
A TV series may have many seasons.

All I know is colour is spelled with a u.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:All I know is colour is spelled with a u.

color. thats how its spelled even spell check agrees.

Probably a Seattle based spell-check.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Probably a Seattle based spell-check.

im in texas so...

anyways. i dont get annoyed by most. "gang talk" as some call it annoys me. 'yo dawg'....uhhg,just feels wrong. and colour annoys me to. just seeing it feels wrong.although thats americas fault apparently for changing it :shrug:

Another one that annoys me is proven.

99% of the time it's pronounced prue-vin.

When it's PRO-VEN

You're probably using something microsoft related was the joke. Nevermind.

Phototoxin wrote:Another one that annoys me is proven.

99% of the time it's pronounced prue-vin.

When it's PRO-VEN

Actually... well, it depends. I think originally it's prue-vin, but the Scottish pronounce it pro-ven. I am unsure.

Pr-oh-ven?

So rather than pr-oo-ving something you pr-oh-ve it?

I actually originally had written 'lolwut' as my reply, but then I googled it and read something about the Scottish pronouncing it "pro-ven". Though the correct, original pronunciation is still "prue-vin".

Never having been to Scotland, nor ever having spoken to any Scottish person, I have no idea.

This may be a little off topic but I heard a Brit phrase "And Bob's your uncle". What the does that mean?

It means the job is easily done.

1. Describe procedure for doing some task.
2. Say, "And Bob's your uncle" to indicate it will be easily completed by the procedure described.

Irregardless vs. Regardless

Inflammable vs. Flammable

Random vs. Spontaneous (Personal pet peeve)

Kilkrazy wrote:It means the job is easily done.

1. Describe procedure for doing some task.
2. Say, "And Bob's your uncle" to indicate it will be easily completed by the procedure described.

It’s easy.
You just get a no.42 adjustable socket spanner.
Set it to anti-clockwise torsion ratchet.
Wrangle the sprocket gradient on the jubblies to 0.01777 hectares – one hand tight only, mind you!
Set the tension on the take-up spool with a 3mm Philips, a cross-cut will do in a pinch.
Don’t worry about the idlers unless the rubber is worn.
A dab of grease on the nipples and Robert’s your father’s brother.

It's language, it changes. Americans are changing it for their own use, it's okay for them to do this. No problem here.

However, having said that since we are ragging on Yanks I will add this.

"At this time" added to the end of sentences. It's really quite superfluous and does grate when I hear it. I don't know why.

As in "We can not find the escaped prisoner, at this time"

"The fire is still raging across the district and is not under control, at this time."

Or of course "please lock the cage, at this time" bonus points for film and linking a youtube clip.

When I was around ten yrs old I asked my parents why people go to gunpoint when people are constantly get robbed there, they were amused and had to explain to me that gunpoint was not an actual place.

Phototoxin wrote:Another one that annoys me is proven.

99% of the time it's pronounced prue-vin.

When it's PRO-VEN

Its /pruvən/ (In american standard english)

If you do not understand the IPA above i will try to write it phonetically. Proovehn