Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

blah

/blɑː/ noun, adjective, interjection, verb

Forms blahs blahing blahed bla blaa

  1. noun (uncountable, informal) Nonsense; drivel; idle, meaningless talk.
  2. noun (informal, in the plural, the blahs) A general or ambiguous feeling of discomfort, dissatisfaction, uneasiness, boredom, mild depression, etc.
  3. noun (informal, derogatory) A fool, an idiot.
  4. adjective (informal) Dull; uninteresting; insipid. “Well, the new restaurant seems nice, but their menu is a little blah.”
  5. adjective (informal) Low in spirit or health; down. “I decided to go exercise rather than sit around all day feeling blah.”
  6. interjection An expression of mild frustration. “Blah! Why can't I get this computer to work!”
  7. interjection (When spoken repeatedly, often three times in succession: blah blah blah!) Imitative of idle, meaningless talk; used sometimes in a slightly derogatory manner to mock or downplay another's words, or to show disinterest in a diatribe, rant, instructions, unsolicited advice, parenting, etc. Also used when recalling and retelling another's words, as a substitute for the portions of the speech deemed irrelevant. “Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, Mom, you said this all yesterday.”
  8. interjection Representing the sound of vomiting.
  9. verb (intransitive) To utter idle, meaningless talk.

Synonyms

bosh bombast rubbish absurdity all my eye all my eye and Betty Martin apple grease applesauce bafflegab balderdash balls baloney banana oil Bandini baragouin batcrap batshit bilgewater blah-blah blah-blah-blah fustian rant claptrap

Etymology

* Sense “Idle, meaningless talk” (1940), probably imitative or echoic in origin. Compare Ancient Greek βαρ-βαρ (bar-bar, “unintelligible sounds”), of which the word barbarian derives from.
* Adjective sense “bland, dull” (1919), perhaps influenced by French blasé (“bored, indifferent”).
* The blahs (“boredom, mild depression”) first attested 1969; probably a blend of the blues + blah (adjective).
* Also may be connected with bleat

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “blah”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details