Gisborne…
Okay folks, time for some lessons in pronunciation. I need your help.
How do you pronounce Gisborne?
'Guy's too amused...'
Is it Gisborne as in ‘Borne’?
or
Is it Gisborne as in ‘Gisbn’?
Over to you as Guy’s too amused by it all.
Okay folks, time for some lessons in pronunciation. I need your help.
How do you pronounce Gisborne?
'Guy's too amused...'
Is it Gisborne as in ‘Borne’?
or
Is it Gisborne as in ‘Gisbn’?
Over to you as Guy’s too amused by it all.
Okay, I’m an American, so it would be /born/, but I’m sure my UK friends would tell you /bn/. Is that as clear as mud? 😉
i say GisBORNE when I am making a point.
But what prompted me with this was ‘Oprah in Australia’ when she talked about Melbourne and mentioned that Australians call it Melbn. Naturally I went to the Gisbn thing afterward!
Over here in his home land, we locally pronounce it Gisburn. Gisburn in a village right on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border, and I had always assumed it had something to do with the character of legend. Interestingly, the pub in Gisburn is right on the line and half of it (used to – I think it’s now changed) exist in each county. This meant that at one point, due to local licensing laws, once half of the pub had to stop drinking an hour before the other.
Isn’t the world an interesting place?
Si,
Do you then say Gis-BURN? We have a small country town in Victoria called Gisborne and it is pronounced by all as ‘Gisbn’.
As to the pub, how funny! I can see everyone dashing from one end of the pub to the other at relevant times.
By the way, as the crow flies, (or maybe as far as the arrow flies!)how far is Nottingham and Sherwood Forest from Gisburn?
Pronunciation is a difficult matter as spoken English has changed a lot over the ages, and it would be hard to pin down a ‘correct’ pronunciation of Gisborne.
If go over to YouTube, there is a BBC America interview where you can listen to how Mr Armitage pronounces it. Maybe that would count as authentic?
Hello Giselle,
I’d actually consider Mr.Armitage’s pronunciation as the correct one. How could it not be? He is Gisborne after all. But we all have our national idiosyncracies and I’m interested to see how others pronounce it around the world.
I’m afraid I can’t help you, but …interesting dilemma! LOL
Morning MG,
A linguistic or perhaps phonetic dilemma. But perhaps personal taste as well.
Cheers
On the series MOST (not all) of the time they pronounced it as Gisbn if that helps…
Morning Ann Marie,
And therein lies my interest. Each actor has his own way of saying it, so presumably we viewers and aficionados must as well. What do YOU say?
As you can see, depending on my mood, I’m a bit of both!
@mesmered,
I would say Gisbn, which is how I actually pronounce it when I am referring to or talking about him (I know, I know, don’t go there! 🙂 )
Actually, I think Gisbn seems to suit him better. Somewhere in my crazy mind I have the thought that pronouncing it as GisBORNE is too noble for him. The Gisbn is kind of an “almost” noble or “just short” sounding name. Crazy I know, but it seems part and parcel of his struggle to be what he cannot/may not ever be.
Giselle, I have to thank you for sending me You Tube and to BBC America. It is definitely ‘Gisbn’ from now on, mood or no mood. In addition, that was THE most enlightening I/V about Guy’s character. Far beyond the RH series, it gave me so much fuel for the character development within ‘Gisborne’.
Two things stood out:
One was that Richard Armitage has that incipient stillness that I try to have running as lifeblood through Gisborne. It’s a dangerous stillness, full of undercurrent and deception. And one Ysabel hasn’t come to terms with. And which may be the undoing of both of them.
The other point is the idea that in the modern day, Gisborne could be anything like the cad that is James Hewitt. I can see RA may have been taking the mickey, but James Hewitt? Ye Gods!
I’m so glad you found the interviews helpful beyond the pronunciation question, Lady mesmered — they explained a lot to me about why I was finding Gisborne so compelling. I mean, he’s supposed to be a villain, right? But…
Given the fact that he says he feels quite defensive of the character, I do like to think Mr Armitage was joking when he mentioned James Hewitt.
