Poetry, Day 4: Imperfect, Limerick, Enjambment
(so this may only be the case in England – but if you have any English friends, note how they pronounce ‘the’ as thee whenever they are choosing from a menu – it really is quite funny)
For some time it’s been a great puzzle to me
why, when ordering food the word ‘the’ becomes thee.
‘I’ll have thee… boneless chicken thighs, please
With a side of mustard and peas!
And, waiter? Did you notice how I used thee just for thee?’
Dear Dad 
Well! There are two rules,
1. When its before a ‘vowel’, for example ‘the orange’ would be pronounced ‘thee’ orange.
2. When you want to put emphasis on something. Same sentence if said like, “there are two kinds of chicken- the one with bones and the boneless one”. Here, we may not use ‘thee’ rather a simple ‘da’. But, since its to a particular ‘thee’ boneless chicken you wish to point to waiter, there you go.
Thats my limited knowledge. You may ask somebody with language background.
Good point, and wonderful presentation.
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Thank you for this insightful rule on ‘thee vs da!’ It certainly explains a few things 🙂
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I never noticed that! How funny.
And your limerick is super duper good! Xxx
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Thank you! It must be an English trait 😉 xx
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I will check with my English friends! Will tease them, in fact! xx
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Love it !
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Thank you!
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Great! Of course now I’m going to pay attention 🙂
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haha once you notice it – it’s hard not too! 😉
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Very nice and no I hadn’t noticed!
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Maybe it only happens in the UK?! I notice it all the time here 🙂 xx
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Nice play on words! And you’re right about the vs thee.
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Thank you! I notice it often and giggle to myself each time I hear it in a restaurant 🙂 hehe xx
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