Hamiltonian Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 Tangentially modelling related, but probably safer to ask this question here. I'm curious about how people pronounce the word "decal", and whether there are national/regional variations - for instance, Wiktionary tells us that DEH-cull is a pronunciation heard in Western Canada. The word is a clipping of decalcomania, but I think it's been around for so long that the influence of its origin has largely been forgotten. My print version of the Oxford English Dictionary is keen on DEE-cull (rhymes with "faecal"), but on-line they go for DEE-cal. Merriam Webster offers three different versions, and I've also heard DAY-cal. For me, in eastern Scotland, I'd never heard anything but DEH-cull (rhymes with "speckle") until I started watching YouTube modelling videos. (And don't get me started on SOLD-er versus SODE-er.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 I pronounce it "transfer". 13 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAF4EVER Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 (edited) When I was younger they were called Transfers Great minds think alike.😃 Edited September 30, 2022 by RAF4EVER Add Comment 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 Transfers date back to Josiah Wedgwood. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 I too pronounce it 'transfer', but I do sometimes try to be bilingual. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHx Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 I pronounce it "WHY WON'T YOU STICK DOWN, YOU <BLEEP> <BLEEP> <BLEEP> <BLEEP> ?!!!!!" 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 I pronounce it D-Cal 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham T Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 "Sticker"! (actually deh-cull) 3 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamiltonian Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 1 hour ago, Heather Kay said: I pronounce it "transfer". 🙂 When I was a kid (Dundee, 1960s) "transfers" were images on the underside of the paper, which you either soaked off or rubbed down. Decals were images on the top of the paper, which you floated off. (Transfers typically came free with a packet of chewing gum., so whenever anyone talks about "transfers", I'm afraid it makes me think of the fake tattoos we used to press on to our forearms in the playground, having liberally moistened them with spit.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 26 minutes ago, Hamiltonian said: When I was a kid (Dundee, 1960s) "transfers" were images on the underside of the paper, which you either soaked off or rubbed down. Decals were im I agree. I remember those little transfers you stick on your arms. Letraset was also rub-down transfer. It’s all semantics, really. However, when I started sticking model kits together, with my thumb prints and Dad's help, the sheets of markings were called transfers. I checked back in my instructions collection - I’m not the only one who keeps them, surely! - and I found an old 1970s Airfix sheet referring to applying transfers (as well as Airfix enamel colours). Once Heller/Humbrol got involved, it became decals (and Humbrol enamels). Likewise, Matchbox called them "waterslide transfers", only changing to "decal" after Revell bought the rights. So, being officially an old fart and card-carrying curmudgeon, I calls 'em transfers and be damned! 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamiltonian Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 Anyway. For the "transfer" awkward squad: Can we perhaps suppose that a deeply eccentric terrorist organization held a gun to your head and demanded that you read aloud from a piece of paper with the word "DECAL" written on it. Assuming this wouldn't be an actual "death before dishonour" issue for you, what would you say? (I'm genuinely interested in the pronunciation of the word, rather than the semantic cloud surrounding it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Robin Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 I guess if we want to be pedantic, technically a Transfer is something that's moved from one place/medium to another place/medium, so I guess they're transfers. But I'm gonna go along with all the other old geriatric's opinions and say,,, "eerrrrr what was the question again?" Regards Pete 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 When I first encountered it, I had no idea. I’d never heard it spoken, only seen it in print. So, I assumed "dee-cal" at first. I tried "duh-CAL" for bit, thinking it was of French extraction (it probably is). Some US modellers say "dee-cal", and some say "deckle". I tend towards the latter now. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 They were always transfers to me too. But, nowadays I suppose you could include me with the Western Canadians. I always thought that the term Decal came from the states? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Robin Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 3 minutes ago, Hamiltonian said: Anyway. For the "transfer" awkward squad: Can we perhaps suppose that a deeply eccentric terrorist organization held a gun to your head and demanded that you read aloud from a piece of paper with the word "DECAL" written on it. Assuming this wouldn't be an actual "death before dishonour" issue for you, what would you say? (I'm genuinely interested in the pronunciation of the word, rather than the semantic cloud surrounding it.) I had a thought. OMG. If it's pronounced to rhyme with speckle, then wouldn't it be written as Deckle as in Deckle-edged paper? It could of course be pronounced as the French "de" as a "duh" sound which would make it duhcal (Homer Simpson take a bow). I've often heard day-cal and dee-cal sounds like it's a Scottish water. You've intrigued me with your question and I may just have to brave digging out the venerable Chambers Dictionary. (That's if the word was in use back then). Hmmm,,, might even inspire a trip to the Library and see what comes up in their even older tomes. Magic. At least it's an excuse to drag my walking frame out of the car. Thank you. Regards Pete (with his awful regional dialect) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 And that’s why I pronounce it "transfer". Only two possible ways to say it, short "a" and long "a". I already have my coat… 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 20 minutes ago, Hamiltonian said: Anyway. For the "transfer" awkward squad: Can we perhaps suppose that a deeply eccentric terrorist organization held a gun to your head and demanded that you read aloud from a piece of paper with the word "DECAL" written on it. Assuming this wouldn't be an actual "death before dishonour" issue for you, what would you say? (I'm genuinely interested in the pronunciation of the word, rather than the semantic cloud surrounding it.) I pronounce it decal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigsty Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 9 minutes ago, Pete Robin said: It could of course be pronounced as the French "de" as a "duh" sound I beg to differ. The original word was décalcomanie, with the accent, so it would need to be day-cal. And as -dé- in English tends to decay to -de- (as in deck), not to -dee- (as in deep), dee-cal is more wrong than deckle. As for why it’s not spelled deckle, that will be because it wouldn’t be practickle. 4 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DStewart Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 I pronounce it in a way that rhymes with heckle. I always thought of them as transfers, because that's what Airfix told me they were called. However, when I started working in the injection moulding industry in 1980 the only term used was decal. A decal to them was any pre-printed design that was fixed to a plastic moulding, usually self-adhesive, but sometimes heat bonded. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Robin Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 3 minutes ago, pigsty said: I beg to differ. The original word was décalcomanie, with the accent, so it would need to be day-cal. And as -dé- in English tends to decay to -de- (as in deck), not to -dee- (as in deep), dee-cal is more wrong than deckle. As for why it’s not spelled deckle, that will be because it wouldn’t be practickle. Touche (it should have an accent I think, but don't know how to put the buggers on).😊 Regards Pierre (or Pedro, or somesuch) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamiltonian Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 3 minutes ago, pigsty said: I beg to differ. The original word was décalcomanie, with the accent, so it would need to be day-cal. And as -dé- in English tends to decay to -de- (as in deck), not to -dee- (as in deep), dee-cal is more wrong than deckle. As for why it’s not spelled deckle, that will be because it wouldn’t be practickle. Yes. Definitely imported from French, and spelled decal because it comes from decalcomania. Thereafter, the pronunciation seems to have galloped off in all directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 It's listed as decalcomanie (with the accent) in the international Customs Tariff. And yes, it comes from the French Still a transfer. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 Decal - which I rhyme with heckle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circloy Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 But what do you put on your model vee-hick-cules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 go-faster stripes 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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