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

Eiffel Tower

proper noun, noun, verb

Forms the Eiffel Tower Eiffel Towers Eiffel Towering Eiffel Towered

  1. proper noun An iron tower built in 1889 on the Champ de Mars beside the Seine River in Paris; a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.
  2. noun (slang, sexuality) A spit roast with the two penetrating partners holding hands. “Yo bro, my situationship suggested you and I do an Eiffel Tower on her, you down?”
  3. verb (slang, sexuality) To perform such a sex act “My girlfriend really wants me and my buddy Eric to Eiffel Tower her.”

Etymology

Calque of French tour Eiffel. Named after its architect Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923). The sexual sense is based on a comparison of the steeple shape of the high-fiving arms to the shape of the building.

Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “Eiffel Tower”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details