From: marnanel	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:24 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I have been told that it should be "for-tay" meaning "loud" and "fort" meaning "strength" ("it's not my forte").

	From: forthright	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:36 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Many dictionaries say the same thing, but I strongly suspect that only a small proportion of speakers, either British or North American, say "fort" for "strength".

	From: marnanel	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:49 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Indeed. I try not to say it altogether on the grounds that if I say "fortay" someone will correct me, and if I say "fort" someone won't understand.

	From: iterum	Date: April 26th, 2006 05:22 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Ditto all around.

	From: dyddgu	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:24 pm (UTC)		(Link)

My pronunciation of this has changed a fair bit. When I was doing music far more than I am now, I would have automatically assumed it was for-tay (=loud). Now I do fencing I parsed it as fort, the strong part of the weapon.

My brass teacher is from South Wales, and he would have said for-tee.

	From: elanya	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

O_O Context of use?

Music = for-tay
Others.... depends? Maybe more French? I can only even think of musicy uses though, so, give me another example :p\

Also, this makes me think of Old Fort Cheese, which is what one of my friends' American dad used to call old/fort cheese/fromage. Yay for bilingual packaging! ;D

	From: forthright	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:34 pm (UTC)		(Link)

It is used generically to refer to an aptitude or strength, as in "It's not my forte."

	From: elanya	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:42 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yarr, my mind just completely blanked. For-tay for all then. Victory to the Italians!

	From: elanya	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:43 pm (UTC)		(Link)

So, when are you going to do the to-MAY-to to-MA-to poll? ;D

	From: lemur_man	Date: April 26th, 2006 03:08 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	With Avec!

Old Fort Cheese! A friend's American mom used to refer to 'riz rice' and 'the tea'.

	From: ekatarina	Date: April 26th, 2006 02:33 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Other are separating two meanings while I pronounce them the same for each.

Born and raised in British Columbia with touches of "recieved Canadian" here and there.

Ekatarina

	From: lemur_man	Date: April 26th, 2006 03:07 pm (UTC)		(Link)

For-tay for both. The 'fort' pronunciation is a misapprehension in terms of 'strength'. If it's from French fort (ce n'est pas mon fort) we should not be pronouncing the 't' or writing the 'e'. If it's from Italian (non è il mio forte), then it should be two syllables. It's not a mix-and-match kind of thing.

Would rather just say 'strong point' or 'one of my strengths' though.

	From: forthright	Date: April 26th, 2006 03:10 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yes, exactly. This is a point I fully intend to address in the commentary post to follow.

	From: caille	Date: April 26th, 2006 03:21 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I separate the pronunciations with the meanings. A passage of music is for-tay. But playing music is not my forte.

And yes, I avoid saying forte, for marnanel's reasons.

Oddly enough, a similar thing happens with my pronunciation of Porsche. I know it's PORSH-eh, but so many people say PORSH that if I say the eh, it sounds weird, stands out. I don't usually like to stand out. My forte is sotto voce.

	From: sciolistla	Date: April 26th, 2006 05:03 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I back the for-tay for both school.

	From: mr_josh	Date: April 26th, 2006 07:07 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I only use the word in the phrase "that's (not) my forte", and I always pronounce it 'for-tay'. It's actually never occured to me to pronounce it 'fort' (unless I'm speaking French).

	From: q_pheevr	Date: April 26th, 2006 10:02 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"For-tay," but the Italian musical term is the only one of these words I actually use.

	From: n0deal	Date: April 26th, 2006 11:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I can't help but think it is missing an accent on the e. I guess that's all those years of french immersion.

	From: ladyiolanthe	Date: April 26th, 2006 11:26 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"For-tay" all the way.

	From: camies	Date: November 6th, 2006 11:04 am (UTC)		(Link)

If it's Trust House Forte I pronounce it like 'forty'. Otherwise 'fortay'.