It's archaic and likely used regionally if used at all.
I just had no clue that it was British. I think that because we are a port city that there are more words that are used here that came from other countries than places more than 100 miles inland.
We also have some interesting pronunciations of street names & locations around here (probably due to this city having been around since 1670 and people arriving by sea from all over the world.
A reporter from the mid-west lived her for a while and compiled how we say certain towns, cities, islands & street names:
BARRE– To improve their strength, posture, and flexibility, many women turn to an exercise called the Barre
(sounds like ‘bar’) Method which incorporates ballet moves. This is
not the way we say the word in Charleston. Here it is pronounced like
‘berry’.
BEAUFORT– One of the most popular destination spots in the Lowcountry is the picturesque coastal town of Beaufort. I took French in high school + college so I thought the proper way to say it was BO-fort. But it’s actually
BYOU-fert.
But, if you happen to find yourself in
Beaufort, North Carolina–
forget what I just told you. There, they say
BO-furt.
Similarly, ‘Beaufain Street’ is pronounced BYOU-fane.
DAUFUSKIE– I remember the first time I saw this word. It was while reading an article in
The Post and Courier. Fortunately, I was reading by myself and didn’t have to say it aloud because I would have butchered it. The way to pronounce
Daufuskie is
duh-FUH-ski. (It's an island)
GAILLARD– You can hardly go a day in the Holy City without seeing the word, ‘Gaillard’. Not only is it a popular surname, but it’s also the name of our performing arts center. Initially I thought it was
Gayle-yard, but I was soon corrected. The proper way to say it is
gil-YARD.
HASSELL–
How would you pronounce Hassell? Like hassle, right?
Wrong. Here in the Lowcountry, it’s
HAZE-ul. (a street)
HORRY– If,
as a kid, I’d pronounced Horry like the way it looks, my mother would surely have
sent me to my room for being disrespectful to women. But the
‘H’ is silent, so you’ll want to say
OH-ree. (the name of a county [also a town] near here)
HUGER–
HEW-JERR? HUE-JEE? HUH-GEE? No, no, and definitely not. ‘Huger’ is correctly pronounced
you-JEE. (a street)
LEGARE–
Despite seeing this word countless times, I still pronounce it luh-gare. Old timers usually give me a
dirty look when I do this. Avoid the same fate as me and say it properly. It’s
luh-GREE. (a street)
LESESNE– Lesesne is pronounced
luh-SANE– as in, it’s in
sane how much the spelling + pronunciation of this street differ from one another.
MANIGAULT– The only reason I know the proper way to say Manigault is because I
know a guy here in town with that last name. Had I not gotten the pronunciation from him, I probably would have said,
manny-GAULT. But it’s actually
MAN-uh-go. (there is a historic family home that belongs to: guess who?)
MAZYCK–
Say what? This name requires a double-take before even making a first attempt at its pronunciation–
and you’ll still likely get it wrong. This street name is pronounced
muh-ZEKE.
PRIOLEAU– This is another one of those words that even locals have a hard time pronouncing. I initially thought the right way to say it was
pre-oh-low. But the correct way is
PRAY-lo.
SIMONS–
Simon says, ‘you don’t pronounce Simons Street like the name Simon.’ It’s actually pronounced
SIMM-uns.
VANDERHORST– There is debate over the official pronunciation. Some contend it is ‘
VAN-DROSS’, but some
old school Charlestonians will insist it’s pronounced as spelled–
with all three syllables. (a street, as well as many other things)
But I would think an amplifier rated at 40W being pushed to its limit at 38 is going to have more noise and distortion than one using 1/10 its capability. This would make Hi(er) fidelity at those 38 Watts less if not altogether unattainable. Whereas the 400W amp wouldn't break a sweat. Even rated at 40W continous can that smaller amp realistically maintain that. Perhaps. Again I'll peruse the curves again.
