what is the difference?
Is it Espresso or Expresso?
This really should be in the English forum, not the Languages forum.
Anyway, there is no difference between them, but "espresso" is the more proper name and "expresso" is just a corruption of the name (influenced by the word "express", I'm sure), so "expresso" sounds a bit uneducated.
- Kef
Anyway, there is no difference between them, but "espresso" is the more proper name and "expresso" is just a corruption of the name (influenced by the word "express", I'm sure), so "expresso" sounds a bit uneducated.
- Kef
At least here, there is variation between [E"spr\Eso:] and [Ek"spr\Eso:] (one can also hear [I] and [1] in the place of [E] in both cases), with the former being more standard and the latter being less standard. I myself use the former, but some people do use the latter, such as my girlfriend (which similarly has such a [k] in other words starting with /Esp/).
<<Anyway, there is no difference between them, but "espresso" is the more proper name and "expresso" is just a corruption of the name (influenced by the word "express", I'm sure), so "expresso" sounds a bit uneducated. >>
"espresso" is from the Italian verb esprimere, which is a corruption of the Latin verb "exprimere". So, if anything, "expresso" is more correct because that's more close to the word's Latin origin.
"espresso" is from the Italian verb esprimere, which is a corruption of the Latin verb "exprimere". So, if anything, "expresso" is more correct because that's more close to the word's Latin origin.
But we didn't import it as a Latin word (or a French word, for that matter), we imported it as an Italian word. The Italian word may have began as a "corruption" of the Latin word, but it is now the standard form in Italian, and that's how we imported it.
In my book, etymology counts for nothing when determining the "correct" form of a word. Words change, both in pronunciation and meaning. What determines the "correct" form is actual usage, and actual usage says that "espresso" wins.
- Kef
In my book, etymology counts for nothing when determining the "correct" form of a word. Words change, both in pronunciation and meaning. What determines the "correct" form is actual usage, and actual usage says that "espresso" wins.
- Kef
""espresso" is from the Italian verb esprimere, which is a corruption of the Latin verb "exprimere". So, if anything, "expresso" is more correct because that's more close to the word's Latin origin." Wrong. Espresso wasn't around in Latin/Ancient Roman times. Espresso is an Italian coffee, which is a part of Italian culture. The proper saying of the word is the way the Italians say it, "espresso".
"espresso" is from the Italian verb esprimere, which is a corruption of the Latin verb "exprimere". So, if anything, "expresso" is more correct because that's more close to the word's Latin origin.
What an immense idiocy!!! Espresso is an Italian word and it's the most correct. According to your general tought all the words in the romance languages and english coming from Latin are corrupted
What an immense idiocy!!! Espresso is an Italian word and it's the most correct. According to your general tought all the words in the romance languages and english coming from Latin are corrupted
<<What an immense idiocy!!! Espresso is an Italian word and it's the most correct. According to your general tought all the words in the romance languages and english coming from Latin are corrupted>>
If that's true, then "expresso" isn't a corruption either because it got changed by English speakers just like the Latin word got changed by the Italians.
If that's true, then "expresso" isn't a corruption either because it got changed by English speakers just like the Latin word got changed by the Italians.
<< If that's true, then "expresso" isn't a corruption either because it got changed by English speakers just like the Latin word got changed by the Italians. >>
There's a difference: the great majority of Italians accept "espresso" as the standard form and reject "expresso". The same is true of English speakers: most prefer "espresso" to "expresso" (although the number of people who prefer "expresso" is higher). What matters isn't that the word changed, but how many people accept the change. Over time, "expresso" might be a generally accepted form of the word, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it currently is not.
- Kef
There's a difference: the great majority of Italians accept "espresso" as the standard form and reject "expresso". The same is true of English speakers: most prefer "espresso" to "expresso" (although the number of people who prefer "expresso" is higher). What matters isn't that the word changed, but how many people accept the change. Over time, "expresso" might be a generally accepted form of the word, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it currently is not.
- Kef
Why is "expresso" listed in dictionaries, then? I've heard it many times too, much more often than "espresso".
My Italian born parents and relatives all say "espresso", not, never have, and never will, say "expresso". Say it the way Italians say it.