Today went to buy a tripod.  Store clerks had difficulty understanding me.

Is tripod pronounced like 'trip'...  or like 'try'...  ?   I went for trip as in triple...

Edited June 9, 20187 yr by Externet

Like "try".

13 minutes ago, Externet said:

Today went to buy a tripod.  Store clerks had difficulty understanding me.

Is tripod pronounced like 'trip'...  or like 'try'...  ?   I went for trip as in triple...

In Oz its tripod as in try.

It's 'try' which relates to it having  3 legs. The prefix 'tri-' means three, as in triangle. English is a pain because it has French, German, Latin and Greek roots and a sprinkling of other countries. The rules of pronunciation and spelling are consistent, more or less, within a words source language.

Edited June 9, 20187 yr by StringJunky

26 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

It's 'try' which relates to it having  3 legs. The prefix 'tri-' means three, as in triangle. English is a pain because it has French, German, Latin and Greek roots and a sprinkling of other countries. The rules of pronunciation and spelling are consistent, more or less, within a words source language.

Don't forget scandinavian influences from the norse settlement of northeastern GB in the 9th century

51 minutes ago, YaDinghus said:

Don't forget scandinavian influences from the norse settlement of northeastern GB in the 9th century

That was my  "sprinkling of other countries".   Isn't it delicious revenge, after being raped and pillaged for so long by so many countries, English is so ubiquitous.

Edited June 9, 20187 yr by StringJunky

6 hours ago, StringJunky said:

...It's 'try' which relates to it having  3 legs. The prefix 'tri-' means three,...

My ignorance tells me it should be actually three feet, not legs.  That is why I went for -3pod-  or  -three pod-  or -triple pod- instead of -triangled pod-

Being 'try', should be written trypod.

Sorry, obviously am not the one who will fix this language.

31 minutes ago, Externet said:

My ignorance tells me it should be actually three feet, not legs.  That is why I went for -3pod-  or  -three pod-  or -triple pod- instead of -triangled pod-

Being 'try', should be written trypod.

Sorry, obviously am not the one who will fix this language.

Just be thankful you aren't learning Chinese because apart from the writing, it's tonal as well. You've got hit the hit the right tone to convey the right meaning.  Being deaf, that would just about impossible for me.  You may be right. 'pod' could pertain to ''feet'.

Edit: Yes, I googled 'tripod etymology' and it said: early 17th century: via Latin from Greek tripod-, tripous, from tri- ‘three’ + pod-, pous ‘foot’.

Edited June 9, 20187 yr by StringJunky

Quote

My difficulty with the language will never end...

There is many on-line dictionaries which have play audio button on them, so people can check how to spell word they're interested in.

Try this: https://www.diki.pl/slownik-angielskiego?q=tripod

and bookmark website (or similar).

Some native speaker please check whether it's pronounced correctly. I picked up the first dictionary with audio play button, I could find from Google.

 

If it had a short i then it shod be spelled with a double p: trippod

However, English has more exceptions than rules.