He joked, of that there’s no doubt. There was such a glint in the eye. For myself, Gisborne is a curiosity. As I said, a man of hidden depths and deception, perhaps a desire to make recompense that doesn’t quite balance out the desire for ‘status and power’. A constant internal struggle of might vs right. I think he’d make a great ‘spook’ in the modern day, MI5 on the home ground and MI6 O/S. And that’s absolutely NOT tongue in cheek!!!
@ann marie: a perfect enough reason for pronouncing it the way you do. And if I might add, VERY Australian (and therefore very English i suppose. it’s the Mother country after all).
i’ve just had a message from @SirGuyGisborne on Twitter and here’s a dilemma. He pronounces it GisBURN! The same as SJAT from North Yorks, UK
That particular Sir Guy was dancing naked on a tavern table in Nottingham today for money so I don’t know how reliable his word is as when he was last seen Lady Cinna had wrapped him in a blanket and given yet another cup of ale! *still laughing*
Well we must, for the sake of the english language and good literature, immediately write off his suggestion! *shakes head* So glad the real ‘Gisborne’ on Mesmered is more principled! *dredges through plot to make sure*
My contention is that there is NO wrong way to say Gisborne!! *_* I’ve been listening to several BBCA Inside Looks and the writer Domenic Minghella says GisboRne!!!
I knew i could rely on you for providing such sterling links!
Yes, but then Dominic Minghella was so VERY wrong about so VERY many things relating to RH and our GoG that he should be disqualified on the grounds that his head is up his arse! (or whatever way you can say that nicely!) LOL
I can’t stop laughing about the neked Gizzy in the UK!!! ROTFLOL!!! What I want to know is how in the heck did you know about this Ann Marie? I live way too sheltered a life I guess. LOL, LOL, LOL to infinity!!!
@NovemberBride,
Apparently from a first hand account he was raking in the money (apparently he also goes commando under those leathers! ouch!) before he was stopped!
@NovemberBride,
I have to tell you that I am still laughing about it…send me your email to amvickery@comcast.net if you want more info…
@Ann Marie you have to tell the WHOLE story how on Twitter Marian had a baby by Gisborne who has a bunch of whenches who help him with adjusting to fatherhood in *many* ways. This was one of them!! LOL
What it is; really; a role-play community that has spilled out unto twitter as it’s far easier to use via phones versus forums on PC’s.
Holy Moly, sounds like a soap opera! I just don’t get this twitter stuff. Rold playing? On the phone? Sounds dangerous.
BTW, Mes…where I come from, Gisborne would be Gizzburnt. Yeah, not relevant at all since TX is a fer piece from the old country. I say go with what your gut tells you otherwise known as “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?!”
Role-playing on Twitter? Hmm. Dangerous? Could easily be because sometimes you just don’t know who the real Twitter character might be.
I just watched the scariest UK TV thriller about a woman who phone-stalked a psychiatrist and his fiancee. Chilling! And after the psychiatrist’s relationship with his fiancee had broken down, lo and behold: up popped Maid Marion as the new love, minus the Middle Ages garb.
Can’t remember the title or the actors’ and characters’ names as I was working on a rough chapter list as the time, but lifted eyes occasionally. Thanked God I was ‘working’ as there were moments when the stalking made my heart race in a most uncomfortable way.
Too funny! English as she is spoke is so diverse and pronunciation a matter for much discussion. I think Canadians might be inclined to say GisBORNE, adhering to the literal spelling. Because we are perhaps a bit literal. 🙂
GisBORNE as Hewitt was so funny! Tongue in cheek though Mr. A was, don’t you think he got it right? The campaign to attain the “best match in the parish”?
Hi, fitzg. Welcome to Mesmered. I hate to say it but I do think that Gisborne (as in the BBC series) is probably entirely Hewitt: best match, cad, fine-looking, sits a horse well! But MY Gisborne, as represented in the fiction on the blog is, I hope, not a bit like Hewitt… I hope!!!!